434 



THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 



general division of the book there is an 

 appendix giving suggestions for further 

 reading and for practical work demon- 

 strating the important features under 

 consideration. An excellent index adds 

 to the usefulness of the book. 



BIOLOGY OF THE VERTEBRATES. 



A Comparative Study of Man and His Animal 

 Allies. 



By Herbert E. Walter. The Macmillan Co. 

 $5.00 5! x 8|; xxv -f 788 New York 

 This excellent textbook is the out- 

 growth and embodiment of a course in 

 vertebrate comparative anatomy which 

 Professor Walter has taught for many 

 years. It develops the subject along 

 novel lines, and really justifies its main 

 title. It is just as sound as the old 

 Wiedershein text on which we were all 

 nurtured a quarter of a century ago, and a 

 great deal more interesting. Tastes will 

 differ about the advisability of the oc- 

 casionally journalistic diction and head- 

 lining in which the author has chosen to 

 write. But after all this is only a matter 

 of taste. The book is, regardless of its 

 stylistic peculiarities, a valuable and 

 original contribution to the elementary 

 teaching literature of biology. There is 

 only a short derivative bibliography, but 

 the book is well indexed. 



carried out since 19x0, with Drosophila 

 and seedlings of Cucumis melo as the mate- 

 rial chiefly used. Following introductory 

 discussions of the history of the subject 

 and the technique used in the experimental 

 work, successive chapters deal with life 

 tables for Drosofhila; the effect of density 

 of population on duration of life; the 

 inheritance of longevity; inherent vitality; 

 and the relation of total duration of life 

 to the rate of vital activities . The general 

 conclusion reached is that duration of 

 life varies inversely as the rate of en- 

 ergy expenditure during its continuance. 

 There is a bibliography of 141 titles. 



DIE ATIOLOGIE DER BOSARTIGEN 

 GESCHWULSTE. Nach dem gegenwartigen 

 Stande der klinischen Erfahrung and der 

 experimentellen Eorscbung. 

 By Carl Lewin. Julius Springer 



18 marks Berlin 



6| x ioj; viii + 2.31 (paper) 

 A thorough, critical review of the work 

 which has been done in the search for the 

 cause of cancer. The author finds that 

 the present status of investigation in this 

 field does not warrant any final conclusion. 

 There is a bibliography covering Z4 pages. 

 The general biologist will find this volume 

 useful in orienting himself in regard to this 

 vast experimental and clinical literature. 

 Unfortunately there is no index. 



THE RATE OF LIVING. 



Account of some Experimental Studies on the 

 Biology of Life Duration. 

 By Raymond Pearl. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 

 $3.50 5I x 8; v + 185 New York 



This book, which embodies a series of 

 lectures delivered at University College, 

 London, summarizes and puts together in 

 orderly fashion the results of the author's 

 experimental studies on duration of life, 



ANIMAL BIOLOGY. 



By J. B. S. Haldane and Julian Huxley. 



Oxford University Press 

 $z>50 4! x 7! ; xvi + 344 New York 

 An elementary textbook of general 

 biology which departs widely from the 

 conventional, both in respect of emphasis 

 and mode of treatment of the different 

 subjects. As would be expected from the 



