ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
437 
particles or gemmaria, built up of gemrnre, which in turn consist of 
albuminoid molecules. Moreover, the gemmae are rhombic prisms, and 
arranged in columnar bundles— the gemmaria ! As the gemmae change 
in arrangement, the gemmaria change in shape, and the whole animal 
varies. Fertilization strengthens the system of gemmaria, and enables 
the offspring to ward off injurious influences more readily. “ Haacke 
clears away the ruins of older theories and the weeds of Weismannism 
which have sprung from among them,” and bases on this Gemmaria- 
tlieory his doctrine of evolution. This is an old acquaintance — 
Lamarckianism. “ The facts proving the inheritance of acquired cha- 
racters are as abundant as the sand on the shore,” but the critic regrets 
that not a grain is in evidence. The system of gemmaria is in internal 
equilibrium, and, like a wave, an external influence spreads through the 
soma to the germ-cells. Yon Lendenfeld has something to praise, how- 
ever, namely, Haacke’s arguments in favour of Northern Eurasia being 
the cradle of the higher terrestrial races. There is also some well-done 
expository work in the ‘ Schopfung der Thierwelt.’ 
£. Histology* 
Microscopic Foam and Protoplasm.* — Attention is called to Mr. 
E. A. Minchin’s translation of Prof. Biitschli’s work on this subject, 
which has more than once been referred to in this Journal or at the 
Society’s Meetings. The writer ventures to express scepticism as to the 
correctness of Biitschli’s view, urging that we ought not to conclude that 
the causes of movement in protoplasm are the same as those in artificial 
foam. It is pointed out that Bunge, who may be taken as an example of 
the new school of vitalists, argues with much force that vital manifes- 
tations cannot at present be explained by any known physical or chemical 
forces. A perusal of this author’s lectures on physiological chemistry is 
recommended as a corrective to Biitschli’s theories. Although the latter 
has succeeded better than his predecessors in making something like 
protoplasm, the experiments of Bainey, Harting, and Ord, are not to be 
forgotten — still less those of Montgomery, who (in 1867) obtained move- 
ments in a kind of artificial protoplasm by mixing myelin with water, 
and obtained forms which simulated varicose nerve-fibres, the broken- 
down matter of brain and spinal cords, and even cells. To the work of 
his non-German predecessors Prof. Biitschli makes no reference. 
Relations of Isotropous to Anisotropous [Layers in Striped 
Muscles. | — Mr. H. M. Bernard arrives at the following “ provisional 
conclusions.” The isotropous layers retreat into the anisotropous ; this 
retraction is alone sufficient to account for muscle contraction ; and there 
is a certain amount of evidence to show that the anisotropous layer is a 
mass of nuclear substance. 
y. General. 
Zoological Regions,;}; — Mr. A. R. Wallace urges that zoological 
regions, to be at once natural and useful in the highest degree, must be 
founded on a combination of essential features : — 
* Brit. Med. Journal, No. 1741 (1894) p. 1027. 
t Zool. JB. (Anat. Abth.) vii. (1894) pp. 533-44 (l ph). 
X Nature, xlix (1894) pp. 610-3. 
2 H 
1894 
