Abstract
THIS is a very good little book. It presents the main facts bearing on the theory of descent, which have been ascertained of recent years, within a convenient compass. The account of variability is very useful, but what will probably be found of greatest use to German readers will be the author's epitome of the mutation theory and his account of elementary species in Draba and Viola, of which there are some very useful figures. His chapter on the natural system of classification is very interestingly written; he deals at length and is evidently very much interested in the question of the minute discrimination rendered possible by a long training of the observation, and he mentions a bulb dealer who knows more than a thousand varieties of hyacinths from the dry bulbs alone. His concluding chapter embodies an attempt to hold the scales between the mutation theory and the theory of the selection of continuous variations. The author makes an unequivocal declaration in favour of the theory of mutation; his thoughtful analysis of the evidence on this question should ensure the book a wide circulation. It is to be hoped that it may be translated into English.
Die Abstammungslehre.
By Dr. P. G. Buekers. Pp. xi + 354. (Leipzig: Quelle and Meyer, 1909.) Price 4.40 marks.
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Die Abstammungslehre . Nature 86, 482 (1911). https://doi.org/10.1038/086482d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/086482d0