BOOK EE VIEWS. 



235 



every organ which is composed of these different kinds of cells contains 

 them in the proper proportions, and in the particular arrangement which 

 best serves the function of the organ ; it is thus adapted to its function." 



" Variation," by Professor Hugo de Vries (Amsterdam), is of course 

 concerned chiefly with mutants and fluctuations, and with the external 

 and internal causes of variability. He also insists upon the importance 

 of breeding from single seeds, especially in the case of cereals. 



u Heredity and Variation in Modern Lights," by Professor W. Bateson. 

 This paper is for the most part Mendelian. The author goes so far as 

 to say : " In the experimental methods which Mendel inaugurated we have 

 means of reaching certainty with regard to the physiology of heredity 

 and variation upon which a more lasting structure may be built." We 

 think that the author has elsewhere withdrawn the statement (on p. 93) 

 with regard to inheritance of colour-blindness. 



"The minute Structure of Cells in Relation to Heredity." Professor 

 Edward Strasburger (Bonn) in this brief but lucid article sketches the 

 chief modern discoveries in cell-theory. He also shows that Darwin's idea 

 "that invisible gemmules are the carriers of hereditary characters and 

 that they multiply by division has been removed from the position of a 

 provisional hypothesis to that of a well-founded theory." 



"The Descent of Man," by Professor G. Schwalbe (Strassburg). 

 This article is an appreciation of Darwin's book in the light thrown upon 

 the subject by modern researches. There is, however, a short account of 

 the possible ape-like progenitors of mankind. 



" Darwin as an Anthropologist," by Professor Ernst Haeckel (Jena) 

 consists also mainly of an appreciation of Darwin's work. There is some 

 severe criticism both of Weismann and of De Vries, but the works of 

 Eoux and Semon are highly praised. Professor Haeckel also gives full 

 details of his present views on the subject. 



" Some Primitive Theories on the Origin of Man." In this article 

 Mr. T. Gr. Erazer gives a very readable and valuable account of the 

 theories of savages on this important subject. Some tribes, according to 

 the author of " The Golden Bough," are crude evolutionists whilst others 

 uphold Genesis. 



" Darwin and Embryology." The theory of recapitulation is, accord- 

 ing to Professor Sedgwick, still without satisfactory proof. All organ- 

 isms possess the property of reacting to the environment and of under- 

 going a change which alters the relation of the organisms to the old 

 environment and places it in a new one. 



" The Palaeontological Record as Regards Animals " is not so hope- 

 lessly incomplete as Darwin believed, according to Professor W. B. Scott 

 (Princeton). The genealogy of elephants, of the rhinoceros family, of 

 whales, and of the inevitable horse are all described in detail. 



" The Palaeontological Record for Plants " is by Dr. D. H. Scott. 

 This is really the story of the successive ascendency of a series of 

 dominant families, each of which attained its maximum in organization 

 as well as in extent, and then sank into comparative obscurity. The 

 flowering plants are traced backwards through the cycad-like forms of 

 Mesozoic times to primitive fern-like seed-plants, from which the Gymno- 

 sperms are also derived through, at least in some cases, the Cordaiteae. 



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