90 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



tainty to have existed as an implement-using creature in the last 

 Glacial epo3h. His probable origin cannot, therefore, have been 

 later than the beginning of the Plistocene. The place of origin 

 was probably somewhere in Southern Asia." 



In the evolution of man Prof. Haeckel is an advocate of the 

 " heredity of acquired characters." In this he is in distinct anta- 

 gonism with Weismann and his followers. That this is not the 

 crime against Darwinism frequently advanced is to be gathered 

 from the testimony of the Professor, who states that on the three 

 occasions he visited Darwin " we discussed this fundamental 

 question in complete harmony." The following observations 

 seem incontestable. " If one denies with Weismann the heredity 

 of acquired characters, then it becomes necessary to have recourse 

 to purely mystical qualities of germ-plasm. I am of the opinion 

 of Spencer, that in that case it would be better to accept a 

 mysterious creation of all the various species as described in the 

 Mosaic account." 



Zoology has only fulfilled her mission in the discussion of 

 this question. For a long time indeed will she foster the study of 

 " man's place in nature." We are not concerned whether science 

 ultimately solves the problem — absolute truth will probably be 

 the ideal more than the goal of our enquiries ; but we may rest 

 assured that " the work done in the present century by Lamarck 

 and Darwin will in all future times be considered one of the 

 greatest conquests made by thinking man." 



Zoological Results based on Material from New B7'itain, New 

 Guinea, Loyalty Islands, and elsewhere. Collected during 

 the years 1895-97. By Arthur Willey, D.Sc. Lond., &c. 

 Parts I. & II. Cambridge : at the University Press. 



This is what we venture to designate as a real zoological 

 publication, restricting its scope as purely scientific and technical. 

 Dr. Willey made an expedition to the Pacific in search of the eggs 

 of the Pearly Nautilus, an enterprise, in a biological sense, as 

 much, or more, important than many other belauded expeditions. 

 But science is not justified in all her children. This publication 

 is devoted to the description and elucidation of the general 



