APRIL 7, 1904] 
NATURE 
31 
on 
dale, who states that there is no support whatever to 
the story told by a Chinaman to Dr. Wallace as to the 
flying powers of Rhacophorus nigropalmatus, or a 
closely allied form. Consequently, it may be hoped 
that the fable of the flying frog will disappear from 
zoological literature—but errors of this sort die hard. 
Mr. Annandale notices that certain kinds of Malay 
reptiles are much more brilliantly coloured in the 
immature than in the adult condition, and likewise 
records that the giant cobra (Naia bungarus) is the 
object of mimicry by a harmless snake of the genus 
Zamenis, typified by the Indian rat-snake. 
Of the invertebrates included in the first section 
Colonel Swinhoe treats of the moths, and shows in 
the course of his descriptions that these insects do not 
display that division into a lowland and a mountain 
type so noticeable in the case of the birds. Land- 
planarians, of which one out of the three specimens 
procured indicates a new species, are described by Mr. 
F. F. Laidlaw. The six species of parasitic Diptera 
collected—the first recorded from Malacca—are dis- 
cussed by Dr. Speiser. Tiger-beetles are treated of by 
Mr. H. C. Robinson. Finally, dragon-flies fall to the 
lot of Mr. Laidlaw, who tells us that in respect of 
these insects the fauna of the Malay Peninsula, as 
contrasted with its Burmese representative, is much 
more closely related to that of Sumatra. 
Part ii. includes seven articles (together with an 
appendix), of which the first four are devoted to inver- 
tebrates. Mr. W. E. Collinge describes the land mol- 
luses, among which the discovery of one remarkable 
Bornean genus in the Malay Peninsula is of consider- 
able interest. Rhynchota, of which only a portion of 
the collection is described, fall to the lot of Mr. W. L. 
FIRM FOUNDATIONS. 
Vorlesungen tiber projektive 
F. Enriques. Deutsche 
Fleischer. Pp. xiv+374. 
Geometrie. 
Ausgabe 
By Prof. 
von Dr. H: 
(Leipzig : Teubner, 1903.) 
Encyklopddie der Klementar-Mathematik. Von H. 
Weber und J. Wellstein. Erster Band. Elementare 
Algebra und Analysis. Von H. Weber. Pp. 447- 
(Leipzig : Teubner, 1903.) Price 8 marks. 
od gee fact that Prof. Enriques’s book has been trans- 
lated from the original Italian into German 
| at the instigation of Prof. Klein argues much for both 
its intrinsic merit and its widespread reception; for 
it is designed to fall within the scope of readers to 
whom the foreign language presents a greater diffi- 
culty than the subject-matter. The warm praise 
bestowed by Prof. Klein in his introductory notice 
renders criticism superfluous. He says, ‘ich kenne 
keines (Werk), welches den systematischen Autbau 
dieser Disziplin in einer dem heutigen Stande der 
Wissenschaft entsprechenden Form in so durchsicht- 
iger und gleichzeitig so vollstandiger Weise darbote, 
wie das vorliegende. Dabei ist die Darstellung 
uberall anschaulich und doch vdéllig streng. . .”’ 
Probably the best known book on the subject is 
Reye’s ‘* Geometrie der Lage,’’ and in the region where 
the two overlap the present volume is, speaking per 
sonally, much more readable. Reye, however, includes 
a large amount of solid geometry, reaching even 
Kummer’s surface by synthetic methods, whereas. 
Enriques devotes all but one chapter to plane 
geometry. He makes continual appeal to intuition, 
| but at the same time skilfully bases his system on 
Distant, who records several new forms, illustrated in | 
a coloured plate. Dr. D. Sharp contributes an interest- 
ing account of the remarkable and gigantic insects of 
the genus Helicopris. In the vertebrate section, Mr. 
G. A. Boulenger contributes a list of the freshwater 
fishes; while Mr. J. Johnston reports on the marine 
representatives of that group. Especially interesting 
is a species of mud-skipper of the genus Perioph- 
thalmus described by the latter gentleman as new, 
owing to a marked difference in its habits from other 
species. Finally, Dr. C. W. Andrews contributes a 
note on a tooth of Elephas namadicus, in the course of 
which he makes the apparently incorrect statement that 
the species in question occurs in the Upper Siwaliks, 
whereas it is confined, in India, to the gravels of the 
Narbada Valley. 
While fully appreciating the manner in which this 
section of the work has been carried out, we may 
suggest that it would much facilitate reference if in 
future, instead of the serial title appearing in the head- 
lines of both pages of the text, the titles of the different 
articles were given on the right-hand pages. 
In the supplement Messrs. Annandale and Robin- 
son furnish, in the form of an itinerary, a brief general | 
account of the districts visited, which cannot fail to 
be of great value to future travellers. In addition to 
several photographs of scenery, it contains an excel- 
lent coloured map of the middle portion of the Malay 
Peninsula. Res 
NO. 1797, VOL. 69] 
rigorous logical deductions from six axioms, without 
becoming tedious. Of the axioms, three deal with 
incidence, two with order, and the last is Dedelind’s 
axiom of continuity. 
Since cross ratio occupies so large a portion of the 
book, it is unfortunate that the notation is rather 
confusing ; the elements should be named in the order. 
in which they would actually occur if the range were 
harmonic. There is great practical convenience in 
doing this, and it is customary at least in this country. 
An interesting feature of the book is the chapter on 
constructions with certain instruments. It is shown 
that all metrical problems of the first degree are 
soluble with the aid of a ruler when a square is given, 
and all problems soluble with ruler and compasses 
are soluble with a two-edged ruler alone. Certain 
problems of the third degree appear here for the first 
time in a text-book. 
The volume concludes with a_ short historical 
account, which has been increased in the German 
edition. 
The title of the series of three volumes by Herren 
Weber and Wellstein is possibly appropriate, but 
certainly misleading, as it suggests a comparison with 
the great ‘‘ Encyklopadie der mathematischen Wissen- 
schaften ’’? which is in course of publication by the 
same firm; whereas there is no similarity, and the 
present work is written more from a pedagogic point 
of view than with the intention of supplying an ex- 
haustive work of reference. One can imagine the 
