120 Scientific Intelligence. 



cast upon the Darwinian factor of sexual selection, would retain 

 the idea tentatively even though an interrogation point be placed 

 behind it, as the rejection of this factor leads to as many difficul- 

 ties as its retention. 



Chapter VI discusses the past history of the globe, La Place's 

 nebular theory of earth origin being compared with the later 

 planetesimal theory of Chamberlin and Moulton. A brief geologic 

 table is given with a summary of Historical Geology. In the 

 seventh chapter we are told of the development of the mammals, 

 which leads up to the classic story of the horse, based largely 

 upon data furnished by the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory. In Chapter IX the evolutionary theories since Darwin are 

 given place, with some of the modern objections to Darwinism. 



The last two chapters, "The future evolution of man" and 

 " Science and The Book," are more in the line of moral evolution 

 than the remainder of the volume. The book, while necessarily 

 not profound, and not wholly without certain inaccuracies, is very 

 readable and will serve very well indeed to stimulate further 

 interest. r. s. l. 



11. The First Principles of Evolution ; by S. Herbert. 

 Pp. ix, 346; 90 illustrations and tables. London, 1913 (Adam 

 and Charles Black). — This book, like the previous one by the 

 same author, •' The First Principles of Heredity," is the out- 

 come of a series of lectures given to a class of workingmen and 

 others. 



The introduction speaks of evolution in general — the usual 

 more or less hazy conception of the term, and what it really 

 implies. Section I, Inorganic Evolution, is treated under the 

 several captions : cosmic evolution, geological evolution, atomic 

 evolution, and evolution of life from the non-living. Section IT, 

 Organic Evolution, is divided into two parts, the first of which 

 deals with the facts of evolution, the evidence being taken from 

 morphology, embryology, classification, paleontology, and geo- 

 graphical distribution ; while Part II discusses the theories of 

 evolution, beginning with an historical summary, and taking up 

 Lamarckism, Darwinism, and the difficulties of the theories, espe- 

 cially of Neo-Lamarckisrn and Neo-Darwinism. Under the 

 theories of evolution are also discussed heterogenesis and ortho- 

 genesis. 



In summing up the theories of evolution, the author says : 

 " Natural selection is at present, so far as it goes, the only accept- 

 able theory of adaptation ; for Lamarckism cannot be considered 

 as proven, so long as its basis, the inheritance of acquired charac- 

 ters, has not been established ; and teleological vitalism, whilst 

 assuming a purposeful end, is far from having proved its thesis. 

 But — and here it is that the deficiency of natural selection makes 

 itself apparent — while natural selection explains the further 

 development of adaptive variations, once they have attained 

 survival-value, it certainly cannot account for the 'origin of 

 the fit' " (p. 223). It is to solve this problem that the mutation 

 theory and that of orthogenesis have been proposed. 



