388 
probably been carried far into the interior. It is cer- 
tain that the Tobas who massacred Crevaux’s party are 
now provided with hatchets, knives, and Remington 
guns, which they have captured, partly from Crevaux, 
and partly from the Bolivian expedition of Col. Rivas. 
They are not, however, so formidable as might be 
supposed; since it seems their captive instructed 
them to aim in such a way as to render it almost im- 
possible that any thing of a man’s height should be 
hit by the ball; so that the guns are more terrifying 
than dangerous to their enemies. The second expe- 
dition sent under orders of Col. Fontana accom- 
plished nothing. The third, organized by Col. Sola, 
and since commanded by Col. Hazetta, is at present 
penetrating the Chaco region, toward the banks of 
the Pilcomayo. Another better prepared Bolivian 
expedition was in contemplation under Col. Campu; 
but the writer, broken down by fever, was obliged to 
return to Corumba on his way to Buenos Ayres. He 
fears that all traces of the expedition of Crevaux are 
lost; that even their remains cannot be recovered, 
since the Tobas are in the habit of utilizing the bones 
as trophies or for religious purposes, so that they 
would be widely separated and unrecognizable. The 
vertebrae of the hated Christians are in special 
demand among the Toba women for use as rattles or 
rattling pendants worn during their dances. Alto- 
gether, the savagery of these Tobas seems to be more 
energetic than that of any other American aborigines. 
Milhéme has sent to Paris a complete collection of 
their arms, tools, instruments, and clothing, with an 
explanatory catalogue. 
On the other hand, M. Paul Armand, in the Bul- 
letin of the Marseilles society for December, without 
mentioning any date (but published before Milhéme’s 
letter), says that the Argentine expedition to the 
Pilcomayo arrived safely in the early part of August, 
at the Bolivian town of Caiza, without the loss of a 
man, although having fought three battles with the 
Tobas. They ascended the Pilcomayo sixty leagues 
beyond the place where the Crevaux party was as- 
sassinated. The Bolivian congress has resolved that 
a colony named after Crevaux shall be established at 
that point, and that it shall be marked by a monument 
to the sufferers. Thouar arrived at Caiza on the 12th 
of July; having heard from some neutral Indians that 
two survivors, Haurat and Branco, were prisoners 
with the Choroti Indians of the Rio Abajo. He had 
had some communication with the Tobas, and ob- 
tained some relics, among other things a barometer 
which had belonged to Crevaux. He intended to 
leave Teyo about Aug. 10, and pass completely round 
the north Chaco, on the left bank of the Pileomayo. 
In January it was stated to the Société de géographie 
that Thouar had arrived safely at Assuncion, and 
was about to embark for France, where he was ex- 
pected before this time. Nothing further is said in 
regard to his search for Crevaux; but it is stated 
that the most important result of his voyage will 
be the opening of a practicable commercial route 
between Bolivia and Paraguay, giving opportunities 
for a reciprocal commerce now valued at twenty mil- 
lion dollars. 
SCIENCE. 
A NEW THEORY OF HEREDITY. 
The law of heredity : a study of the cause of variation, 
and the origin of living organisms. By W. K. 
Brocks. Baltimore, Afurphy, 1883. 124336 p., 
illustr. 16°. 
JAEGER is quoted by Semper as saying that 
there has been enough Darwinist philosophiz- 
ing, and that it is now time to subject the nu- 
merous hypotheses to the test of investigation. 
While this is undoubtedly true, some hypotheses 
are necessary ; and even incomplete and erro- 
neous ones may be of great service by offering 
a series of definite problems for solution, in- 
stead of a chaos of facts. ‘‘ An honest attempt 
to reason from the phenomena of nature can 
hardly fail to result in the discovery of some 
little truth.’’ This is the keynote of the book 
before us, which is therefore worthy of very 
careful consideration, however unsatisfactory 
it-may prove to be as an explanation of the 
great problem of heredity. 
The theory proposed in this book is a fniglt 
fication of Darwin’s hypothesis of pangene- 
sis, reconstructed with a view of avoiding the 
many difficulties in the way of that hy pothesis. 
Brooks’ : theory, very briefly stated, is as fol- 
lows. The union of two sexual elements 
gives veniabilith 2. In all multicellular organ- 
isms the ovum and the male cell have gradually 
become specialized in different directions. 3. 
The ovum has acquired a very complex organ- 
ization, and contains material particles of some 
kind corresponding to each of the hereditary 
species characteristics. 4. The ovarian ova 
of the offspring are the direct and unmodified 
descendants of the parent ovum. 95. Each 
cell in the body has the power of throwing off 
minute germs. During the evolution of the spe- 
cies, these cells have acquired distinctive func- 
tions adapted to the conditions under which 
they are placed. When the function of a cell 
is disturbed through a change in its environ- 
ment, itthrows off small particles, which are the 
germs or ‘gemmules’ of this particular cell. 
6. These germs may be carried to all parts of 
the body, and penetrate to an ovum or to a bud ; 
but the male cell has acquired a tes power 
to gather and store up germs. . When im- 
pregnation occurs, each ani impregnates 
that particle of the ovum which will give rise in 
the offspring to the cell corresponding to the 
one which produced the gemmule; or else it 
unites with a closely related particle, destined 
to produce a closely related cell. 8. In the 
body of the offspring this cell will be a hybrid, 
and tend to vary. 9. The ovarian ova of the 
offspring inherit the properties of the fertilized - 
[Vou. III., No. 60. 
a 
: 
‘ 
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