NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS 



The aim of this department is to give the reader brief indications of the character, the con- 

 tent and the value of new books in the various fields of biology. In addition there will fre- 

 quently appear one longer critical review of a book of special significance. Authors and pub- 

 lishers of biological books should bear in mind that The Quarterly Review of Biology 

 can notice in this department only such books as come to the office of the editor. The absence 

 of a book, therefore, from the following and subsequent lists only meons that we have not re- 

 ceived it. All material for notice in this department should be addressed to Dr. Raymond 

 Pearl, Editor a/The Quarterly Review of Biology, ipoi East Madison Street, Baltimore, 

 Maryland, U. S. A. 



BRIEF NOTICES 



EVOLUTION 



ABSTAMMUNGSLEHRE UNDNEUERE 



BIOLOGIE. 



By Richard Hertwig. Gustav Fischer 



14 marks 7 x 10; Z71 (paper) Jena 



(Bound 16 marks) 



In this volume a great master of zoology 

 reviews Darwinism, and critically evalu- 

 ates its present position in the light of the 

 new biological knowledge which has 

 accrued during the enormously active and 

 fertile years of the twentieth century, 

 particularly in the field of genetics. The 

 book has three main divisions. The first 

 of these is chiefly historical, concerning 

 itself with the development of the theory 

 of evolution. The second, and longest, 

 section is a critical review of modern 

 genetics and its bearing upon the theory 

 of evolution. The last section of the 

 book is concerned with phylogeny, chiefly 

 from the viewpoint of critically consider- 

 ing the kinds of evidence which will lead 

 to sound knowledge in this field. Alto- 

 gether it is a stimulating and valuable 

 contribution, the usefulness of which to 

 the student is unfortunately diminished 

 by the fact that it contains no biblio- 

 graphical documentation whatever. 



LA DESCENDANCE. 



gine des car ac feres. L 



L'heredite. L'ori- 

 fecondation. La 

 vieillesse. 



By Pierre- Jean. Felix Alcan 



15 francs 5! x 9; Z38 (paper) Paris 

 A philosophical discussion of life and 

 evolution, from the viewpoint of a 

 psychologist, whose position is that 

 consciousness (and its derivative, memory) 

 is an indispensible and irreducible element 

 of all life, alone capable of explaining the 

 observed facts of adaptation. An interest- 

 ing book. 



DEVELOPMENT AND PURPOSE. An 

 Essay Towards a Philosophy of Evolution. 

 By L. T. Hobhouse. The Macmillan Co. 



$6.00 5 1 x 8|; xxxix -f- 494 New York 

 A thoroughly revised, indeed largely 

 rewritten, edition of a book that has long 

 been a classic of modern philosophy. 

 The general conclusion is unchanged, that 

 the world process is "a development of 

 organic harmony through the extension of 

 control by Mind operating under mechan- 

 ical conditions which it comes by degrees 

 to master. The empirical synthesis is in 

 the main limited to the history of mind 

 upon this earth, and to the stages by 



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