Abstract
THIS book “is a rather condensed account of some of the outstanding facts and principles of zoology” prepared for use in conjunction with the author's course of practical teaching, and it is evident that a clear understanding of many of the subjects must depend largely on the work on structure and on histology done in the laboratory. The first eighteen chapters of the book deal with adaptation, the various systems of organs, metabolism, cell division, gametogenesis, ontogenesis, evolution and heredity, and a concluding chapter gives a “general survey of the animal kingdom” in fifty pages. The best chapters, in our opinion, are those on evolution and heredity; many of the other subjects are treated so briefly as to be largely ineffective, e.g. reproduction—agamic, hermaphroditic and bisexual—intrauterine development and certain general considerations are traversed in eight pages, more than two of which are occupied by illustrations. The author should have eliminated a number of loose statements, e.g. that the ilium of the frog “extends dorsally to the scapula,” that the setse of earthworms are arranged in clusters, and should revise his usage of the term nephridium. The illustrations are carefully chosen and well reproduced.
General Zoölogy.
By Prof. H. L. Wieman. (McGraw-Hill Publications in the Zoölogical Sciences.) Pp. ix + 312. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.; London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd., 1925.) 15s. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
[Book Reviews]. Nature 117, 116 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/117116a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/117116a0