NOTES AND LITERATURE. 



■ ZOOLOGY. 



"An Introduction to Vertebrate Embryology" by Dr A. M. 



Reese ^ is "the result of a need that the author has felt, for some 

 years, for a concise text-book of embryology that described the devel- 

 opment of both the chick and the frog" (Preface, p. v). It is ques- 

 tionable if such a need has been generally felt in the presence of 

 existing treatises on embryology, though they may be more " cumber- 

 some and expensive" books than Dr. Reese's. There is something 

 to be said in favor of students becoming acquainted, at first hand, with 

 standard works such as the text-books of Balfour, Hertwig, Marshall, 

 and Minot. 



To give a satisfactory account of the development of both the frog 

 and chick within the space limits of a book like Dr. Reese's, the 

 author must be a master of the subject and, equally important, he 

 must be a master of the art of expression in written language. It is 

 unfortunate that Dr. Reese's book does not do justice to its author's 

 knowledge. The fundamental defect of the book — a defect which 

 overshadows good quaUties — lies in poor presentation of the subject, 

 and, in a book which does not offer new material, form is the all- 

 important thing, so long as facts are not violated. The account of 

 the development of the optic nerve may be cited as an example of 

 the quality of description. "It is sometimes stated that the optic 

 nen>e is formed by the hollow stalk of the optic cup ; but it is proba- 

 ble that it is formed by an outgrowth of cells from the retina, this 

 outgrowth extending along the optic stalk to the brain, and forming 

 the fibres of the optic nerve. The growth of these fibres may have, 

 as has been mentioned, something to do with the formation of the 

 choroid fissure" (p. i8i). What, in the light of this paragraph, is 

 the manner of development of optic nerve fibres ? The account of 

 the development of the chick begins with the sentence, " The egg of 

 the chick (Fig. 33) is of large size, ovoid in shape and usually some- 



^ Reese, A. M. An Introduction to Vertebrate Embryology Based oh the ^tudy 

 of the Frog and the Chick. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1904. XVII -f 

 291 pp., 84 figures. 



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