NOVEMBEE 6, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



649 



this journal lias completed eighteen volumes, 

 ■which are esteemed both at home and abroad 

 for their valuable scientific contents and the 

 excellence of book-making. In 1903, for lack 

 of funds, it temporarily suspended publica- 

 tion. . . . 



Following the lead of the Journal of Mor- 

 phology came the Journal of Comparative 

 Neurology and Psychology, the American 

 Journal of Anatomy, the Anatomical Record 

 and the Journal of Experimental Zoology. 

 These journals were assigned to the Wistar 

 Institute because of its efforts to bring about 

 a mutually beneficial cooperation which would 

 lead to greater scientific results with the same 

 outlay of time and money. 



They comprise nearly all the independent 

 technical journals in their respective sciences. 

 Their editors are leading men in the branches 

 they represent, and the articles published are 

 the best results from American laboratories. 



They represent no school or exclusive band 

 of workers, nor any group of self-centered 

 laboratories. On the contrary, the chiefest 

 aim is to obtain and retain for them an emi- 

 nently national character, and encourage 

 through the highest grade of biological re- 

 search the efforts and cooperation of investi- 

 gators wherever found. . . . 



These journals have been and will always 

 be a source of pride to American scholarship, 

 and they are indispensable to those who desire 

 to keep abreast of the times. The effort to 

 increase their circulation is principally to put 

 the original work done in America before as 

 large a number of students as possible, here 

 and abroad — that all may share in this move- 

 ment for a more vigorous life in these 

 branches. 



The chief idea, which the Wistar Institute 

 is following in publishing these journals, is 

 to maintain the editorial management, so far 

 as possible, outside of its own staff. The rea- 

 sons are evident. The results thus far are 

 most gratifying, and there is every reason to 

 expect a very great increase in the efficiency 

 and value of the undertaking. 



The work of this department of the Wistar 

 Institute alone brings the institute and the 



University of Pennsylvania into relations with 

 nearly every laboratory in the world where 

 anatomy and zoology are studied. — Old Penn, 

 Weekly Review of the University of Penn- 

 sylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Modern Electrical Theory. By Norman 

 Egbert Campbell, M.A. Pp. xii + 332. 

 Cambridge University Press. 190Y. 

 The past fifteen years have witnessed the 

 erection, upon the foundation of Maxwell's 

 theory, of a great structure of theoretical and 

 experimental knowledge which, for some time 

 to come, will undoubtedly occupy a very large 

 place in the interest and attention of students 

 of physical science. Maxwell's theory was, in 

 the main, the work of a single man of genius ; 

 it was general in its point of view, was little 

 concerned with details, and thus possessed a 

 kind of obvious unity which made it easy of 

 comprehension when once the initial difficul- 

 ties had been overcome. The modern develop- 

 ment of electrical theory, on the other hand, 

 has had to deal in great detail with a large 

 number of complex phenomena of apparently 

 diverse character. What is now called the 

 electron theory is the result of the labors of 

 many men, working in different branches of 

 physics and chemistry, with various points of 

 view, and often without recognition of the 

 general, theoretical bearing of their results. 



Under these conditions a work like the one 

 before us is of especial value and utility. The 

 author has chosen his material wisely and 

 combined it with skill; he has given a simple 

 and perspicuous account of the theory and of 

 its application to the many and diverse 

 phenomena which have been brought within 

 its scope. The introduction of unnecessary 

 details has been avoided, and although there 

 are inevitably a great many trees, the forest 

 is still distinctly visible. The perspective is 

 thoroughly good and the point of view is not 

 that of the popularizer of second-hand knowl- 

 edge. • Mr. Campbell has worked for many 

 years in the Cavendish Laboratory, which for 

 two generations has been the chief center of 

 progress in electrical science; he has made 

 important contributions to the theory of 



