BIOLOGY. By Prof. Patrick Geddes and Prof. J. Arthur Thomson.
(Home University Library. 2s. 6d.) TELE "Home University Library" has made a valuable addition to its series in Biology. There is a wealth of infor- mation in this attractively-written little book, which, con-
sidering its size, manages to give a very comprehensive view of its subject in a form which is easily comprehensible to the lay mind. The style is graphic and rich in colourful metaphor. Much emphasis is laid on the sub-sciences of biology and their relations one to another. The authors distinguish eight primary divisions : Palaeontography, Taxonomy, Ecology, Phylogeny, Embryography, Anatomy, Physiology and Ontogeny ; this array of sciences, each one of which is sufficiently formidable in itself, gives an idea of the vast field covered by biology. The relations of biology to these branches of science and to others less obviously connected, such as Mathematics, Psychology, Logic, &e., are illustrated by dia- grams which are marvellously ingenious, but which are perhaps not so illuminating as a straightforward verbal explanation. In places also the use of metaphor is excessive, a practice which defeats its own object by tending to confuse rather than help the reader. One of the book's most interesting sections deals with the life history of the common eel. We owe our knowledge of the life of the eel to the work of Johann Schmidt, who devoted eighteen years of patient observation to the task of solving its mysteries. The results of his research furnish a striking example of the beauty and romance which a study of biology is able to bring to the light.
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