NATURE 



431 



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1912. 



PRODUCTION AND THE PUBLIC 

 REVENUE. 

 Principles of Economics. Vol. ii. By Dr. N. G. 

 Pierson. Translated from the Dutch by A. A. 

 Wotzel. Pp. xxiii + 64S. (London: Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 105. net. 



THERE is much to be said both for and 

 against the method adopted by the late 

 Dr. Pierson of treating Value in Exchange and 

 Money first, and dealing afterwards with Produc- 

 tion and Public Revenue in the volume before us. 

 Certainly some of the treatment has been 

 narrowed, because much that rightly belongs to 

 production has found a place in the earlier chap- 

 ters, but the author has dealt admirably with the 

 remaining phases of the subject. 



His opening chapter reminds us that to define 

 production in an economic sense is far from easy. 

 He holds that such production is confined to 

 material goods, either taking the form of increas- 

 ing them in quantitv, or bringing them into a con- 

 dition to afford greater utility. He refuses to 

 admit any production of immaterial utilities within 

 his definition, thus taking too little account of 

 "productive powers." J. S. Mill, it may be re- 

 membered, talked of "utilities fixed and embodied 

 in human beings," which included those qualities 

 that make a man industrially efficient. A truer 

 view, therefore, would hold that production, as 

 understood in economics, includes the creation or 

 preservation of such powers, whether the labour 

 consist of training producers or restoring them, 

 when sick, to full health and vigour. The nar- 

 rower definition, however, has some advantage in 

 clearness. 



Production, as thus defined, is considered in 

 relation to Self-interest, Population, Protection, 

 and Land Tenure. The author was fundamentally 

 opposed to Socialism, but no blind adherent of 

 laissez-faire. Its defects are well illustrated in 

 connection with depressions and crises and the 

 interest of the working classes, and a strong point 

 is made of those influences which act ultimately 

 and mainly for good, but only after causing 

 serious losses to individuals. Such faults are 

 further aggravated by a too rapid growth of 

 population, and Dr. Pierson gives ' a powerful 

 criticism of the principle of Malthus and a re- 

 statement of it in the light of modern conditions. 

 The final chapter of this part contains an admir- 

 able historical and descriptive treatment of land 

 tenure in different countries. 



The revenue of the State is of three kinds, or 

 four if loans may be regarded as a source of income 

 NO. 2251, VOL. 90] 



of the same order as the others. These are, first, 

 returns from public domains or enterprises run 

 on business lines; secondly, fees paid for a "mea- 

 surable special benefit," or service performed by 

 the State, in cases where there is a "predominant 

 public purpose " and profit-making is a secondary 

 consideration; and, thirdly, taxes, or "compulsory 

 contributions from the public funds," which do 

 not consist of special payments for some service 

 rendered. The latter naturally occupy most of 

 the space, and are treated in two chapters on the 

 pressure and regulation of taxation. It only re- 

 mains to add that Mr. Wotzel's really admirable 

 translation shows to the best advantage the many 

 merits of the book. For whilst some of its views 

 may or may not meet with acceptance, its force, 

 lucidity, and suggestiveness will scarcely be called 

 in question. N. B. Dearle. 



CHEMICAL BOOKS AND TABLES. 

 (i) Landolt-Bornstein physikalisch-chemische Ta- 

 hellen. Vierte Auflage. Herausgegeben von Dr. 

 Richard Bornstein und Dr. Walther A. Roth. 

 Pp. xvi-M3i3. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1912.) 

 Price 56 marks. 



(2) The Elements of Qualitative Chemical Analyn<:. 

 With special consideration of the application of 

 the Laws of Equilibrium and of the Modern 

 Theories of Solution. By Prof. J. Stieglitz. 

 Parts i. and ii.. Fundamental Principles and their 

 Application. Pp. xi-l-312. Price 1.40 dollars. 

 Parts iii. and iv.. Laboratory Manual. Pp. viii 

 + 151. Price 1.20 dollars. (New York : The 

 Century Co., 1911-12.) 



(3) A College Text-Book on Quantitative Analysis. 

 By Prof. H. R. Moody. Pp. vi+165. (New 

 York : The Macmillan Company ; London : 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 55. 6d. 

 net. 



(4) A Laboratory Maniuil in Chemistry . By Prof. 

 W. C. Morgan and Prof. J. A. Lyman. Pp. 

 xiii+142. (New York: The Macmillan Com- 

 pany; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1912.) 

 Price IS. 8d. net. 



(5) Elementary Chemical Theory and Calculations. 

 By Dr. J. Knox. Pp. vii+103. (London: 

 Gurney and Jackson, 1912.) Price 2^. net. 



(i) 'T^HE new edition of the Landolt-Bornstein 

 \_ tables has been very greatly enlarged 

 and covers nearly 500 pages more than the pre- 

 vious edition. Almost every section of the tables 

 has contributed to this increase : it is therefore 

 impossible to direct attention to all the features 

 which are characteristic of the new edition. There 

 is, however, a marked development in the use of 

 graphic methods which will be very widely wel- 

 comed. Thus the equilibrium-diagrams for 



R 



