304 



NATURE 



[January 14, 1909 



series.) Then there are two papers on the motion of 

 a rig-id body containing a well-known addition to 

 Poinsot's theory; these show admirably Sylvester's 

 power of combining analytical and geometrical 

 methods. Finally, there are the notes of his King's 

 College lectures on the partition of mimbers, which, 

 in spite of their fragmentary form, supply some very 

 interesting- reading. They contain, practically, an 

 outline of three distinct methods, that of combining 

 a deficient set of linear equations, that of partial 

 fractions, derived from Euler's generating function, 

 and a barycentric method, or rather a barycentric way 

 of stating the problem and its solution, especially w-ith 

 regard to its definite or indefinite character. 



Among the numerous short notes there are many 

 of permanent mathematical interest; for example, 

 those on the twenty-seven lines of a cubic surface, on 

 the involution of si.\ lines in space, on the problem 

 of the fifteen virgins, and so on. But, quite apart 

 from their scientific importance, there is not one of 

 these papers which is not entertaining or fails to 

 illustrate the quaint personality of the author. His 

 passion for coining new terms ; his raids upon the 

 Hebrew alphabet ; his amusing accounts of the 

 genesis of this or that theorem ; such things raise a 

 smile on the face of the reader. But the student of 

 Sylvester's work who realises the power of his intel- 

 lect and his thoroughly genial and magnanimous 

 character, will end by adopting the attitude of the 

 Eastern lover, who compares the mole on his 

 mistress's cheek to a grain of musk or ambergris, 

 which only enhances her charms. 



Nearly at the end of the volume is reproduced 

 .Sylvester's presidential address to the British Associa- 

 tion. This is memorable for the fact that in the 

 course of it Sylvester scores a point against Huxley — 

 a thing of which not many would be able to boast. 

 Huxley, in an unguarded moment, had declared that 

 mathematics was " that study which knows nothing 

 of observation, nothing of induction, nothing of ex- 

 periment, nothing of causation," an assertion which 

 Sylvester triumphantly and conclusively shows to be 

 .-mything but the truth. This address, and many of 

 his occasional utterances, show Sylvester's intense 

 conviction of the iniportance and dignity of mathe- 

 matical science per se, a conviction that should be 

 shared and expressed by every mathematician, for 

 there is always a risk of the fact being forgotten and 

 the science being neglected, or, still worse, patronised. 



Finally, the appendix contains an amusing polemic 

 between Sylvester, G. H. Lewes and others, on the 

 metaphysical nature of space. Like most such con- 

 troversies, it is nearly, if not quite, a mere logomachy, 

 but it was worth reprinting on account of the emin- 

 ence of the principal combatants. 



The papers, as originally printed, swarm with 

 clerical errors, so that Dr. Baker has no enviable 

 task to perform as editor. To all appearance, the 

 necessary corrections have been made in the most 

 complete manner, and the printing of the text, with 

 its complicated formulae, and sometimes uncouth 

 symbols, leaves nothing to be desired. 



G. B. M. 

 NO. 2046, VOL. 79] 



.4 GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIA. 

 Russland. By A. von Krassnow and A. VVoeikow. 

 l.dndcrkundc von Europa. By A. Kirchhoff. Third 

 Part. Pp. viii + 336; 18 plates, 21 figures. (Vienna : 

 F. Tempsky ; Leipzig : G. Freytag, 1907.) Price 

 22 marks. 



THF- growing use of the Russian language for 

 scientific publication in Russia renders summaries 

 of existing knowledge about that vast country in- 

 creE^singly necessary. We accordingly welcome this 

 authoritative account of the geography of European 

 Russia by Prof, von Krassnow, of Kharkhov, pub- 

 lished in Kirchhoff's " Unser Wissen von der Erde," 

 of which it forms the third volume of the series on 

 Europe. The book labours under one serious dis- 

 advantage. It is printed in the old eye-straining Ger- 

 man type, and readers who are careful of their eyesight 

 will prefer works printed in characters that can be 

 read with less fatigue. 



The volume is closely printed, its information is 

 detailed and concise, and it is illustrated by iS maps 

 and 21 other figures, all given as blocks in the text. 

 The sketch-maps and sections are so useful that we 

 can only regret that there are not more of them. 



The geography of Russia has many problems of 

 especial interest, as it is the most truly continental 

 State in Europe, and is inseparably linked with Asia. 

 It offers the most complete contrast available in 

 Europe between typically continental conditions and 

 those of the peninsulas of western Europe. Whereas 

 England has one mile of coast line to twenty-seven 

 square miles of land, Russia has only one mile of coast 

 to every 260 square miles. Its climate marks clearly 

 the effect of this continental character, and present 

 knowledge of the climate of Russia is summarised in 

 one of the most important chapters in the volume 

 which is contributed by Prof. A. Woeikow. 



The geography of Russia reflects in the wide range 

 of its units the comparative simplicity of its geological 

 structure. The constituent elements are developed on 

 so great a scale that Russia exhibits the phenomena 

 of marine transgressions with a clearness equalled in 

 no other State of Europe. Ancient rocks are not very 

 extensively developed, for so much of the country is 

 deeply buried under drifts; but old rocks form the 

 wide " Russian platform " of Suess in south-western 

 Russia, and build up the long chain of the Urals. 

 There is a valuable chapter on the geography of the 

 Ural Mountains, which brings out clearly its essential 

 structure as a dissected mountain chain with a 

 meridional direction, formed by folding and followed 

 by the displacement of earth-blocks. The population 

 of Russia includes an interesting mixture of races; 

 but it is, however, relatively small, aumbering in 

 European Russia less than fifty per square mile. 

 Much of the country is sparsely occupied ; of the whole 

 area of European Russia only 26 per cent, is arable 

 land, 19 per cent, is waste, and 39 per cent, is forest. 

 So much of the land being unoccupied, it is not sur- 

 prising that Russian cartography is backward, and 

 in spite of the distinction of Russian geodesists we 

 are told that the triangulation is incomplete for great 

 parts of the country. 



