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BOOK NOTICE : NOTES AND NEWS. 



BOOK NOTICE. 

 Comparative Anatomy and Physiology.— By Professor Jeffrey Bell, 



AI.A. London : Cassell and Co. 1885. 



We are glad to see that Messrs. Cassell and Co. have just made a valuable 

 addition to their admirable series of ' Manuals for Students of Medicine,' in the 

 form of a concise treatise on Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, which has long 

 been a desideratum with a certain class of students, and will be especially useful 

 to candidates for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons. 



Before proceeding to compare the morphology and physiology of the organs of 

 different animals, the author devotes the first three chapters to a general introduc- 

 tion, and a useful and compact outline of the classification of the animal kingdom ; 

 the chief characteristics of the groups into which it has been divided being laid 

 down on clear and simple lines. We notice, however, a few points in this part of 

 the work which are perhaps open to comment, for instance, in the definition of the 

 Mammalia, the ' malleus ' is stated to be the homologue of the ' quadrate ' of the 

 avian and reptilian skulls. The author evidently still adheres to the views originally 

 advanced by Huxley on this point, but the more recent investigations of Parker 

 seem to support the Reichertian doctrine in showing that the representative of the 

 quadrate in the mammalian skull is the 'incus.' The whole problem, however, is 

 a difficult and puzzling one, and there are even some authorities (Albrecht and 

 Dolto) who dissent from both the above explanations, and assert that the represen- 

 tative of the quadrate must not be looked for among the auditory ossicles at all. 

 Again, in the classification of insects, we notice that the Dragon-flies still occupy 

 their old position in the Neuroptera, which is perhaps somewhat old-fashioned, for 

 according to recent classifications they should be located with the Orthoptera. 



The remainder of the work is arranged upon what we might term 'physiological' 

 lines — each chapter being devoted to some particular set of organs, having a 

 common frmction. It is this part of the book which the student has been most in 

 need of, and we can compliment the author on the judicious arrangement which 

 has enabled him to pack away so much valuable information in such small 

 compass. The physiological element may perhaps appear somewhat scanty as 

 compared with the anatomical, but this is not surprising to those acquainted with 

 the subject, and who are aware of the incompleteness of our knowledge of the 

 vital processes in all but the highest animals ; and the physiology of the human 

 subject constitutes a sepax-ate volume of this series. Taking the work as a whole, 

 it appears to be carefully and accurately done, and, with the exception of a few 

 points such as those we quote, quite up to date. It is got up in excellent style 

 throughout, and the illustrations — with v/hich it is profusely illustrated — are mostly 

 well chosen, and borrowed from standard authorities. The work fills a lacuna 

 which has been conspicuous among scientific text-books, and we are sure that the 

 students for whom it is written will give it a hearty welcome. — A.D. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



At a recent meeting of the Manchester Cryptogamic Society were exhibited a 

 number of mosses which had been received from Mr. Thomas Whitelegge, a 

 former member of the Society, now an assistant curator at the Sydney Museum. 

 Mr. Whitelegge has been actively engaged during the last year in investigating the 

 cryptogamic flora of New South Wales, and has succeeded in discovering twenty- 

 three species of mosses new to science. One each of the genera Pilotrichum^ 

 Weissia, Campylopus, Briichia, and Halomitrium, have been named by Professor 

 C. Miiller in honour of the discoverer. 



>oX 



The fourteenth annual report of the Chester Society of Natural Science 

 furnishes evidence of continued prosperity in a society which has never slackened 

 work since its foundation in 187 1. Reference is made to the new museum 

 buildings, and to the preparation of a third part of the Proceedings, as well as to 

 the numerous other outlets for the Society's activity which have been dealt with in 

 previous years. Professor McKenny Hughes is again president, and most of the 



old officers are re-elected. 



Naturalist, 



