University of Notre Dame

Review
Author(s): H. J. Van Cleave
Review by: H. J. Van Cleave
Source: The American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Sep., 1940), pp. 499-501
Published by: University of Notre Dame
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2420952
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 Book Reviews

The Invertebrates: Protozoa through Ctenophora. By Libbie HenriettaHyman.

McGraw-Hill Book Company,New York, 1940. xii+726 pages. $7.00.
The fieldof Invertebrate Zoology has outgrownthe relativelystaticconditionin
whichit founditselfa generationago. The journalshave been filledwithindividual
researchesand programsof new developments but no one has previouslyattempted to
give,in English,an analyticand synthetic coveringof thisfield.For an earliergenera-
tion,the CambridgeNaturalHistoryand Lankester'sTreatiseon Zoology reflected the
currentlevel of intimateknowledgeto supplementthe basic materialson morphology
and taxonomyin such familiarclass roomand laboratorytextsas Parker and Haswell
and the Kingsley-Hertwig in verysatisfactorymanner.
To the currentgeneration, the continuationsof Bronn's Tierreichsgave the only
criticalevaluationfor some of the invertebrate phyla until the K?kenthalHandbuch
(1923) came intothe field.While thesevolumesservedthe advanced frontof investi-
gators,who were not excluded fromtheiruse because of theirbeing in a foreign
language,theywere not readily available as referenceworks for the huge body of
zoologicalstudents in Englishspeakingcountries. Furthermore, the pricesat whichthese
setswere sold were prohibitive forinclusionin privatelibrariesand even the individual
volumes,representing limitedfieldsof specialization,were too expensivefor individual
puichase.
A numberof years ago, comprehensive works in English began to make their
appearance in the United States and in Great Britain but all of these have been
confinedto restricted areas of the invertebrate field,such as the subjectsof Proto-
zoology,Entomologyand Parasitology,and still left the fieldwide open for a com-
prehensivecoveringof the realmof the inve?tebrates.Now, for the firsttime,a series
or treatisesis proposedand the initialvolumeraiseshighhopes for continuation of the
series,for Dr. Hyman has givena masterlyanalysisof the materialsand has shown
a familiaritywiththe literaturewhichfew can equal.
The initial volume includes a previewof the entiresystemof classification of
invertebrates,prefacedby a historyof the generalsystemof classification in which
rathersurprising emphasisis placed on the proposalsof the older Germanschool of
phylogeny and promorphology. "Branches"and "Grades" are intioducedas subdivisions
of the SubkingdomMetazoa to show how the phyla may be groupedand such terms
as "Radiata" and "Bilateria" finda place in thesurveyof animalgroups.Dr. Hyman's
positionin thisregardis clearlyexpressedin the followingquotation(page 32) : "The
authorbelieves that groupingsbased upon theoreticalconsiderations such as Proto-
stomia and Deuterostomiashould not be regardedas taxonomicdivisionsbut rather
as convenient teimsforpurposesof discussion."
The authorseems to have worked under the urge to discard names when later
investigatorsby subdividinga group left it with a more limitedinclusion.Thus she
pioposesCnidaria as name forthe phylumCoelenteratabecause the morefamiliarterm
had originallyincludedlikewisethe spongesand ctenophores. Though she rationalizes
such changesin buildingher formalcategoriesof taxonomy, she continuouslyrefersto
"the coelenterates"in the descriptiveportionsof the textand (page 365) states,"But
the word coelenterates is usefuland will be frequently employed."The arbitrary basis
forsuch acceptanceor rejectionis shownby the fact thatin some otherinstancesterms
whichhave becomedistinctly morelimited,thanwhen firstproposed,are acceptedin a
restrictedsense. Radiata, underwhichCuvier embracedcoelenterates and echinoderms
is revivedand modernizedas "Grade I" underthe "Branch Eumetazoa" to accommo-
date thephylaCnidariaand Ctenophora.
Miss Hyman,perhapsrightly, objects (page 32) to the use of Vermesas a phylum
in the K?kenthal-Krumbach Handbuch because this group "can only be definedin
499

