R E V I E W S 627

Doctor Ackerknecht has been pursuing. And we are very much beholden to him.

EARL W. C o r n Hamilton College

MAN’S ANCESTRY. By NT. C. Osman Hill. William Heinemann, Medical Boolrs Ltd., London. 1954. 194 pp. 21/-sh.

The book gives a short account of human phylogeny, stressing, of course, the primate stage about which we know more than about the preceding stages in any event. It starts out with a short considera- tion of the evidence for evolution, then goes over t o the evolutionary horizons of human phylogeny and the evolutionary advance within the chordate phylum. Chapter I V is entitled “Hou7 animals find their way about.” Then follows the emergence of the primates, the rise of the anthropoids, fossil men, and the stage from palaeolithic to the present. A short chapter on some general problems, such as the exact place a t which man branched off and the reasons for the growth of the body leads to the close.

This survey does not do justice to the content, but should help t o circumscribe the scope of the book. The text is well written without, being scintillating o r overly brilliant. Why figure 14 has to be re- peated as figure 26 is not quite clear. It is a drawing of Volvox globator, hardly important enough in a book on physical anthro- pology to be brought twice in fairly rapid succession. The book is up t o date. In suitable appendices the question of the Piltdown skull and the evidence from South Africa are discussed and evaluated.

Being a neurologist, the reviewer was primarily interested in what the author had to say about the growth of the brain. Let it be said a t the outset t.hat the author has something to say about the brain and its growth, in contrast to many older accounts which limit them- selves too exclusively to a discussion of the skeletal parts. But the details are in places misleading. I n the short chapter on how animals find their way about, there is a diagram of a reflex arc which in the form given is wrong. It involres but two neurons. Such arcs exist, but they go from a muscle spindle to the muscle, never from the skin as given in the diagram. Moreover, when it is said that the two neuron reflex arc is the primitive condition, and the intercalation of further neurons is the higher development, t.his. too, is to be taken with a grain of salt. We actually know very little about the question, but what we know would suggest that the two neuron reflex arc is a high stage of development, and that the mass reflexes brought about by a greater number of intercalated neurons is the original condition. This a t least holds true for the spinal cord. A different kind of prin-

628 AMERICAS JOC‘RSAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

ciple seems to govern the growth of the neopallium, but we do not understand that as well as one might wish. That here again the repression of mass reflexes comes first seems fairly clear. I n the footnote on p. 72 we find that “the histology of the motor area is typically primate.” I n what way does the motor area of primates differ from that of non-primates! Is this a misprint for visual area? What is (p. 78) the evidence that the mangabey is able to distinguish color better than man? And a little further down, it is said that the representation of the sense of hearing is quite extensive and intimately coupled with other sensory areas of the brain. Accounts generally stress how small the area of hearing is. ( In the human brain i t is actually only a few square centimeters large.) That macaques can unravel knots seems most unlikely, even to chimpanzees a knotted cord is incomprehensible. That the increase in bulk of the brain is larger than can be accounted for by size is not true. That evidence suggests the appearance of right-handedness in the Ehrings- dorf cranium, is far fetched, to put it mildly. Some omissions are also of interest : there is no reference in the index to speech or language, and the problems connected with it are not even touched upon.

But no first attempt is successful in every detail. It remains t,o the credit of the author to have given at least some neurology, and that is worth a lot,. If he had read Coghill, Herrick, and LeGros Clark, and perhaps something by Lloyd, that might have helped him considerably.

One question finally: Who is Yvagge Hill who made so many of the drawings which appear in the book but who is nowhere given thanks for it9

The book is a good clear account of the phylogeny of man, and can be read with advantage not only by the intelligent layman, but by the professional student as well.

GERHARDT VON BONIN Univmsity of Ilbunk

THE SCIENCE O F NAK. By Titiev, Mischa. pp. 1467 . Henry Holt & Company, New York. 1954.

The author of this introductory text sets forth to demonstrate “that all phases of man’s biological and cultural behavior form an integrated theme that legitimately makes up a single discipline. ” The result is a well written and orderly presentation of the subject matter and methods of anthropology, without special pleading for any one school of thought. I n the belief that biological considerations are prior to and underlie all forms of biocultural behavior the first one third of the book is devoted primarily to physical anthropology. This