NOTES AND LITERATURE 



BIOLOGY 



The Reception of the Mutation Theory.— Wheri the first Lieferung 

 of "Die Mutationstheorie " appeared in 1901 a frequent question was 

 whether the work would be made available for a larger audience 

 by the preparation of an English translation. That the interest 

 of Americans in this subject is very real was soon evidenced by an 

 invitation extended to Professor de Vries to deliver a series of lectures 

 at the University of California. A second edition of the thick volume 

 containing these published lectures was necessary in a few months. 

 Besides a French translation of the American lectures we now wel- 

 come an attractive German edition by Klebahn.^ 



Species and Varieties was reviewed in the pages of this journal 

 (Am. Nat. 39:747-751, 1905) and it seems unnecessary to discuss 

 the scope or contents of the work. The translator had the benefit 

 of the corrections prepared by Professor de Vries so that the transla- 

 tion is comparable with the second American edition. An especially 

 commendable feature of the present volume is a fine series of over 

 fifty illustrations. These are drawn in part from the larger work of 

 the author, in part from his unpublished drawings or photographs, 

 and in part from living material or other sources. 



It must be gratifying to all serious students of evolution to see the 

 widespread interest in these works. Whether or not they admit 

 the general applicability of de Vries's theory, they must at least 

 realize that after long years of marking time students of evolution 

 have at last begun to march. No one should scorn the results of 

 comparative studies, but their limitations should always be kept 

 clearly in mind. The spirit of experimental work is in the air and 

 let us hope that there will be no turning back because of difficulties 

 encountered in the way. Just here a word of warning may not be 

 out of place. In experimental physiology and morphology it is con- 

 sidered essential that the factors involved and the results secured 

 be quantitatively expressed. In ecology and evolution the impor- 



Ins Deutche iibertragen von H. Klebahn. Berlin. Gebruder Borntraeger, 

 1906. Q. xii + 530 pp. 



189 