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500 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST

general and mostlynegativeterms (i.e., as worm-likeanimals withoutskeletonor

jointedappendages) and which unitesanimalsof remoteand indeterminable relation-
ship while separatinggroupsadmittedly closelyallied, such as annelidsand arthropods,
and echinodermsand Branchiotremata, is futile and confusing."Yet she accepts
Aschelminthes as a phylumunderwhichshe lumpsthe Rotifera,Gastrotricha, Kino-
rhyncha,Nematoda, Nematomorpha, and Acanthocephalaas classes. By definition,
the Aschelminthes have "Intestinemore or less straight,anus posterior,no anterior
ciliatedprojectionexceptin a few rotifers."By thisdefinition, the one negativechar-
acterof "no anteriorciliatedprojections"is the singlepossiblebasis for includingthe
Acanthocephalaunderthisconcept.Furthermore, it seemsto the writerthatmorethan
"a few" of the rotifers have "anteriorciliatedprojections."
Morphologyand morphological nomenclature have been particularly unfortunatein
the extentto which isolated workerson littleknown groupshave developed wholly
unique descriptiveand morphologicaltermswithoutadequate understanding of the
relationsof the structures concernedto structures in othergroups.Both multiplication
of termsfor identicalstructures and applicationof identicaltermsto unrelatedstruc-
tureshave arisenfromthislack of coordination. In the past, therehave been crusaders
who have attemptedto carryon a one-manrevolutionfor uniformity, proposingthe
junkingof all the divergent morphological nomenclature in favorof one uniformseries
of termsapplicable to all groups.A good example was A. D. MacGillivray'swell-
intentionedattemptat standardizationof terminology in insect morphologywhich,
despiteitslogicand its fundamentally soundbasis,nevergainedany considerablefollow-
ing. In a morelimitedmanner,Miss Hyman has proposedmanyrevolutionary changes
in the presentvolume,some of whichmay secure a followingbut doubtlessmany of
her proposalswill littleinfluence practiceof zoologistswho fail to appreciatethe need
foi yet anotherchangeto end all further change."Epidermis"and "gastrodermis" seem
like perfectlylogical termsbut it is hardlyprobablethattheywill ever replace "ecto-
derm" and "entoderm,"even if the latterdo carryan embryonic connotation.In fact,
afterproposinggastrodermis on page 264 the authorlapses intothe use of the familiar
"entodermalepithelium" on page 280 and on page 232 suggeststhatthe two cell layer
in Mesozoa "do notcorrespond to the ectodermand entoderm of Metazoa."
The mechanicsof phylogenetic originof syconidfromasconid type of spongeare
pushed ratherhard in the statement(page 289) that the syconid"is formedby the
outpushing of thewall of an asconidspongeat regularintervalsinto finger-like projec-
tions,called radial canals." An opportunity for expressingthe creativeurge was over-
lookedwhenthe authorrefersrepeatedlyto "hatching"of spongegemmules.
The sectiondealing with recapitulation(page 272) is particularlywell written,
even thoughthe pointof view here advanced is opposedby manyembryologists. The
sentence"Every ontogenyis a compromisebetweenan inheritedancestralmode of
development and adaptivemodifications and adjustments" well expressed.
is particularly
In her consideration of the Protozoa,the authorhas adoptedthe now fairlypopular
interpretation of Protozoa as acellular animalsbut oftenlapses into familiarreference
to cells, as, e.g., (pages 105, 248) in speakingof colonial flagellates she describesthem
as consisting of cells and (page 45) admitsthat"some of the colonial Protozoa are
practicallymulticellular organisms."
Accepting the Doflein groupingof the classes of Protozoa intotwo subphylabased
on thepresenceor absenceof cilia, the author(page 47) has reliedwhollyon presence
of cilia as the one means of diagnosingthe Ciliophoraand neglectsconsideration of
thefactthatcilia and flagellaare morphologically identical.
In characterizing the flatworms (page 33), absence of an anus is the only feature
invokedto distinguish themfromthe nemertines, despite the fact that the literature
includesmorethan incidentalreferenceto instancesof an anus amongthe trematodes.
In explainingcephalization(page 253), no accountis takenof the important role
of the anteriormigration of the mouthfroma primitively mid-ventral to terminalposi-
tion with attendantcorrelatedeffecton longitudinalcondensationof the pre-oral
nervouselementsin the formation of thebrain.

