578 
read by a beginner, and Cremona, as translated 
by Leudesdorf, seems rather unattractive, and 
certainly lacks the charm of Reye’s lucid style. 
It seems to us, therefore, that the translator 
has rendered a great service to English-speak- 
ing students in translating this first part of 
Reye, and we earnestly hope that sufficient in- 
terest in the study of pure geometry will be 
awakened by having this very attractive book 
available for beginners, to make him feel that 
his unselfish labor has not been in vain. 
Whether it is worth while to translate the 
other parts also (Parts II. and III. carry the 
subject far beyond its elements) is, however, 
very questionable—because those of our stu- 
dents who are sufficiently advanced to under- 
stand the subjects treated are able to read the 
German about as readily as the English. 
The translation itself is also, asa whole, to be 
heartily commended ; the charm of the original 
has been preserved, many valuable exercises 
have been added, and the breaking up of the 
lectures into numbered paragraphs, as well as 
the rearrangement of the exercises so as to 
have those that are appropriate tnoereto follow 
each lecture, are distinct improvements. 
It is, however, to be greatly regretted that 
the translator has seen fit to change a well-es- 
tablished and everywhere understood terminol- 
ogy. For example, he replaces the terms pen- 
cil and sheaf (which are already, and for many 
years have been, well-nigh universally em- 
ployed to represent particular geometric con- 
cepts), respectively by the terms sheaf and 
bundle. While it may be granted that these 
new terms are in themselves just as good as, and 
possibly even a trifle better than, those for 
which they are substituted, yet nothing of im- 
portance is gained by the change, while the 
danger of confusion and misunderstanding is 
greatly increased. 
A J. H. TANNER. 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, October 4, 1899. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
GEORGE NEWMAN. New York, G. P. Put- 
London, John Murray. 1899. Pp. 
Bacteria. 
nam’s Sons. 
xiv + 348. 
Cambridge Natural History. Vol. V. Insects. Part 
II. Davip SHarp. London and New York, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xii+ 626. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. X. No. 251. 
A Dictionary of Birds. ALFRED NEWTON, assisted by 
Hans GAapow. New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. London, Adams & Charles Black. 1893- 
1896. Cheap issue, unabridged. Pp. iii + 1088. 
$5.00. 
The Insect World. A Reading Book of Entomology. 
CLARENCE MOORES WEED. New York, D. Apple- 
ton and Company. 1899. Pp. xvi-+ 210. 
Indicators and Test-Papers. ALFRED I. CoHN. New 
York, John Wiley & Sons. London, Chapman &. 
Hall, Ltd. 1899. Pp. ix-+ 249. 
A System of Medicine by} Many Writers. Vol. VIII. 
Diseases of the Nervous System. Continued. Edited 
by THoMAS CLIFFORD ALLBUTT. New York and 
London, The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xii 
+ 937. $5.00. 
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 
The Journal of Physical Chemistry, October, 
‘On the Paraanisaldoximes,’ by H. R. Carveth : 
a study of the two modifications ; ‘On the Re- 
lation between Pressure and Evaporation,’ by 
Edwin H. Hall; ‘ The Electrical Conductivity of 
Non-Aqueous Solutions,’ by Azariah T. Lin- 
coln: an account of the experimental work of 
the author, chiefly with chlorides (also silver: 
and lead nitrates, silver and mercuric cyanids, 
mercuric iodid and copper sulfate), in a well- 
selected variety (27) of solvents, all organic ex- 
cept PC], and SuCl,. Some substances were in- 
soluble, some insoluble but not conductors of 
electricity, while others conducted electricity 
well. Two conclusions of the author may be 
quoted: ‘‘ The data collected are as yet insuffi- 
cient to show what the relation between solvent 
and dissolved substance must be in order to. 
yield solutions that conduct electricity.’’? ‘‘ The. 
dissociation theory as promulgated for the ex- 
planation of the electrical conductivity of aque- 
ous solutions, apparently cannot be applied in 
its present form to explain the conductivity in. 
non-aqueous solutions.’’? The article is an im- 
portant contribution to the study of solutions. 
Vg Ib, 16l, 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
OF BIOLOGY. 
SECTION 
THE regular meeting of the Section of Biol- 
ogy was held on Monday evening, October 9th, 
Professor Frederic 8. Lee presiding. The- 
