October 20, 192 1] 



NATURE 



237 



stance of the earth. A mountain-range denotes a 

 lateral shrinkage of the outer crust. The portion 

 of the earth that includes the geosynclinal masses 

 and the resulting mountains is styled the 

 " orogen " ; the old and consolidated blocks are 

 styled the " kratogen " — presumably because they 

 exercise force upon the yielding orogen. All 

 crust-disturbances originate in centripetal down- 

 ward movement. 



The immense part played by a forward move- 

 ment that is largely gravitational is well shown in 

 the treatment of the Alpine chains. Prof. Kober 

 opposes the views of Suess as to the relationship 

 of a general southward * movement in Asia to a 

 northward movement (a Riickfaltung) in Europe, 

 and he urges that in both continents southerly 

 and northerly thrusting may be traced. He intro- 

 duces a number of useful conceptions. In the ap- 

 parent absence of Mesozoic marine sediments 

 round the Atlantic border he sees evidence of 

 their recent submergence beneath the ocean. 

 Africa is considered to be a vast block compressed 

 within a ring provided by the Alpine orogen. 

 Prof. Kober's treatise includes his own observa- 

 tions in the unfamiliar field of Syria, and his broad 

 outlook maintains the tradition of the school in- 

 spired by Suess. Suess, continually revising his 

 views in the light of later knowledge, raised more 

 problems than even his long life could solve. We 

 are still far from picturing earth-structure as 

 bound by symmetry and rule. 



Grenville A. J. Cole. 



Our Bookshelf. 



Tychonis Brake Opera Omnia. Tomi Ottinti 

 Fasciculus Prior: Astronomiae Instauratae 

 Mechanica (1598); In Solis et Lunae Mottis 

 Restitutos ac Sequens Diarium Prolegomena 

 (1598); Specimen Diarii Anni 1599 (1598); 

 Ephemerides Solis Annorutn 1586-1592. Pp. 

 213. (K<^benhavn : Gyldendalske Boghandel, 

 1921.) 

 Ix this volume, or rather in this fasciculus, we 

 are given some of the most interesting if not the 

 most important works of Tycho Brahe. The 

 title-page of the volume with the editor's name 

 appears to be reserved for the second fasciculus, 

 but it is probably safe to conjecture that the new 

 volume, like its predecessors, has been produced 

 by Dr. Dreyer. The first of these works was 

 printed at Tycho Brahe's press at Wandsbek in 

 the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, where he was the 

 guest of Heinrich of Rantzau. Thither he had 

 transported his observations and most of his 

 instruments in consequence of a disagreement 

 with King Christian IV. which had led him to 

 leave Denmark. He was now seeking a new- 

 patron, and his eyes turned lo the Emperor 

 NO. 2712, VOL. 108I 



Rudolf II., to whom this work is dedicated. It 

 is in effect an attempt — as it happened, a success- 

 ful attempt — on the part of the author to com- 

 mend himself and his work to the emperor, and 

 it contains an illustrated account of the structure 

 and use of each of his instruments, an auto- 

 biography with an account of his achievements 

 and projects, and an appendix describing his 

 observatory- at Hveen. The remaining works are 

 now printed for the first time. The most impor- 

 tant of them is the Prolegomena, which occupies 

 twentA-five pages and treats generally the impor- 

 tance of the sun and moon in the universe and 

 the corrections which the author has introduced 

 into their theorA-. 



On the whole it may be said that while these 

 works do not contain any discovery which is not 

 more fully treated elsewhere, they give us as 

 good a conspectus as we could desire of his powers 

 and achievements as an astronomer, and in the 

 main his own judgment of his work is confirmed 

 bv the subsequent progress of science. His chief 

 distinction lies in his genius in devising and his 

 industry and ingenuity in using astronomical 

 instruments, in which he stands immeasurably 

 above all his predecessors. In his revision of 

 constants and of theory he shows no genius, but 

 a capacity which entitles him to rank next, per- 

 haps, to Hipparchus and Copernicus. We shall 

 doubtless be able to estimate his work better when 

 the second fasciculus appears with the editor's 

 notes. J. K. F. 



Icones Planiarum Formosanarum necnon et Con- 

 tribittiones ad Floram Formosanam. By 

 Bunzo Hayata, Rigakuhakushi. Vol. 10. Pp. 

 iv 4-335. (Taihoku : Bureau of Productive In- 

 dustries, Government of Formosa, 192 1.) 

 Dr. Hayata has devoted twenty years to the 

 study of the vegetation of the island of Formosa, 

 which, lying directly under the tropic of Cancer, 

 and possessing mountain ranges rising more than 

 10,000 ft. above sea-level, presents almost every 

 kind of climatal and topographical feature, with 

 an • extraordinarily rich flora embracing tropical, 

 temperate, and even alpine elements. Climatic 

 conditions and the activity- of the head-hunters of 

 the interior had restricted exploration to the 

 coastal regions before the acquisition of the island 

 bv Japan. Dr. A. Henry's "List of Plants from 

 Formosa " (1896), the first attempt to outline the 

 flora, included 1428 species. This number has 

 been nearly trebled by Dr. Hayata 's efforts since 

 his first visit to the island in 1900, and by later 

 visits, as well as bv his elaboration of collections 

 made by other botanists. The present volume, 

 the last of the series, includes an index to the 

 ten volumes, comprising 3658 species of flower- 

 ing plants and ferns, representing 1197 genera 

 and 170 families. More than 1200 species are 

 new, and among the new genera is the remarkable 

 conifer, Taiwania. The volumes are profusely 

 illustrated and form a ver>- valuable contribution 

 to the taxonomic study of an area of special 

 interest. 



