28 



NA TURE 



[NoyEMBER 8, 1900 



-value that are probably to be found only in these pages, 

 Ave may mention the statement (p. 235) that the pitch- 

 stones of Meissen are melted up, in increasing quantities, 

 for producing bottle-glass, but that difficulties arise from 

 the very ready formation of bubbles in the mass. This 

 at once reminds us of the experiments of Berger, by which 

 obsidians were converted into pumice before the blow- 

 pipe, and of Jndd's far-reaching deductions in connection 

 with the lavas of Krakatoa. 



An appendix gives, in somewhat unnecessary detail, an 

 account of the road-metal used on the Government roads 

 -of Saxony in 1896. The conclusion, however (p. 351), is 

 worth quoting : " Thus, from the group of sandstones, 

 'limestones, dolomites, mica-schists, phyllites, slates, 

 loams and clays, which together form 40 per cent, of the 

 surface of Saxony, no material at all was selected for the 

 •construction of the roads, while only i"94 per cent, of the 

 total road-length was made of sands and gravels, which 

 none the less cover great areas." This surprising fact 

 may be commended to our county surveyors, especially 

 in the limestone districts of Ireland. It is true that in 

 J^ ranee, with a magnificent system of steam-rolling and 

 workmen's caravans, a good road can be made of lime- 

 :Stone, if frequently examined and renewed ; but the 

 failure in such regions as the Cote d'Or plateaux, where 

 the difficulties of our own Cotteswolds are encountered, 

 •shows how much lies in the choice of materials at the 

 outset. Perhaps the eye for minerals, and the natural 

 .aptitude for their extraction, which have made Saxon 

 miners the pioneers of Europe, have found expression also 

 in the accurate choice of road-metal. 



While Dr. Herrmann's work' does not presume to rank 

 as a general text-book, it should be added to our scientific 

 and technical libraries, if only as a record of progress in 

 a State where science is rightly regarded as the inspiring 

 .muse of industry. Grenville A. J. Cole. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



£)ie Mathematik an den Deutschen technischen Hoch- 



schulen. Dr. Erwin Papperitz, (Leipzig : Veit, 1899.) 



Ueber den Plan eines physikalisch-technischen Instituts 



an der Universitdt Gottingen. Felix Klein. (1895.) 

 Die Anforderungen der Ingenieure und die Ausbildung 

 der mathematischen Lehramtskandidaten. Felix Klein. 

 (1896.) 

 These pamphlets are interesting as showing that the 

 •revolutionary ideas brought forward by Prof. Perry on 

 the teaching of mathematics have already begun to 

 agitate the German academic mind ; and that his 

 •ideas concerning the proper method of presenting the 

 principles of the subject, having regard to the require- 

 ments of the student, will receive powerful support in 

 •Germany. 



The cleavage now going on in mathematical thought 

 -was very evident in the recent Physical and Mathe- 

 «natical Congresses, held simultaneously in Paris. The 

 followers of Maxwell and Kelvin found the interest they 

 required in the Physical Congress ; the Mathematical 

 Congress was almost entirely engrossed in the develop- 

 ment of the analytical ideas of Weirstrass. A lover of 

 music nowadays must become a Wagnerian, or run the 

 risk of hearing no music at all ; so, too, the mathema- 

 tician, who is not absorbed in developments of the con- 

 vergency of series, must turn to the physical section for 

 the interest he requires. 



The Cambridge student of old-fashioned mathematical 

 physics, of the school which the foreigner considered 



NO. 1619, VOL. 63] 



worth imitation, is now driven elsewhere, into the 

 National Science Tripos ; and so we find the serious 

 shrinkage in the Mathematical Tripos now in rapid 

 progress. G. 



A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and 

 Accent. By Benjamin Daydon Jackson. Pp. xi -i- 327. 

 (London : Duckworth and Co., 1900.) 

 Mr. Daydon Jackson has laid those who have to con- 

 sult botanical literature under a great obligation by the 

 publication of this excellent and compendious glossary. 

 Such a work was badly needed, and no one possesses 

 greater qualifications for the undertaking of it than Mr. 

 Jackson himself, who has done such good work in other 

 departments of an analogous character. 



The definitions are usually good and concise, and the 

 errors, so far as we have been able to discover them, are 

 surprisingly few. We cannot help, however, expressing 

 our regret that in the definition of the words " axial " and 

 "axile" the author did not emphasise the difference 

 between them which has been insisted on by some of the 

 best writers. Axial should be reserved for structures 

 appertaining to the morphological axis (as distinct from 

 its appendages), axile merely denoting position without 

 reference to the morphological nature of the structure 

 concerned. But it would be unfair to tax Mr. Jackson 

 with a confusion only too apparent in literature in which 

 the two terms are frequently used synonymously. 



It is often of interest to know by whom a term was 

 introduced, as it is thus possible to ascertain exactly the 

 meaning it was originally intended to convey, and it is 

 to be hoped that Mr. Jackson may see his way to give 

 this information in a future edition. Some of the more 

 recently introduced terms are already dealt with in this 

 way in the volume before us, and we cannot but think 

 that an extension in the direction indicated would still 

 further improve what is already an exceedingly valuable 

 work of reference. 



Antropometria. By Dr. R. Livi. Pp. 237. (Milan : 



Hoepli, 1900.) 

 The "Antropometria" of Dr. Livi treats of the subject 

 under three main headings. In Part i. measurements are 

 enumerated and described and their modifying factors re- 

 viewed. Instruction is then given in the treatment of data, 

 with especial reference to the statistical method. Part ii. 

 will be found to contain generalisations based on the fore- 

 going sources of evidence, and expressed in the form of 

 laws regulating the rate of growth in various parts of the 

 body ; some useful notes on the relation of stature and 

 weight are appended to this part. Part iii. is devoted to 

 an exposition of the principles and method of anthropo- 

 metric identification, and a stenographic system of 

 recording observations, similar to that used by Dr. 

 Garson in this country, is suggested. Finally, a long 

 table of indices will be found at the end of the volume. 

 Like Dr. Livi's other work, the present contribution to 

 anthropometric literature is thorough and clear ; the 

 manual will be extremely useful to students and teachers 

 of physical anthropology. 



Elementary Questiofts in Electricity and Magnetism. 



Compiled by Magnus Maclean, D.Sc, and E. W. 



Marchant, D.Sc. Pp. viii -F 59. (London : Longmans, 



Green and Co.) 

 It is sometimes a convenience to teachers and students 

 to possess a collection of questions apart from those 

 often given in text-books. There are 311 questions in this 

 volume, arranged under 24 different headings, referring 

 to various sections of frictional electricity, magnetism 

 and current electricity. In addition, the book contains 

 14 tables of electrical constants, and answers to the 

 numerical questions. The student who works through 

 the exercises in the book will establish his knowledge 

 of electrical principles upon a sound footing. 