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 BOOK REVIEWS 501

The criticismsvoiced in the foregoingparagraphsare, in the main,minorand over-

emphasison pointsof this sort would be farthestfromthe reviewer'sintention. Dr.
Hyman has incurredthe gratitude of all zoologistsinterested in the invertebrates.
Her
publishershave maintainedthe same excellenceof productionwhich has distinguished
theirseriesof "Publicationsin the Zoological Sciences." It is sincerelyhoped thatDr.
Hymanwill continuewithher proposedseriesof volumescoveringthe remainder of the
groupsof the Invertebrates.?H.J. Van Cleave.

The Branchiobdellidae (Oligochaeta) of North American Crayfishes. By

ClarenceJamesGoodnight.75 pp. 3 pi. IllinoisBiological Monographs,vol. XVII,
no. 3. $1.00.
There is a greatneed of precisemorphological and taxonomicstudyof the smaller
invertebratesof NorthAmerica. The presentwork is a welcomecontribution in this
field.Followinga briefhistoricalresum?,thereis an accountof the morphology drawn
chieflyfromthe literature.Charactersof taxonomicimportance are discussed.There is
a detaileddescriptionof all knownNorthAmericanspeciesof the familybut as stated
by the authoronly a few localitieshave been studied.The authordividesthe family
into two new subfamilies:Branchiobdellinaefor Branchiobdella,and Cambarincolinae
for all othergenera.Four new speciesare described,two in a new genusTriannulata.
A briefdiscussionof the biologyindicatesa lack of hostspecificity
for theseectocom-
mensalsof crayfish;the food consistschieflyof diatoms.The articlesuffersfroma
lack of illustrations
whichare limitedto drawingsof the new species.?L. H. HYMAN.

Fleas of Eastern United States. By IrvingFox. Iowa State College Press, Ames,
Iowa, 1940. vii +191 pp., 31 pis. (166 figs.).$3.00.
Entomologistsin generaland public healthworkersin particularwill welcomethe
publicationof thepresentvolumewhichis thefirstattempt since 1904 to gathertogether
underone coverdescriptions and illustrations
of all knownspeciesof fleasinhabitingthe
United States east of the 100thmeridian.It was in 1904 thatC. F. Baker published
his monographic contributionto our knowledgeof North AmericanSiphonaptera.In
the interveningthirty-sixyears many small papers describingnew genera and species
have appearedand for thisreasonthe taxonomyof the Siphonapterahas becomediffi-
cult,especiallyfor the beginningstudent.
At present,thirty-threegenera includingfifty-fivespecies distributedamong two
subordersand fivefamiliesare knownfor the regionunderdiscussion.One new genus
foran aberrantspeciesof bat fleais proposed.Keys to subordersand familiesare given
in theopeningpages of thework; keysto generaand speciesappear in propersequence
throughthe book. Each genusand speciesis adequatelydescribedand illustrated. The
illustrations
are not in the text,wheretheywould be of mostuse, but are groupedon
platesin theback of thevolume.Indexesof synonyms, hosts,and fleasand a shortbut
reasonablycompletebibliographyare included. This work undoubtedlyfills a long
feltwantand a companionvolumeon thefleasof theWest Coast and Rocky Mountain
regionwould now be in order.?Edward A. Chap?n.

Some Memories of a Paleontologist. By William BerrymanScott.PrincetonUni-

versityPress, Princeton,1939. ? -j" 336 pp., frontispiece
of the authoras he
appearsto-day.$3.75.
The PrincetonUniversity Press on September 2, 1939, publishedthisveryinteresting
volume.It deals witha man who has spentan activelife,done muchin his own par-
ticularfieldof science,traveledextensivelyand associatedwithmostof thedistinguished
scientists
of Europe and America.He describeshis life amongthe people of the places
visitedby him, the Far West in the early days, Europe, South Africa and South
America, revealingthe joys and sorrows,relativelyfew, of a man of high culture,

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