2 ;2 



NATURE 



[January 8, 190J 



practical photographer is sure to find serviceable either in his 

 studio or out in the field. Thus we have a brief guide for 

 correct exposure for various kinds of plates and light, tables of 

 enlargement and reduction for telescopic lenses, how to find 

 south without a compass in order to fix the time of best light- 

 ing, the metric and British systems of weights and measures and 

 their connection one with the other, photographic temperatures 

 and a comparison of different thermometer scales, &c. These 

 cards, eight in number, can be obtained from the office of the 

 Phologram by forwarding one penny stamp, and they are valu- 

 able and useful for the money. 



The theory of the dimensions of units in the electrostatic 

 and electromagnetic systems lias on various occasions been 

 criticised. A short note dealing critically with dimensions of 

 physical units in general is given by Dr. Ladislaus Gorczyrfski 

 in the Physikalische Zeitschrift, iv. 5. In thermodynamics, the 

 author points out that the dimensions of temperature should not 

 be omitted from the expressions for the dimensions of such 

 quantities as thermal conductivity, specific heat and entropy, 

 and he introduces the dimensions of Iv and 11 into the electrical 

 systems. Merr Gorczyriski supports the position assumed by 

 Schreber and disagrees with • certain views expressed by 

 Hesehus. In particular, he considers that the assumption of a 

 relation of the form v = s 'ejJ connecting the "v" of electro- 

 magnetism with elasticity and density is unjustifiable. The 

 general conclusion is that the conventional treatment of dimen- 

 sions of units is unsatisfactory, and that it is not at present 

 possible satisfactorily to express the dimensions of all physical 

 units in terms of those of the three fundamental units of length, 

 time and mass alone. It is certainly safer to introduce too 

 many fundamental units the dimensions of which are treated as 

 independent of one another than to cut down the number by 

 regarding the measure of any physical quality as a dimensionless 

 number. 



The first report on a chemical and physical study of the soils 

 of Kent and Surrey has been issued by the South-eastern Agri- 

 cultural College, at Wye, by Mr. A. D. Hall and Mr. F. J. 

 Plymen (1902). The object is eventually to accumulate such a 

 series of analyses of the soils, chemical and mechanical, as will 

 enable the College, when given the situation of any field, to 

 indicate in a general way the kind of manures wanted for each 

 particular crop. The two counties are not much covered with 

 drift deposits, and these are depicted on the one-inch Geological 

 Survey map, but the pressing need of a geological map on the 

 six-inch scale is pointed out. The present report deals only 

 with the soils resting upon the London Clay, Chalk and Gault. 

 B/ procuring samples of soils from each geological formation in 

 a number of localities, a good general knowledge of them has 

 been obtained. Particulars of these, with methods of analyses, 

 are given. With regard to the Gault soils, it is remarked that 

 the most profitable use to make of them "is to keep them or 

 lay them down as permanent pasture." On both London Clay 

 and Chalk there is considerable variety of soil, and recommend- 

 ations are made on the cultivation of different areas. 



A second edition of Dr. A. J. Ewart's " First Stage Botany" 

 has been published by Mr. W. B. Clive. Several additions and 

 alterations have been made. 



The second volume of Prof. Wundt's "Grundzitge der 

 physiologischen Psychologie" has been received from Mr. W. 

 Engelmann, Leipzig. The first volume was noticed a short 

 time ago (November 6, 1902, p. 2), and an estimate of the value 

 of this great work can be obtained from that review. After the 

 work has been completed, a notice of the new volumes will 

 appear. 



NO. 1732, VOL. 67] 



The three essays which were successful in the recent com- 

 petition for the erection of a sanatorium for tuberculosis, 

 initiated by His Majesty the King, are reprinted in full in the 

 current number of the Lancet, with reproductions of the plans 

 of the buildings. The essays are valuable epitomes of modern 

 knowledge of the cause, prevention and cure of tuberculosis. 



We have received from Messrs. Isenthal and Co. their latest 

 catalogue and price list of apparatus for radiography and general 

 electro-medical work. The list is a very complete one and shows 

 that the firm is in a position to supply all the apparatus needed 

 in this class of work, from single pieces of the simplest type to 

 full sets made up into suitable cabinets. We note also that the 

 firm arranges for courses of lessons in the use of the apparatus 

 for those who desire it. 



The "Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes" for 1903 has 

 been published by M. Gauthiei Villars, Paris. This compact 

 little volume contains, as usual, a mass of information indispen- 

 sable both to the man of science and to the engineer. Among 

 the contents of the volume may be specially mentioned the 

 contribution by M. R. Radau, on shooting stars and comets, 

 and that by M. 1. Janssen, on science and poetry. The 

 discourses delivered at the funerals of MM. Cornu and Faye are 

 also included in this year's issue of the annual. 



Three new volumes of the first annual issue of the Inter- 

 national Catalogue of Scientific Literature have been received, 

 and are similar in character to those already described. The 

 subjects of the volumes are physics (part i.), meteorology 

 (including terrestrial magnetism) and mechanics. The second 

 part of the catalogue of physical papers will shortly be published 

 and will complete the volume on physics. The two volumes on 

 meteorology and mechanics are each complete in themselves, and 

 the portions of the scientific literature of 1901 not included in 

 them will form a part of the second annual issue of the Cata- 

 logue. 



Mr. W. Engelmann, Leipzig, has issued two new volumes 

 in < Islwald's series of scientific classics. As is well known, each 

 volume in this series contains one or more papers which have 

 influenced the progress of science, selected from the works of 

 investigators of various nationalities and translated into German 

 when written in other languages One of the volumes recently 

 published contains series xiv. and xv. of Faraday's experi- 

 mental investigations in electricity, translated from the Philo- 

 sophical Transactions of 183S and edited by Dr. A. J. von 

 Oettingen ; the other volume (No. 132) contains a translation 

 of two papers by Andrews, on the continuity of the gaseous 

 and liquid states of matter, from the Phil. Trans, of 1869 and 

 1876, edited by Dr. Arthur von Oettingen and Prof. K. 

 Tsuruta. 



We have before us the forty-second yearly issue of the British 

 Journal of Photography, edited by Mr. Thomas Bedding (Henry 

 Greenwood and Co., Strand), and a glance at this bulky volume, 

 which contains nearly 1600 pages, of which about 600 are text 

 matter, is sufficient to indicate its vigorous and healthy con- 

 dition. The book is arranged on similar lines to those of its 

 predecessors, and will be found a mine of interesting, practical and 

 useful information on photographic topics. Among some of the 

 contents may be mentioned a very complete list of the officers 

 of photographic societies in the United Kingdom, America and 

 on the continent, a large collection of photographic formulae and 

 recipes in both the English and metric systems, chapters on 

 photomicrography with bibliography by the editor, a summary 

 of the recent novelties in apparatus, &c, since the publication 

 of the last almanac, practical notes and suggestions of the year, 

 and an epitome of the year's progress, in which is given a rhumi 

 of the more important discoveries and improvements. Scattered 



