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REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates. Adapted from the 

 German of Dr. R. Wiedersheim by Dr. W. N. Parker. Third Edition. 

 MacMillan & Co., 576 pp., price 16/- net. 



It would be difficult to estimate the debt owing by the scientific world 

 to Messrs. Mac]Millan, for the all-round excellence of the various and 

 numerous treatises which the^^ have produced. That now under notice 

 has stood the test of time, and has been largely used b}' students of anatomy 

 and zoology. The present edition is founded on the sixth German edition,, 

 is brought up to date, and contains much additional matter. Seeing that 

 it contains no fewer than 576 closely-printed pages, and 372 figures, many 

 of which are well printed in colours, it is marvellous that tlie book has been 

 produced at so low a price, especially when it is borne in mind that the 

 present is an entirely new and re- written treatise, and not merely a reprint 

 of a previous edition, with a few pages added, as is often tlie case with' 

 ' new editions.' To us, the part of the work particularly calling for 

 favourable comment is the carefully prepared and extensive bibliography, 

 occupying pages 497-576. This, on a rough calculation, must contain 

 references to over three thousand works. It is also divided into various 

 sections, e.g., Nervous system (a) Central Nervous System (a), C3'Clostomi 

 and Pisces, etc. In this way a student can refer at once to all the impor- 

 tant monographs dealing with any particular aspect of any particular 

 animal or group of animals. The bibliography alone will make the present 

 volume indispensable to workers. 



Evolution of Mammalian Molar Teeth to and from the triangular 

 type, by Henry Fairfield Osbourn. Edited by W. K. Gregory. New 

 York: The MacMillan Co., 250 pp., $2. 



lij will be remembered thar som^' yca'-^^ ago hi. D. Cope, the American 

 palaeontologist, brought forward the ' tritubercular theory ' of the origin 

 of the teeth of mammals — a theory which at first seemed to meet with 

 fairly general acceptance, but eventually there was a strong reaction against 

 certain features of it by many most able anatomists. This we learn ' is 

 partly due to misunderotanding, partly to the fact that all the evidence 

 has never been fully marshalled, partly to the discovery of new embryo- 

 logical and palaeontological evidence winch may disprove certain features 

 of the theory ; but chiefly to the fact that some of the most decisive and 

 convincing palaeontological evidence in support of the theory has not been 

 clearly advanced.' Briefly, the general idea may be expressed in the 

 following paragraph :— ' If the derivation of the mammalian molar from 

 the single reptilian cone can be demonstrated by the comparison of a 

 series of transitional stages between the single cone and the three-cone 

 type, and from the latter to the central tribubercular type, the separate 

 nistory of each cone can certainly be traced throughout the seirics in its. 

 various degrees of modification, development, and degeneration. The 

 remarkable part played by the tribubercular molar has been unfolded by 

 the discoveries and writings of Cope. It is undoubtedly the ancestral 

 molar type of the Primates, the Carnivora, the Ungulata, the Cheiroptera, 

 the Insectivora, and of several, if not all, of the Marsupialia.' In the pre- 

 sent work the writer endeavours to clear away the misunderstandings,, 

 and to marshall all the evidence in a proper manner. Whether he has 

 succeeded or not, it cannot be denied that the volume contains a mass of 

 valuable and suggestive information worthy of the serious thought and 

 study of everyone interested in paleontology or evolution. There are- 

 over two hundred clearly-drawn figures, which add much to the value of 

 the work. A useful feature also is a resume of the opposing views, by Mr 

 W. K. Gregory, and a bibliography. 



1908 August I. 



