REVIEWS. 
225 
struction of the reproductive system, as has been very generally conceived. 
Dr. Banks’s essay is the reprint of a prize thesis ; it is illustrated by a 
number of useful plates, and contains so full an exposition of the opinions of 
all who have written upon the question of the development of the Wolffian 
bodies, that it ought to be read by all who wish to be conversant 'with the 
literature of this subject. 
PLUEALITY OF EACES.* 
T he works which the Anthropological Society has as yet published 
have been nearly as devoid of interest as of scientific value. It is, 
however, pleasant to find a book which, though devoid of the latter quality, 
is to some extent possessed of the former. Just such a one is M. Pouchet’s 
treatise on the Plurality of Eaces. FuE of anecdote, containing abundant 
quotations from the writings of travellers, and written in an easy and simple 
style, it is read with satisfaction till the cover has been closed ; but when 
one comes to lay it upon the bookshelf, and the question arises, “ What has 
this work proved ? — to what conclusion has this man’s writing urged me ?” — the 
position arrived at is something like that in which a thoughtful person who 
has just read a highly-flavoured sensation romance is placed : the query 
is put, “ Have I profited ? ” and the reply is decidedly in the negative. 
M. Pouchet wishes to prove that the several varieties of man which we find at 
present peopling the globe have not descended from a common stock. This is 
his proposition ; but the only evidence adduced (which bears the faintest stamp 
of admissibility) to support this hypothesis, consists in a few statements based 
upon no reliable statistics, and to the effect that when white and dark races 
mix, the offspring are never normally prolific. All the phenomena which 
can be considered in a question like that which M. Pouchet fancies he has 
decided go to prove a very different conclusion from that which he has come to. 
Indeed, we are much inclined to believe that his own hypothesis of equivocal 
generation would, if established, go further to defeat his views upon the subject 
of human races than anything that has yet been brought forward. Notwith- 
standing that we differ from our author, we like his book ; it is nicely written, 
and the translator has achieved his portion of the work very successfully. 
Our readers will do well to run through its pages. 
* “ The Plurality of the Human Eace.” By Georges Pouchet, Doctor 
of Medicine, Aide-Naturaliste in the Museum of Eouen, &c. Translated and 
edited from the second edition by Hugh J. C. Beayan, F.E.G.S., Barrister- 
at-law. London : Published for the Anthropological Society by Longman 
& Co. 1864, 
VOL. IV. IJO. XIV. 
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