Zoology. 113 



14. Mineralogy, an Introduction to the Theoretical and Prac- 

 tical Study of Miner cds ; by Alexander H. Phillips. Pp. 

 viii, 699, with 534 figures. New York, 1912 (The Macmillan 

 Compan} 7- ). — Another extensive work has been added to the liter- 

 ature on Mineralogy, one that is planned to give the student all 

 that he needs to prepare him to go on and use advanced methods 

 and the advanced literature. Part I (pp. 1-218) deals with 

 Crystallography in the broad sense, including not only a descrip- 

 tion of the various types of crystals but also their optical pro- 

 perties. The generally accepted definitions as to symmetry are 

 applied to the thirty-two different types, but the idea of hemi- 

 hedrons, which has certain advantages as presenting the subject 

 simply to the student, i* also employed ; mathematical solutions 

 of problems are not introduced. The figures are clear and well 

 drawn, but the printer has occasionally taken the liberty to throw 

 them out of the vertical position (e. g. fig. 34), a painful ex- 

 perience that other authors have often had. 



Part II (pp. 219-545) is given to Descriptive Mineralogy ; this 

 begins with brief chapters on the relations of minerals to the 

 elements, their origin and physical properties, and then some 225 

 selected species are described in detail. Half-tone figures, some 

 of them admirable but others less so, accompany the descriptions; 

 the schematic figures usually used to show the varying habit of 

 crystals are not introduced. 



The subject of Determinative Mineralogy occupies Part III and 

 is discussed in detail. The general blow-pipe table here given 

 includes all but a very few rare species, so that the student has 

 the advantage of having presented to him practically all known 

 species with brief characterization of each. A table for the 

 determination of common minerals by their physical properties is 

 also given embracing about one hundred and fifty species. 



III. Zoology. 



1. Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates ; by J. S. Kingsley. 

 Pp. ix, 401, with 346 illustrations. Philadelphia 1912 (P. Blakis- 

 ton's Son & Company). — Teachers of comparative anatomy have 

 long felt the need of a suitable text-book on the subject by an 

 American author. This new book by Professor Kingsley exactly 

 meets the requirements by presenting in concise form and with 

 adequate illustrations the essential features of the morphology of 

 the organ systems of the vertebrates. The embryological history 

 is the basis on which the subject matter is arranged, and the com- 

 parisons are then followed through the classes of vertebrates. 

 The use of smaller type for the less general portions of the sub- 

 ject and the printing of technical words in heavy-faced type add 

 greatly to the usefulness of the book from a pedagogical stand- 

 point. 



Am. Jour. Sci. — Fourth Series, Vol. XXXV, No. 205. — January, 1913. 



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