Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/153

 r 13, 1885.)

��eiderod ; as, for esainple, how and where to ciil to m&ke out the anntom.v of tlic spcdnl parts, and Ihcir relations to one noolher. The di- rectioBS are clear and concise, and the student will have no troulile either in dissecting or idcntifj-ing the viirious purts. We think the introduction of clear woodcuts an important and legitimate aid to the student, and a great improvemeot thereby over Iluxley and Martin's ' Biology."

The book, in short, ia admirablj- adapted for laboratory work, and furnishea to the student who will take specimens in hand, ami dissect with care, a sufficient guide in making out the essential points in vertebrate anntomy.

��RECENT PIIYSIOLOGWAL TEXT-BOOKS.

Hctchison's physiology lias been before the public for some time, and apparently has met with considerable success as a school test- book. The revised edition that is now offered has but few changes. The book as a whole is com- mendable as a collection of facts, physiologi- cal, anatomical, and hygienic, a knowledge of which will be useful to people of all callings in life. But it is questionable whether it is a book that a thoughtful physiologist would like to see geuerally introduced into schools as a test-hook. No chemist at the present time would wish to have an elementary text-book of chemistry merely a collection of facts or receipts, however interesting and useful such facts might be. The demand is being made in that branch of science for text-books of a higher order, which shall make the facts pre- sented, as far as possible, illiiBtrations of the more important general laws of chemical action. Some such reform should be attempted lii elementary text-books of physiology. Physi- ology is worthy of being taught, in part at least, as a branch of human knowledge, or for the sake of mental training, and not simply for the purpose of preserving health, or en- abling a person to conduct himself properly in case of an accident.

The remarks upon personal hygiene in the book are in the main well chosen and to the point; but, in regard to the action of alcohol, the author's prejudices, or desire to rlo good, have evidently biassed his statement of facts. The book contains a number of errors which should be corrected ; such aa, "sugar changes

A Inallf SN pKylaloqg anil hf/^rnf, Uv JoBBPB f. HmnuoH, M-O., LllD. Hew Yatk. Clark <^ ilamiard, ItM. llla.li. r.

r»» rmmntlnU af analnmy. u^fioliiBy. m-l ^i/fflrm. By BooiB 8. TucT. uLd. StwVailt.ApplrlBK.l''^. IMu.ir. «•.

��to fat in the body," "the acidity of the gas- tric juice is due to lactic acid," and the rather incomprehensible statement that albumen gives ' smoothness and swift motion ' to the plasma of the blood. Another error common to both books under review is, that the proteida of the hlood are spoken of as albumen and fihrine. There is no such thing as tlbrine in circulating blood ; and, if it is necessary to mention at all the chemical coustituents of the plasma, some- thing a httle more in accord with what is actu- ally known might be given.

Tracy's book aims to be a more scientific presentation of the facts of physiology and hygiene than is usually met with in elemen- tary text-books ; but whether the result has fulfilled the author's expectations is one of the things that might be doubted. It is scarcely scieutilic, for instance, to speak of alcohol as a ' rank poison,' without any qualiGcation whatever. While such language is expected from a temperance orator, it is somewhat out of place in an elementary book supposed to give generally accepted facts. Quite enough can be said tnithfully against the use of alco- hol without making statements which are not borne ont by the facts of physiology.

The book has some serious defects, such as the failure to aaj' any thing at all of the func- ' tion or structure of the kidnej's, except in a purely incidental way. It contains also nu- merous errors or badly emphasized statements; such aa the origin of lymph (p. 88), the action of the sympathetic nerves (p. 175), the mechan- ism of the reflex secretion of saliva (p. 178), the statement that all bones are at one time cartilaginous, etc. Some of the chapters — that on respiration, for instance — are well written, in clear and accurate language ; aud the remarks on hygiene form, probably, the best part of the book. But, as far as its physi- ology is concerned, the book bears evidence of ha\-ing been written by one not thoroughly conversant with the subject.

��A TEXT'BOOK OF PHYSICAL GEOLOGY.

Thk author of this small volume has made a step in the right direction, for the plan of his book involves the wise omission of historic geology and paleontology, — subjects into whose full meaning the beginner makes but little real progress. The book would have been further improverl by the omission of much of the scc-

Tht (iNdntl'i Sandlmoli of pAutl'-al irralemi- Bv A. J. .luKEi-BitovnB. New York, S^lbntr -t Wilford, IMt. 12 *■

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