322 



NA TURE 



[September i, 1923 



prices, are considered and discussed, and the reasons 

 for the treatment are pointed out. 



The book is the best that we have seen treating 

 of the coconut palm, and should be in \\v I-'tI'^ of 

 every one interested in the industry. 



Department of Applied Statistics {Computing Section), 

 University oj London, University College. Tracts Jor 

 Computers, (i) No. 4 : Tables of the Logarithms of 

 the Complete V-Function to Twelve Figures. Origin- 

 ally computed by A. M. Legendre. Pp. iv + io. 

 192 1. (2) No. 8: Table of the Logarithms of the 

 Complete T-Function (for Arguments 2 to 1200, i.e. 

 beyond Legendre's Range.) By Egon S. Pearson. 

 Pp. x4-i6. 1922. (3) No. 9: Log V{x) from x=i 

 to 50-9 by intervals of -oi. By Dr. John Brownlee. 

 Pp. 23. 1923. (London : Cambridge University 

 Press, 1923.) 35. 9^. net each. 



(i) This tract gives a reprint of Legendre's table 

 originally published in the (now rare) second volume 

 of his " Traite des fonctions elliptiques " (1825). It 

 records the numerical value of log^Q V{p) from i-ooo to 

 2'Ooo, at intervals of o*ooi, to twelve places of decimals, 

 together with the first, second, and third differences for 

 interpolation. 



(2) In the second tract before us we have logj^ Vip), 

 correct to ten decimal places, for values of p at intervals 

 of o-i from 2-0 to 5-0, of 0-2 from 5-0 to 70-0, and of a 

 unit from 70 to 1200. Second and fourth differences 

 are tabulated also, giving all necessary- assistance in 

 evaluating the function for intermediate values of p. 

 From the last entry it can be inferred that r(i20o), 

 or 1 199 !, is an integer of 3173 digits. 



(3) Finally we have logj^ V(j)) tabulated to seven 

 decimals at intervals of o-oi from i-o to 50-9. This 

 pamphlet rounds off the work on the F-function in the 

 present series of tracts. 



The Diseases of the Tea Bush. By T. Fetch. Pp. 

 xii + 220. (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1923.) 

 205. net. 



Thirty years ago planters were inclined, when an 

 outbreak of disease occurred among their crops, to 

 conceal it from general knowledge or observation as 

 much as possible, the result being that little or nothing 

 was known, from a scientific point of view, of the 

 diseases attacking tea. As time has gone on, however, 

 this has altered. Watt and Mann, in 1903, described 

 about a dozen diseases, and in the present volume the 

 number has increased to about sixty. Whether more 

 harm is now being done by disease, however, is very 

 doubtful ; on the whole it is perhaps less. 



The book is prefaced by one of the simplest and 

 best introductions to the study of fungi that we have 

 yet seen. The diseases are treated in order, according 

 to whether they attack leaves only, leaf and stem, 

 stem, or root ; and for each disease the characteristic 

 manifestations are described, with excellent figures of 

 the most important, while at the end of the book 

 instructions are given for the preparation of Bordeaux 

 and other fungicidal mixtures for spraying — a treatment 

 which has come into considerable use during recent 

 years, and leaves but an infinitesimal trace of copper 

 in the tea. 



NO. 2809, VOL. 112] 



Bail und Entstehung der Alpen. Von Prof. Dr. L. 

 Kober. Pp. iv + 283 vSTaf.hi H'-.-rlin • r..!.rr.<l.r 

 Bomtraeger, 1923.) 



Two years ago attention was dirtctca tu I'rui. L. 

 Kober's view that folded mountain-chains are marginal 

 features of a geosynclinal " orogen " nipped Inrtween 

 two mutually approaching masses of " kratogen " in 

 the depths (Nature, vol. 108, October 20, 1921, p. 236). 

 The present work embodies a lucid review of the 

 researches of the last forty years in the Alpine 

 region, which is intimately known to the author from 

 the Pennines to the Transylvanian wall. Through all 

 details, however, he maintains his outlook on the world 

 at large. In neat diagrams he shows how a dual 

 structure is traceable in the western United States, in 

 the Caledonian orogen of Scotland and .Scandinavia, and 

 in the axis of Japan. The floor of the Tethys channel 

 (Fig. 2) has been squeezed up here and there to form 

 mountain bulges from Andalusia to Sumatra, over a 

 distance of 14,000 km. In the Alpine region only, a 

 one-sided character has been imparted to the mountain- 

 mass, and this is due to the fact that the southern 

 marginal range, the Dunaric, has been moved north- 

 ward until part of it overlies the east Alpine sheet. 

 In agreement with H. Roothaan (1918), Prof. Kober 

 (p. 252) places the beginning of Alpine overfolding in 

 Cretaceous times, and the main movements in the 

 Oligocene period. To quote the final words of this 

 stimulating volume, " noch manche Ratsel bercen die 

 Alpen." G. A."j.< 



Colour Index. Edited by Dr. F. M. Rowe. Part 1. 

 Pp. viii + 48. (Bradford: Society of Dyers and 

 Colourists, n.d.) n.p. 



This is the first part of a work that is being published, 

 in fourteen monthly parts, by the Society of Dyers 

 and Colourists, Bradford, with the object of making 

 available, in the English language, to dye users and 

 all interested in colouring matters, the latest informa- 

 tion concerning commercial dyes, their constitution, 

 modes of preparation, and uses. 



Part I deals with the nitroso, the nitro, and a 

 portion of the azo colours, while it is understood that 

 when the work is completed it will contain descriptions 

 of some 1300 distinct synthetic colouring matters. 



The information is set out in tabular form, closely 

 resembling that used in the well-known " Farbstoff- 

 tabellen " of Schultz, but with the welcome addition 

 of ample space for notes, and brought up-to-date by 

 the inclusion of much information that is lacking in 

 the " Farbstofftabellen." 



It is well produced, and is a work that should be in 

 the hands of all who are interested in colouring matters, 

 whether from a scientific or practical point of view. 



The Birth of Psyche. By L. Charles-Baudouin. Trans- 

 lated by F. Rothwell. Pp. xxiii-f2ii. (London: 

 G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd. ; New York : E. P. 

 Dutton and Co., 1923.) 55. net. 



A selection of short memories of childhood written 

 as prose poems with a distinct consciousness of scientific 

 value in their significance. The author has written a 

 preface to the English translation, in which he defends 

 the presentation of scientific material in poetical form. 



i 



