398 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



The Amphioxus and its Development. By Dr. B. Hatschek. 

 Translated and edited by James Tuckey, M.A. 8vo, 

 pp. 181, plates i — ix. London : Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 

 New York : Macmillan & Co. 1893. (Introductory Science 

 Text-books). 



This work is translated from the German ' Studien ueber 

 Entwicklung des Amphioxus ' of Hatschek, published in 1882 in 

 the somewhat inaccessible ' Arbeiten ' of the Vienna and Trieste 

 Zoological Institute. Though it professes to be edited as well by 

 the translator, we find no reference in his Preface to the nature of 

 his labours ; and in this respect an occasional footnote, giving a 

 scientific term introduced since the appearance of the original 

 edition, seems to be the only editorial work accomplished. The 

 translator writes clear English wherever he has succeeded in 

 fully grasping the meaning of the German ; many obscure sen- 

 tences are generally to be understood by retranslation into 

 the original language : thus " Some control should be had 

 over such observation [of living objects] through investigation of 

 preserved material to be undertaken by day " becomes intelligible 

 when we see that " should " represents sollte (= was necessary). 

 But it requires a reference to the original to make sense of the 

 bull in the italicised words of the following passage: — " In this 

 way no ciliated cells are to be seen in the Amphioxus, nor in the 

 groivn animal even during development, but only flagellate cells." 

 Mr. Tuckey seems unfamiliar with scientific terminology in 

 English as well as German, and to have been badly helped in 

 this respect by those friends whom he thanks in the Preface. 

 Fibrillum, ^luvsdflbrilla, is neither English nor Latin. Carmin 

 is as unknown to the English chemist, as Beal is to our 

 literature. Judging from the readiness with which competent 

 scientific men will read a work of this character for review, it 

 would seem an easy matter to retain their services for reading 

 the proof-sheets ; and it is not creditable to English publishers 

 that they so frequently allow translations of scientific works to 

 go forth to the world with so many avoidable blemishes. In a 



