74 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. VI., Xo. 129. 



certain proportion of his land in rye. In Norway 

 tlie polar limit of summer rye is about 69°, and that 

 of winter rye about 61° ; but in Sweden it has been 

 carried along the coast as far north as 65°. The 

 summer rye-crops are generally sown and fit for cut- 

 ting about the same time as barley, although occa- 

 sionally in southern Norway less than ninety days 

 are required for their full maturity. 



CASSINO'S STANDARD NATURAL 

 HISTORY. 



The editors of the ' Standard natural his- 

 tor}^ ' have undertaken a most difficult and 

 praiseworthy work. The aim set in the pro- 

 spectus is to give " a popular account of the 

 whole animal kingdom by the best American 

 authorities," and American forms are to be 

 made especially prominent. Mr. J. S. Kings- 

 ley is editor-in-chief, and each type or class is 

 described by some naturalist who has made spe- 

 cial investigations in that group. The work is 

 to be completed in six imperial octavo volumes. 

 Of these, two treat of invertebrates, three of 

 vertebrates except man, and the sixth of the 

 human races. Three of them have already 

 been completed. 



It is a labor requiring no small study and 

 diligence to collate the immense mass of terribly 

 scattered notes and articles on American zool- 

 ogy. But the great danger is, of course, that 

 the work will be too abstruse for popular use, 

 or too popular for scientific accuracy and value. 

 Both 'these extremes have been uniformly 

 avoided by the different writers with a skill 

 hardl}^ to be expected, and worthy of all praise. 

 There is, too, no such lack of unity or uniformity 

 as one would expect from so large a corps of 

 editors. The figures are remarkably clear and 

 fine. Indeed, the first question that occurs to 

 us is whether some of the luxury in heavy 

 paper, wide margins, and striking full-page 

 cuts, might not well have been dispensed with 

 in order to lower the price of the work, and 

 give it the circulation which it deserves : for 

 to man}' 3'oung students, and teachers in our 

 schools and academies, this work would be the 

 very best help ; and yet to them especially the 

 price, six dollars a volume, will be an insu- 

 perable obstacle. 



The introduction, which occupies seventy 

 pages of the first volume, opens with an account 

 of protoplasm and the cell. In the whole intro- 

 duction only five pages are devoted to embr}^- 

 onic development. This subject is treated 



The standard natural history. Edited by J. S. Kingslet. 

 Vol. i. Lower invertebrates; vol. ii. Crustacea and insects; vol. v. 

 Mammals. Boston, Cassi7io, 1884-85. 8°. 



under each group in the systematic portion of 

 the work only in a general and very meagre 

 outline. This is perhaps wise in a popular 

 work, but for that very reason it should have 

 been described in the introduction as fully as 

 is consistent with a purely general outline. 

 Twenty pages* are devoted to the nervous sys- 

 tem and animal psycholog}', forming a brief but 

 admirable epitome of what is known of this as 

 yet almost unexplored field. The single page 

 devoted to alternation of generations and par- 

 thenogenesis is the least satisfactory in the in- 

 troduction : the statement is meagre, the line 

 of argument any thing but clear. Evolution is 

 discussed in twelve pages, six of which are 

 devoted to a history of the theory and resume 

 of the contributions of American students. It 

 is certainly one of the most marked defects of 

 the work, that this subject of universal and 

 intense interest should not have been fully pre- 

 sented ; all the more, because the age, investi- 

 gations, and views of the writer fitted him to 

 give us a fair and impartial discussion of the 

 subject. 



Of the systematic portion of the first vol- 

 ume, one can but notice the generally high 

 character of the work. It does great credit to 

 its editors. Especial notice should perhaps be 

 given to the interesting discussion of the origin 

 and formation of coral islands. The editor of 

 the chapter on Vermes, the most difficult and 

 least familiar branch, has given too little of the 

 anatom}^ and has hardty attempted to show 

 the resemblance and affinities between the dif- 

 ferent classes. It is certainly a pity that the 

 Brachiopoda, which have so many points of 

 interest, should be dismissed with only three 

 pages. Their enormous abundance in early 

 geologic ages, together with the long battle so 

 hotly waged over their affinities and systematic 

 position, should gain for them more attention, 

 and the more so that this conflict originated 

 through the writings of an American natural- 

 ist. Even some of their most important ana- 

 tomical characteristics are not stated ; and of 

 their great geological importance as the prede- 

 cessors of Mollusca, we have scarcely a hint. 

 But, if the introduction and the description of 

 all the invertebrates except Arthropoda must 

 find place in one volume, we ought, perhaps, to 

 be thankful that some groups are not crowded 

 out altogether. The Tunicata are not de- 

 scribed in this volume, and hence will probably 

 appear either before or among the lower inver- 

 tebrates, — after all, their only proper position 

 at the present stage of investigation. The 

 volume closes with a full and ver}^ readable 

 description of Mollusca. 



