Abstract
THIS is a disappointing book. The idea of using the common sights and sounds of nature which are open to general observation as material for building up a detailed comprehension of evolutionary theory is a good one; there is much to be said for the inductive system of instruction as a supplement to the deductive methods more often employed. But in this particular instance the errors in matters of fact are so prominent and so numerous as to overshadow such merit as the plan of the work possesses. Some of these mistakes must be laid to the charge of the translator, who obviously is but imperfectly acquainted with the subject-matter of his original, and whose want of due care appears in the occurrence of such phrases as “the grouping of their elements is different from in dead albumen,” “Pentastomum has little of the characteristics of a spider, to which it really belongs,”and of such unwonted forms as terrestial,” “adaption,” “caracoid,” “strepsitera”—the last two being found more than once. “Sexually,” on p. 301, is clearly intended for “non-sexually.” “An example of a genius under the geheric title” is capable of easy emendation, but “weel”(p. 220) almost baffles conjecture. Can it be meant for “valve”?
Darwinism and the Problems of Life; a Study of Familiar Animal Life.
By Prof. Conrad Guenther. Translated by Joseph McCabe. Pp. 436. (London: A. Owen and Co., 1906.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
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D., F. Darwinism and the Problems of Life; a Study of Familiar Animal Life . Nature 74, 268 (1906). https://doi.org/10.1038/074268a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/074268a0
