Some New Books on Evolutioti, 



227 



and that under the editorship of Mr. F. Legge, a further series is to be 

 pubUshed, in uniformity with the well-known red-backed volumes which 

 served so useful a purpose a quarter of a century ago. It is also appro- 

 priate at the present time that one of the first new volumes should deal 

 with the evolution of the theories on evolution ; and such is Mr. Deperet's 

 took, being really the authorised translation of Les Transformation dii 

 monde Animal. It cannot be said that M. Deperet exaggerates or over- 

 estimates the part Darwin played in the doctrine of evolution ; and in 

 the present work there is an unusually complete account of earlier and 

 later workers in the same field. In his preface the editor asks, ' Does the 

 study of fossils offer us any example of a regular chain of animal forms 

 •shewing the gradual transformation of one type into another ? Or, is 

 natural selection the only means that Nature employs to produce varia- 

 tions ? To such questions the teaching of Darwin, as he left it, hardly 

 suggested an answer.' The present work makes a special point of these 

 questions. 



Haeckelr His Life and Work, by Prof. W. Bolsche. Watts & Co., 

 128 pp., 6d. 



The Rational Press Association has issued a new and revised edition 

 of ' Haeckel's Life and Work,' and, as it can be obtained for six coppers, 

 it should be widely read. It is well written, and is an education in itself. 

 The translator, Mr. Joseph McCabe, gives an introduction and a supple- 

 mentary chapter. Haeckel is a worker who has been greatly misunderstood, 

 and a perusal of this book will do much towards giving one a better and 

 more accurate idea of the man and his teaching. 



Mendel's Principles of Heredity, by Ww Bateson. Cambridge : The 

 University Press, 396 pp., 12/- net. 



We learn from the Preface that ' the object of this book is to give a 

 succinct account of the discoveries in regard to Heredity made by the appli- 

 cation of Mendel's method of research. Following a clue which his long 

 lost papers provided, we have reached a point from which classes of 

 phenomena hitherto proverbial for their seeming irregularity can be recog- 

 nised as parts of a consistent whole. The study of Heredity thus becomes 

 an organised branch of physiological science, already abundant in results, 

 and in promise unsurpassed.' 



Most of our readers will be familiar with the thorough manner in which 

 Prof. Bateson does any work he takes in hand, and in the present 

 instance it can be safely said that he has carried out the object for which 

 the volume was written. Not only has he given a careful and detailed 

 account of the present position of the questions of heredity as a result of 

 the influence of Mendel's work, but he has reprinted Mendel's two papers, 

 and has supplied a biographical notice. There is also a bibliography 

 of papers, etc., bearing upon the subject, which exceeds three hun- 

 dred entries — evidence alone of the importance of this subject in recent 

 years. A perusal of the book convinces us of the force and truth of the 

 author's remark that ' Had Mendel's work come into the hands of Darwin, 

 it is not too much to say that the history of the developments of evolutionary 

 philosophy would have been very different from that which we have 

 witnessed.' Perhaps the most surprising feature in the volume is the 

 extraordinary number of objects, zoological and botanical, which are 

 referred to in connection with the theory. We find peas, barley, primulas, 

 canaries, moths, fowls, sheep, mice, etc. The coloured illustrations of 

 some of these objects, shewing the results of experiments, etc., are surely 

 as nearly perfect as it is possible to make them. Those of the sweet peas 

 and moths particularly call for comment on account of their excellence. 

 As is the rule with publications issued by the Cambridge University 

 Press, misprints are almost absent ; but in the one item appearing under 

 ' corrigendum,' line 18 should read line 19. 



igog June i. 



