May 20, 1920] 



NATURE 



353 



in body and mind and to remain free from disease. 



. . Successful work on the part of many boys 

 iiid girls is dependent upon this desire becoming 

 strong enough to rule the body." So it is not 

 surprising to read as an exercise to be set to 

 pupils : " Notice what effects tobacco, alcohol, 

 opium, etc., have upon those who use them." 

 But another, "Observe whether tea and coffee 

 affect the health and ' temper ' of parents," makes 

 one wonder whether tactless observation might 

 not have even more effect than the stimulants ! 



Where it follows lines which are already be- 

 coming conventional in America the book is good ; 

 in the more novel parts it is even better. 



.1 Geographical Bibliography of British Ornitho- 

 logy from the Earliest Times to the End of 

 1918. By W. H. Mullens, H. Kirke Swann, 

 and Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain. Part i. Pp. 96. 

 (London: Witherby and Co., 1919.) Price 65. 

 net. 

 Messrs. Mullens and Swaxn have already made 

 ornithologists their debtors by compiling a " Bio- 

 graphical Bibliography of British Ornithology " 

 (completed in 191 7). Of this the present work 

 is a supplement or continuation, the books and 

 articles being now arranged under counties. The 

 Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain has shared the labour. 

 The aim of the authors has been to give an 

 account, as complete as possible, of the literature 

 and records relating to the avifauna of each 

 county. This will be of great value to local 

 workers, and there is good sense in Gilbert 

 White's remark, quoted on the title-page: "Men 

 that undertake only one district are much more 

 likely to advance natural knowledge than those 

 that grasp at more than they can possibly be 

 acquainted with ; every kingdom, every province, 

 should have its own monographer." The labour 

 of making this bibliography must have been very 

 great; it has extended over six years, and has 

 meant the consultation and analysis of a huge 

 mass of literature. There are to be six parts, and 

 those which have appeared represent arduous and 

 useful work well executed. 



The Philosophy of Conflict: and Other Essays in 

 War-Time. By Havelock Ellis. Second series. 

 Pp. 299. (London : Constable and Co., Ltd., 

 1919.) Price 65. 6d. net. 

 Mr. Ellis is likely to find readers for this collec- 

 tion of essays. His social studies turn on sex- 

 problems, often shrewdly handled. His literary 

 and anthropological studies are dominated by his 

 sense of the picturesque. He is arrested by the 

 picture-making metaphors of Conrad, and by the 

 picturesque theories of SoUas in prehistoric 

 anthropology. In his essays in this last group 

 he reminds us of his own portrait of Jung, wander- 

 ing "with random, untrained steps, throwing out 

 brilliant suggestions here and there." But in the 

 essay in which this portrait occurs he is on his 

 own ground, and justifiably dwells on his part in 

 introducing to English readers the picturesque 

 psychology of Freud. 



NO. 2638, VOL. 105] 



Letters to the Editor. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to 

 return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu- 

 scripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No nctice is taken of anonymous communications,'] 



The Cost of Scientific Publications. 



May I add a word to this most interesting dis- 

 cussion from the point of view of the society with 

 which I am most concerned? 



The London Mathematical Society was founded bv 

 De Morgan and others in 1865, and has steadily 

 improved its position until it is admittedly the leading 

 mathematical society in the country. It is a com- 

 paratively small society, and its activities are almost 

 entirely concentrated on the publication of its Pro- 

 ceedings, to which purpose practically its whole 

 income is devoted. It has no paid staff of any kind. 



Before the war the society was able to publish 

 annually about 500 pages of original research, at a 

 cost of some 300^. to 350^. Now a volume of 400 

 pages onlv, costs some 600Z., and such slight increase 

 of income'^as there has been is entirely insufficient to 

 meet the new situation. Most of the members are 

 life-compounders, and it is exceedingly difficult to 

 raise the membership beyond a certain point; it was 

 290 in 1918, and is now about 340. A committee is 

 considering what is possible in the way of economy or 

 increase of charges, but every increase of charges 

 makes it harder to secure new members, and the 

 only substantial economy possible lies in a further 

 limitation of output. 



If the society is to maintain the position won by 

 years of effort before the war, it must at all costs 

 keep up both the quality and the size of its Proceed- 

 ings. In particular it must continue to attract the best 

 work of young mathematicians ; and it cannot do this 

 if it has to hamper them at every turn by incessant 

 demands for condensation. A considerable part of 

 the volumes must always be occupied by the work of 

 men of established reputation, and if they are to be 

 further curtailed it is the younger men who will in 

 the first instance be likely to suffer. 



The society has during the last year been able to 

 obtain some aid from the fund under the control of 

 the Royal Society, but it is plain that the demands 

 on the fund are likely to multiply, and all possible 

 pressure should be brought to bear on the proper 

 authorities to augment it. 



G. H. Hardy, 

 Hon. Sec. London Math. Soc. 



New College, Oxford, May 15. 



In the leading article in Nature of May 6 on the 

 cost of scientific publications, reference is made to 

 the critical financial position of those of our scien- 

 tific societies which have no popular means of adding 

 to their income. The position is serious. The scien- 

 tific worker, upon whom, to a great extent, a scien- 

 tific society depends for maintenance, is rarely in a 

 position to add to his financial obligations, and the 

 interested person from whom the society also receives 

 considerable support is often in a similar position. If 

 a society is to be efficient, the library must be kept 

 up, the standard of publications be maintained, 

 and its salaried staff receive at least a living 

 wage. How is this to. be done ? .Apart from external 

 aid, there are only two ways — by exercise of rigid 

 economy, and by increased contributions from the 

 members. It is not economy to star\'e the library, 

 and economy in publication must be employed with 



