The Last Link : our Present Knowledge of the Descent
of Man. By Ernst Haeckel (Jena). With Notes and Biographical Sketches by Hans Gadow, F.R.S. (Cambridge). (A. and C. Black. 28. 6d.)—The substance of this little book consists of the address delivered by Professor Haeckel at the Fourth Inter- national Congress of Zoology at Cambridge, on August 26th, 1398. It consists of a lucid exposition of the evidence in favour of the view that man is directly descended from ape-like ancestors ; and these, again, from older forms of vertebrata, &c. As regards the ultimate origin of life, Professor Haeckel writes : "I assume that the first Monera owe their existence to spontaneous creation out of so-called anorganic combinations, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen," and he refers to his " Generelle Morphologie" for explanations. Dr. Gadow's contributions to his friend's work, which he has edited and annotated, consist of biographical sketches of ten distinguished morphologists, from Lamarck to Haeckel, and supplementary essays on the "Theory of Cells," "Factors of Evolution," and "Geological Time and Evolution." The last is interesting, but contains several state- ments which we can hardly accept ; 3000 B.C. is said to be "beyond the ken of history," and d proves of the calendar, the Russians are said to be "nearly two weeks behind the civilised nations." Are they, theret re, to be classed as "uncivilised"?
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