192 Scientific Intelligence. 



establishment, which has proved of immense use to the Colony 

 and its sister Colonies, Early in this work of organization he 

 prepared a useful treatise on the Useful Plants of Australia, 

 which embodied a whole treasury of technological information. 

 During this term of service he was in constant correspondence 

 with all parts of Australasia, accumulating materials from all 

 quarters. After the death of Baron von Mueller, Mr. Maiden 

 became the Government Botanist, and he was appointed also 

 Director of the Botanic Garden in Sydney, a post which the Baron 

 did not occupy in his last years. 



Equipped with an unusual amount of technological information, 

 Mr. Maiden has undertaken to make his Flora, as far as possible, 

 practical. In this he has succeeded admirably, so that the forest 

 flora is available as a hand-book even to those who are far removed 

 from the southern hemisphere. The illustrations and text are of 

 a high order throughout. g. l. g. 



2. Jaarboek van het Department van Langbouw in Nieder- 

 landsch- Indie, 1907. — The report on the Agriculture of the Dutch 

 East Indies has just come to hand. It contains a full account of 

 the efficient stations in the districts, in which the more important 

 technical plants and their products are studied with reference to 

 improvement. The Garden at Buitenzorg and the experiment 

 stations are well illustrated and described. It is no wonder that 

 the Dutch have been able to maintain their place in the fierce 

 competition for supremacy in the export of tropical products. 

 The authorities have spared no expense or labor in applying the 

 most modern methods of cultivation throughout Java and the out- 

 lying islands. g. l. g. 



3. The Origin of Vertebrates ; by Walter Holbeook Gas- 

 kell. 'Pp. ix + 537. London and New York, 1908 (Longmans, 

 Green & Co.). — This book forms an important contribution to the 

 speculation as to which particular group of existing invertebrates, 

 if any, has given rise to the vertebrate animals by a process of 

 evolution. For twenty years the author has held the view that 

 the nervous system of the vertebrate is in part a modification of 

 the alimentary canal of some invertebrate ancestor. He believes 

 that the great factor in evolution has been the growth of the 

 central nervous system, and that with this factor it is possible to 

 trace the evolution of the mammal from the reptile, thence back to 

 the amphibian and the fish ; the latter arose from the arthropod, 

 and this from the annelid. The vertebrate is therefore the natural 

 evolution of a primitive crustacean ancestor. This view, of 

 which the author has been one of the leading exponents for many 

 years, is thought to be sustained by a critical comparison of 

 each organ system of tfae vertebrate with that of its supposed 

 crustacean prototype. With all the possible evidence thus ably- 

 presented, it will be of interest to learn whether further enthusi- 

 asm will be aroused for a theory which has thus far found few 

 supporters. w. k. c. 



