NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS 



437 



fancy we can almost follow them across into Europe, 

 and imagine them the builders of Stonehenge and the 

 dolmens of Brittany. Perhaps they were the people 

 of Druidism. It may be that Caesar's soldiers heard 

 in Aquitania the last echoes of European Hamitic 

 speech; and that Goidels and Brythons learned from 

 Pictish mothers the idioms of this pre-Aryan British 

 tongue. And may not this have been indeed, the 

 language of the whole Mediterranean race? 



The book includes a number of excel- 

 lently chosen photographs of racial types. 

 Altogether it is a valuable addition to the 

 literature on a particularly puzzling prob- 

 lem in the biology of human races. 



HEREDITY AND HUMAN AFFAIRS. 

 By Edward M. East. Charles Scribner s Sons 

 $3.50 6 x 8|; vii -f- 3x5 New York 



This book is, without doubt, the best 

 presentation of the eugenic position that 

 has yet been prepared for the general 

 reader. Professor East has all the requi- 

 sites for producing such a book; a com- 

 manding position among scientific 

 students of genetics; a wide knowledge of 

 human biology; and the ability to write 

 with clarity and vigor. 



The wide scope of the book is indicated 

 by the chapter headings: Science and the 

 new era of humanism; heredity — late 

 master riddle of science; the machinery of 

 heredity; the grammar of heredity; hered- 

 ity and sex; the inheritance of human 

 types; the two collaborators — heredity 

 and environment; marriage between near 

 kin; racial traits; some specific race 

 problems; genius, mediocrity, and educa- 

 tion; the lower levels of humanity; the 

 survival of the underman; immigration; 

 the problems of every-day life. 



There is thorough documentation 

 throughout. The writer of this notice 

 does not agree with Professor East's 

 position on a number of eugenic matters, 

 and probably there are other biologists 



who do not. But this is a point of no 

 particular consequence. The important 

 thing is that in this book we have a com- 

 petent, authoritative, well written exposi- 

 tion of the present status of eugenic 

 science, which will not only inform the 

 public but also be of great help to every 

 worker in this field as a reference source. 



ACCRESCIMENTO CORPOREO E 

 COSTITUZIONI DELL'UOMO. 



By Luigi Castaldi. . Luigi Niccolai 



50 lire Florence 



6| x 9I; viii + 350 (paper) 



This is a contribution to human biology 

 in general, and to constitutional morphol- 

 ogy in particular, of real interest and 

 importance. In several respects it must 

 be regarded as a model for scientific inves- 

 tigation in the field of constitutional 

 morphology, however much any particu- 

 lar reader may be inclined to disagree with 

 particular details. The literature is ex- 

 tensively and intelligently reviewed as a 

 background to the author's own re- 

 searches on human growth. The scope 

 of the book is indicated by the following 

 list of the main divisions of the treatment: 

 Definition of body growth; methods for 

 the biometrical study of growth; pre- 

 natal growth of the body as a whole and 

 of the principal viscera; postnatal growth 

 of the body as a whole; postnatal growth 

 of the principal viscera; the results of 

 growth as expressed in ideal types, and in 

 constitutional morphological types; the 

 growth of cells and tissues; causal factors 

 in the corporeal growth of man (endo- 

 crines, etc.); anomalies and disharmonies 

 of growth; some eugenic considerations. 



The book is very well indexed and 

 abundantly illustrated. We heartily 

 commend it to our readers as a stimulating 

 and interesting contribution. 



