July 28, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



137 



institutions scattered all over the country, but 

 it is fe^Lt that great advantage would accrue 

 from coordination and centralization, and that 

 the founding of such a society is only the just 

 due of the importance of Russian botany " in 

 view of the eminent position which Russia is 

 destined to occupy after the war." 



But side by side with these special activities, 

 which are the direct outcome of the quickening 

 of the nation's pulse, there is, as in normal 

 times, a great amount of quiet, unobtrusive 

 research in the domains of biological and 

 physical science. Though there may be no 

 epoch-making discovery to record, there is 

 scarcely a field of mental activity left unfilled. 

 Many a peaceful backwater is being navigated 

 undisturbed by the clash of arms, and it is 

 pleasant to read of ethnographical and philo- 

 logical investigations, or of an expedition to 

 the Jablonovy Range to study the local fauna, 

 with its picturesque account of explorations in 

 steppes, morasses and virgin forests. It is 

 interesting to note, in this connection, that 

 there is scarcely a provincial town of any im- 

 portance in Russia without its medical society 

 and association of local naturalists, or, as the 

 charming Russian idiom has it, " lovers of na- 

 ture lore," true amateurs in the best sense of 

 the word and all contributing their quota to 

 the common stock. Worthy of mention also 

 are the efforts made for the preservation, as 

 far as may be possible in the circumstances, of 

 valuable treasures of art, science and archeol- 

 ogy in the war-zone, such efforts not to be con- 

 fined to the limits of the empire, but to be ex- 

 tended to enemy territory occupied by Russia. 

 It is pointed out that priceless products of 

 human culture may be saved if timely meas- 

 ures be taken, and to this end the service of 

 various scientific experts has been secured and 

 the sympathetic cooperation of the military 

 staff enlisted. 



Finally, mention must be made of the deci- 

 sion of the Imperial Academy of Sciences on 

 the question of the exclusion of alien enemies 

 from the list of honorary members. As the re- 

 sult of a conference held in March of last year 

 to consider the matter the academy expresses 

 itself as loath, by such exclusion, to place any 



obstacles in the way of the resumption after 

 the war of that international cooperation for 

 the progress of science which will, it fore- 

 sees, play a greater part than ever in the 

 development of European civilization, "when 

 an end has been made of those hegemonistic 

 strivings which, not content with the sphere 

 of politics, have invaded that of science." 

 Truly a dignified attitude, worthy of an august 

 institution which can look back with just 

 pride on well-nigh two centuries of enlight- 

 ened effort and solid achievement. — Nature. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 X-rays and Crystal Structure. By "W. H. 



Bragg and W. L. Bragg. G. Bell & Sons, 



Ltd., London, 1915. Pp. i + vii, 1-228. 



All physicists who are at all familiar with 

 the magnificent work which in the two short 

 years between October, 1912, and October, 

 1914, W. H. and W. L. Bragg did in unfolding 

 the nature of X-rays, revealing the structure 

 of crystals and in laying the foundations for 

 Moseley's brilliant discovery of a relationship 

 between the elements more fundamental than 

 that represented by the periodic table, are 

 agreed that no Nobel prize was ever more 

 justly placed than that which has recently gone 

 to the Braggs. It is the lucid and succinct ac- 

 count of this very new work which constitutes 

 the present book — a book which will always 

 remain a classic, not merely because it is the 

 first book in its field and written by the men 

 who have themselves contributed most largely 

 to the ushering in of the new epoch, but also 

 because it is an unusually fine example of 

 clear, direct and fascinating exposition. 



None of the twelve chapters except the 

 fourth, the sixth and the last contain any ap- 

 preciable material other than that which the 

 authors themselves have contributed. Despite 

 the generous and deserved recognition which 

 they make of' the part which Laue played in 

 starting their studies, it is very largely to the 

 Braggs that the world owes the creation of the 

 new subject of X-ray spectrometry, and so 

 long as young men are appearing in England 

 of the caliber of W. L. Bragg and of Moseley, 

 the latter of whom at the age of twenty-seven 



