Zoology. 491 



15. Introduction to the Study of Minerals ; by Austin Flint 

 Rogers. Pp. xx, 522 ; 591 figures. New York, 1912 (McGraw- 

 Hill Book Company). — The number of text-books on mineralogy 

 has been much increased in recent years, and among the additions 

 made to the literature the present volume deserves commendation 

 for the care with which the material has been selected so as to 

 present in a single volume, capable of being can-led in the pocket, 

 all that is most essential for the student, both in his classroom 

 work and in the field. The subject of crystallography occupies 

 the first hundred pages, and, although brief for a rather advanced 

 discussion covering the entire ground, will answer the needs of a 

 student with the help of the teacher. The next hundred pages are 

 given to the physical and chemical characters, following which we 

 have a series of six determinative tables. Then comes the descrip- 

 tion of two hundred prominent species, about half of these being 

 treated in greater detail ; the rarer species are omitted entirely. 

 The concluding pages are devoted to the subject of occurrence 

 and association and the uses in the arts. A glossary of mineral 

 terms is a useful feature of the work. The illustrations are 

 mostly new and well drawn and engraved. 



III. Zoology. 



1. Outlines of Evolutionary JBiology ; by Arthur Dendy. 

 Pp. xiv, 454, with 188 figures. New York, 1912 (D. Appleton 

 and Company). — In many of our secondary schools and in some 

 of our colleges the subject of biology is taught by a study of a 

 number of different kinds of plants and animals, or in some cases 

 of animals alone. Certain institutions offer separate courses in 

 zoology and botany as elementary studies, although in recent 

 years there has been a growing tendency in some of the best uni- 

 versities to give an introductory course embracing the general 

 biological principles rather than the study of specific types of ani- 

 mals and plants. The nature of the vital processes in all organisms 

 is made the basis of the work. This study may be followed later 

 by the general courses in zoology and botany. 



It is for such an introductory course that this book is planned. 

 It contains no general descriptions of plants or animals, but con- 

 sists rather of a discussion of general biological phenomena and 

 the laws and theories relating thereto. 



With this modern conception of the subject of biology, the 

 book is divided into five parts, treating different phases of the 

 subject. 



Part I embraces such subjects as the nature of life ; the essen- 

 tial functions of living things ; the properties of the living sub- 

 stance ; the relationships of all organisms; differentiation and 

 co-operation of cells and organs ; the transition from unicellular 

 to multicellular organisms ; the general development of organ- 

 isms ; cell structure, physiology and reproduction. 



