August 13, 190 j 



NA TURE 



341 



lions of the Old World will be kept on file available 

 for consultation at the Library of Congress. 



The names of the societies are placed in alphabetical 

 order in various sections, the first containing the 

 national societies of the United States, and the second, 

 local societies and institutions; these together occupy 

 426 pages out of a total of 537. The volume contains 

 twenty-four pages of addenda and corrections, and an 

 excellent index of thirty pages. 



Each entry commences with the official name of 

 the society or institution, its postal address, and the 

 name of the official, if any, to whom communications 

 should be addressed. Notes of its history are given, 

 including dates of foundation and incorporation and 

 changes of name and organisation, and if it possesses 

 a library the number of volumes is stated; its object; 

 lime and place, of meeting ; number of members and 

 fees; the exact titles of its publications and any special 

 publications; the mode of distribution of publications; 

 and a statement of research funds and prizes. 



It is a remarkable book, not only for its size, but 

 for the large amount of information it contains and 

 the evident care that has been taken in its preparation. 

 It is to be regretted that the entries are not numbered, 

 for it would be interesting to know how many associa- 

 tions there are in the New World ; it would be too 

 laborious to count the names in the book, but the 

 first ninetv-five pages contain those of no fewer than 

 125 national societies in the United States. The in- 

 stitutions are not all what would be usually considered 

 as scientific societies, although, no doubt, the works 

 that thev perform are carried out in accordance with 

 the scientific spirit. 



The index is well arranged; the sciences are printed 

 in capitals with references to the pages on which 

 societies dealing with them are to be found; the full 

 names of societies are in Roman, and those of publi- 

 cations which do not carry the names of the societies 

 which publish them are printed in italics ; it may not 

 be generally known that many of the American 

 journals are published by societies, and not by in- 

 dividuals and firms as is often done in this country. 



The book is well printed, and cannot fail to be of 

 great use to those interested in American societies and 

 their work; its production reflects great credit on all 

 concerned with its preparation and publication. 



H. M. 



Sitpplcmcntum Conspectus Florae Graecae. Auctore 

 E. de Halicsy. Pp. iv-i-132. (Leipzig: W. Engel- 

 mann, igo8.) Price 6 marks. 

 The publication of this supplement only four years 

 after the completion of the main work shows once 

 more how, far from e.xhausting the interest in the 

 exploration of a country, a good flora rather acts as 

 a most effective stimulus in widening and deepening 

 it. As the main work was noticed in detail in this 

 Journal (vol. Ixxiv. , p. 3(4), it may suffice here 

 to state that the bulk of the supplement consists 

 i,T additions of new localities, mostly from recent 

 collections ; but there is also a considerable access 

 of species not recorded in the original " Conspectus," 

 and of entirely new forms. The species referred to 

 in one wav or another amount to about 1600, certainly 

 enough to justify the issue of a supplement. The 

 disposition of one genus. Taraxacum, has been 

 entirely recast after Handel-Mazzetti's new mono- 

 graph. As it now stands, it comprises nine species 

 against two in Boissicr's " Florae Orientalis," and 

 five in the "Conspectus." 



The treatment of nomenclature is commendably 

 conservative; but why, then, the obsolete Wilckia for 

 the well-known Malcolmia ? One point, however, 

 challenges criticism. In the original " Conspectus " 



NO. 2024, VOL. 78] 



we have already two systems of authors' quotations. 

 In the body of the book we find, for instance, 

 Acantholimon echinus, L. ; in the inde.x it is Acaiitlio- 

 limon echinus, Bois. In the body of the supplement 

 this species stands simply as Acantliolimon echinus, 

 whilst the index has it as Acantlwlimon echinus (L.); 

 and many similar instances might be quoted. The 

 correct citation is Acantholimon echinus, Boiss., or 

 according to a now rather common fashion, Acantho- 

 limon echinus (L.), Boiss. 



We hope there may be in four or five years' time 

 another supplement with a general index to the whole 

 work, including the supplements. This is very much 

 needed, and it will give the author an opportunity of 

 revising his citations according to a uniform plan, 

 preferably that of the "Vienna rules." Then, we 

 trust, will also disappear the rather nuinerous 

 printers" errors which disfigure llie index of the pre- 

 sent supplement. Otto Staff. 



Grundriss der Kristallographie jur Studiercnde und 



zum Selbstunferricht. By Gottlob Linck. Pp. 



vi + 256. Second edition. (Jena : Gustav Fischer, 



190S.) Price 10 marks. 

 I.\ the preface to the first edition, published twelve 

 years ago. Prof. Linck remarked that he wished to 

 place in the hands of chemists and others to whom 

 some knowledge of the properties of crystallised 

 matter was necessary a book that should be moderate 

 in cost and should discuss with sufficient fulness, yet 

 in simple language, the elements of crystallography. 

 E.xcept for the alterations necessitated by the advances 

 made in both the subject itself and the methods of 

 teaching it during the interval that has elapsed, the 

 second edition follows closely on the lines of the first. 

 The thirtv-two classes of possible crystalline symmetry 

 are subdivided into six systems in the usual way, and 

 the proper. undertanding of the symmetry peculiar to 

 each class has been much facilitated by the admirable 

 illustrations, reproduced from photographs of wooden 

 models, which have been introduced into this edition ; 

 the author now adopts Groth's nomenclature. 



In the earlier edition, although Miller's notation was 

 used as well as Naumann's, preference _ was given to 

 the latter ; the reverse is now the case, with consequent 

 improvement in simplification. Space, too, has_ been 

 saved, which has been utilised for a fuller discussion of 

 the phvsical properties of crystals. More attention is 

 paid to the relation between crystalline form and 

 chemical composition, in connection with which so 

 great an extension of knowledge has taken place dur- 

 ing recent vears. The utility of the book would have 

 been vastly' increased had a chapter or two been de- 

 voted to some simple methods for determining the 

 morphological and optical constants of crystals. 



The printing and general appearance of this edition 

 are all that might be expected of the well-known Jena 

 publisher. G- F- H. S. 



A Hill Country: its Phvsical Fc.itures and their Si.c- 



nificance. Bv Russell F. Gwinnell. Pp. vi + 26: 



with geological map. (London : George Philip and 



Son, Ltd., 190S.) Price is. net. 



Mr. Gwinnell has prepared a contoured relief model 



of a distiict in the northern Clyde basin on which 



contours arc taken, at each 250 feet, and the vertical 



and horizontal scales are the sam.e. The pamphlet is 



intended to be used with the model, and together they 



foim a general illustration of those physical features 



which constitute what is known as scenery. The 



model and booklet should prove of real service to those 



teachers of geography who base their teaching as 



much as possible upon experiment and observation. 



