5 MAY 1923, Page 24

Great and Small Things. By Sir Ray Lankester. (Methu3n. 7s.

6d.)

The distinguished author of Science from an Easy-Chair has given us in his new book yet another collection of popular scientific articles. We always thought that in a sense Science from an Easy-Chair was a misnomer ; for, although Sir Ray Lankester's articles can be enjoyed and appreciated without a too great expenditure of effort in an easy-chair, Sir Ray Lankester is surely no armchair scientist. He is a biologist for whose investigation nothing is too great and nothing too small, and in his present collection of papers he relates of "living things ranging from the phagocyte to the gorilla, from the pond-snail to the Russian giant, from facts about longevity to theories as to human progress and the cruelty of Nature."