Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 531 



Seven of the colored plates represent most admirably the 

 beautiful coloring of many of the species, while one plate shows 

 the coloring of the larval stages. 



It is a matter of great satisfaction to learn that the next part, 

 similar to this in size and in number of plates, is already pre- 

 pared for publication. w. r. c. 



2. Selectionsprinzip and Probleme der Artbildung ; Ein Hand- 

 buch des Darwinismus ; von Dr. Ludwig Plate. Third edition ; 

 pp. viii, 493. Leipzig 1908 (Wilhelm Engelmann). — In many 

 points this new edition differs widely from the second revision of 

 the work, and contains upwards of twice the amount of matter. 

 This extensive enlargement was necessaiy in order to allow a 

 more detailed discussion of such phases of evolution as have 

 recently been subject to controversy among biologists and to 

 incorporate the discoveries of the past few years. During this 

 time the mutation theory of DeVries has gained wide acceptance 

 among both botanists and zoologists. In this new theory, how- 

 ever, the author sees little more than a rehabilitation of Darwin's 

 earlier hypotheses. 



This book gives unreserved support to Darwin's principle of 

 natural selection, and discusses at length the more important 

 objections which have been urged against it. 



Deserving of special attention is the newly written chapter on 

 the question as to the inheritance of characters acquired by the 

 body during the life of the individual, for the author still main- 

 tains that such an inheritance occurs, and presents evidence from 

 recent observations which may seem to support this view. The 

 author attempts to explain the possibility of such an inheritance 

 as due to a process of "somatic induction," by which external 

 influences of sufficient strength may affect the germ plasm, while 

 the continued effect of such influence may be cumulative through 

 a number of generations until it finally becomes manifest exter- 

 nally. At a time when Weismann's hypothesis is so widely 

 accepted by biologists, such a support of the Lamarckian doctrine 

 is of much interest. The book as a whole is an able discussion 

 of the recent discoveries and hypotheses relating to heredity, 

 evolution, and allied topics. w. k. c. 



3. Annals of the Astrophysiccd Observatory of the Smithso- 

 nian Institution • by C. G. Abbot, Director, and F. E. Fowle, 

 Jr., Aid, vol. ii, 245, with 44 tables, and 29 plates. Washington, 

 190S. — This second volume, published by the Astrophysical 

 Observatory (see vol. xi, 473, 1901), is a notable contribution to the 

 subject of solar radiation, and an honor alike to the present 

 Director, and to Prof. Langley who founded the Observatory. 

 It contains the results of observations carried on between the 

 years 1900 and 1906, in part at Washington and in part at Mount 

 Wilson, California. These observations embrace chiefly measure- 

 ments of the solar radiation, and, having a high degree of 

 accuracy and being carried out on a consistent system, permit of 

 important conclusions in regard to the general subject. Briefly 



