374 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 925 



appointed district demonstrators, local repre- 

 sentatives of the college, whose function is to 

 promote interest in scientific agriculture and 

 to advise farmers on scientific questions: G, 

 W. Wood, L. 0. Eaymond, A. A. Campbell, L. 

 v. Parent, E. Newton. 



mSCUSSION AND COESESPONDENCE 



A NEW M.\THEMATICAL PRIZE 



Alfred Ackermann-Teubner has founded 

 a new mathematical prize by establishing a 

 capital of 20,000 Marks at the University of 

 Leipzig. For the present a prize of 1,000 

 Marks shall be given every other year, and 

 the surplus interest shall be added to the cap- 

 ital until this amounts to 60,000 Marks. 

 After the capital has reached 60,000 Marks 

 all the interest, less espenses, shall be used 

 for an annual prize, which shall be given for 

 published work in the domain of the great 

 Germam mathematical Encyclopedia. 



The donor of the capital for the prize re- 

 serves the right to bestow it in 1914, without 

 any restrictions; but after this date the prize 

 is to be awarded, in order, for work in the 

 following subjects: (1) History, philosophy, 

 teaching and education; (2) mathematics, 

 especially along the lines of arithmetic and 

 algebra; (3) mechanics; (4) mathematical 

 physics; (5) mathematics, especially along 

 the line of analysis; (6) astronomy, theory of 

 probability and theory of errors; (7) mathe- 

 matics, especially along the line of geometry; 

 (8) applied mathematics not provided for in 

 what precedes, especially geodesy and geo- 

 physics. 



Those who have received the Nobel prize 

 shall not be considered in connection with the 

 awarding of this prize and preference is to be 

 given to German mathematicians, but the 

 prize shall not be restricted to the scholars of 

 this nationality. As long as the prize is 

 awarded every second year, papers or mono- 

 graphs which have appeared during the pre- 

 ceding sixteen years may be considered, but 

 only those which have been published no 

 longer than eight years can be considered 

 when it is awarded annually. 



The prize is to be awarded for work which 

 exhibits a prominent advance along scientific 

 or pedagogic lines, and the limits of the sub- 

 ject matters to be considered shall, in gen- 

 eral, be those of the German encyclopedia. 

 If new penetrating mathematical theories 

 should arise, work along these lines may also 

 be considered. Alfred Ackermann-Teubner 

 is at present the senior member of the great 

 publishing firm of B. G. Teubner, of Leipzig, 

 Germany, and has for many years taken an 

 active part in various mathematical activities. 

 The capital for the prize mentioned above is a 

 consequence of the friendly relations between 

 the donor and various prominent mathema- 

 ticians. 



It is probably fortunate that these prizes 

 are to be given for work already published 

 and not for competing memoirs relating to 

 subjects proposed by some committee. Many 

 of the leading mathematicians do not enter 

 into the race of preparing competing memoirs, 

 and it seems likely that more good will be done 

 if mathematicians feel free to pursue those 

 lines in which they can work most successfully. 

 The subject of mathematics has become so 

 broad that real progress calls for forward 

 movements in many fields. All the various 

 helpful interrelations can not be foreseen by a 

 few men. 



G. A. Miller 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Monographs on Biochemistry. The Chem- 

 ical Constitution of the Proteins. Part I. 

 Analysis. By E. A. H. Plimmer, D.Sc. 

 Second edition. London and New York, 

 Longmans, Green and Co. Pp. x + 188. 

 1912. 5 s. 6 d. net. 



Although the knowledge concerning the 

 chemical constitution of the proteins gained 

 since the appearance of the first edition of this 

 monograph is relatively small, the amount of 

 information contained in this second edition 

 is much greater than that furnished in the 

 first. The author now gives us a more de- 

 tailed account of the methods of hydrolysis 

 of the proteins and the estimation of the 

 amino-acids which result thereby. The 



