182 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1416 



answered if the suggested policy is to be suc- 

 cessful. I venture to think that the answer 

 is not difScult: astronomy has been progress- 

 ing so rapidly of late years that there are many 

 matters, g^reat and small, at which we have 

 only had the time to glance without subjecting 

 them to satisfactory discussion. Important 

 ideas have been laid before the Soeiet;^ and 

 clearly explained, which were so new that the 

 audience was scarcely ready with comments. 

 As one illustration, let me take Mr. Jeans' 

 suggestion that the stellar universe was former- 

 ly much more compact, and has since been 

 expanding and scattering. This is an idea 

 which alters profoundlj' views hitherto adopt- 

 ed and hitherto scarcely questioned. At the 

 time of its suggestion the audience was almost 

 silent, for the simple reason that it was too 

 big a thought to take in at once; but since 

 then time has elapsed and, moreover, Mr. Jeans 

 has published a book. It would be strange 

 if an interesting meeting could not be furnished 

 by the discussion of this new idea. 



There are other matters, not on this grand 

 scale, which were passed over quickly, simply 

 because one paper trod on the heels of another, 

 but to which a return could now be made all 

 the more profitably because they have appeared 

 in print. 



In further support of this policy I may quote 

 the experience of the Geophysical Society, 

 which has, for a few years past, been holding 

 meetings in the rooms of the Royal Astrono- 

 mical Society on the lines above indicated. 

 The papers presented have, in general, not been 

 original investigations, but rather accounts of 

 work already published, and the amount of 

 printing has been small. 



Doubtless if this policy of an economical 

 year — or, let us call it, without prejudice, a 

 special year — were adopted, other ideas would 

 be forthcoming to furnish the meetings: for 

 instance, we have very rarely had anything of 

 the nature of a conversazione; though the few 

 experiences of this kind have all been most 

 enjoyable. Again, we may remember that there 

 will be a meeting of the Astronomical Union 

 in April next. The April meeting of the 

 R. A. S. might very appropriately be devoted 



to a preliminary discussion of the topics which 

 wUl engage the attention of the Union; or the 

 May meeting might be devoted to hearing from 

 the returned delegates their experiences in 

 Rome. We may hope, further, that this meet- 

 ing of the Union wiU bring to Europe welcome 

 guests from overseas, who will doubtless be 

 able to interest the Society, as we have already 

 had ample experience on foimer occasions. 



In November or December we may hope for 

 news from our eclipse expedition. Finally, if 

 the cutting down of the Annual Report should 

 leave a blank in the Tebruary (1922) meeting, 

 perhaps the Fellows might like to fill it by a 

 full discussion of the present suggestion, which 

 is put forward very crudely in the hope that it 

 may be fully and freely discussed. — From an 

 Oxford Note-Book in The Observatory. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Applied Entomology. An introductory text- 

 book of insects in their relations to man. 

 By H. T. Fbrnald. First edition. New 

 York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1921. 

 The author recognizes a two-fold demand 

 of the agricultural colleges in this country 

 for a text-book of entomology which will give: 

 (1) to those students who desire to specialize 

 in entomology a thorough foundational train- 

 ing in the science; and (2) to those students 

 who intend to engage in practical farming and 

 fruit-growing a general knowledge of the 

 kinds, life histories, habits, and control of in- 

 sects that are of economic importance. He 

 has succeeded in meeting these requirements 

 to a surprising degree in a book of 386 pages. 

 The author first discusses the position of in- 

 sects in the animal kingdom, their structure, 

 transformations, the losses caused by them, 

 and the nature and kinds of insecticides in 

 modern use in the control of these persistent 

 pests. Necessarily the discussion of these 

 topics is a brief one being included in less 

 than sixty pages. It seems to us unfortunate 

 that the author did not give in this part of 

 the book a general, though brief, discussion 

 of the nature and importance of the biological 

 control of insects and of the vital and ex- 



