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THE AMERICAN NA TURALIST. [Vol. XXXVII. 



the evolution process almost every paragraph of " Development and 



Intelligence is represented as the highest form of the process of 

 " accommodation," for with it comes adaptiveness, educability, and 

 the ability to profit by social tradition. 



The book, although bad in form, contains much valuable material. 

 One can but feel that the author might well have taken the trouble 

 to carefully rewrite it in a systematic and logical fashion instead of 

 merely throwing together a lot of fragmentary discussions, without 

 any attempt at the avoidance of repetition. Professor Baldwin 

 evidently likes to make his readers work. R. M. Y. 



Biological Laboratory Methods. 1 — According to the author's 

 introduction, Biological Laboratory Methods is a book intended to 

 meet a demand " for suitable text-books which will give full and clear 

 instructions concerning the use of the microscope and the other 

 instruments and methods required in these [biological] laboratories." 

 Furthermore, Dr. Mell says, such a book " should begin at the begin- 

 ning and treat of all matter relating to the subject in simple lan- 

 guage . . . ." An examination of Dr. Mell's book reveals an unfor- 

 tunate discrepancy between aim and achievement. The book begins 

 anywhere but at the beginning, while fullness, clearness and simplic- 

 ity of language are qualities which are not everywhere evident. In a 

 book of 321 pages intended for "the beginner " in biological work, 44 

 pages are given to the microscope and 66 pages are devoted to chap- 

 ters on "Preparation of the Tissue for Mounting," "Imbedding 

 Methods," "Stains, Their Preparation and Use," and "Mounting 

 the Tissue for Preservation," while 84 pages are given to photogra- 

 phy and bacteriological methods. A description of Born's recon- 

 struction method and "Methods for the Preservation of Marine 

 Organisms" occur under the heading "Maceration." Essential 

 details, particularly in the description of the microscope, are lacking, 

 while the non-essential is everywhere present to the inevitable confu- 

 sion of an inexperienced student. Under "Imbedding Methods," 

 directions for imbedding in paraffin having been given (with the 



forms of vegetation"), the student is told that the mass should be 

 " shaped into a rectangular form, so that when placed in the micro- 



