September 28, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



483 



XX. ' On the construction of a model show- 

 ing the 27 lines on a cubic surface,' by H. M. 

 Taylor. (Plates XXIV., XXV.) 



XXI. ' On the dynamics of a system of elec- 

 trons or ions : and on the influence of a mag- 

 netic field on optical phenomena,' by J. Lar- 

 mor. 



XXII. ' On the theory of functions of several 

 complex variables,' by H. F. Baker. 



The pure mathematician will find much of 

 interest especially in Nos. I.-III., VIII. -XI., 

 XVI., XVII., XX., and XXII. of these papers ; 

 while the mathematical physicist can hardly fail 

 to discover something instructive in his lines. 

 Together they fitly commemorate the jubilee of 

 one who has rendered signal service in the de- 

 velopment of both branches of mathematical 

 science. 



Scientific Papers. By Petee Guthrie Tait, 

 M.A., Sec. E. 8. E., Honorary Fellow of 

 Peterhouse, Cambridge, Professor of Natural 

 Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. 

 Vol. II. Cambridge, at the University 

 Press, 1900; New York, The Macmillan 

 Company. 4to. Pp. 1-500. Price, $6.50. 



Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects. By 

 OsBOENE Eeynolds, F.R.S., Mem. Inst. 

 C. E., LL.D., Professor of Engineering in 

 the Owens College and Honorary Fellow of 

 Queens College, Cambridge. Reprinted from 

 various transactions and journals. Vol. I., 

 1869-1882. Cambridge, at the University 

 Press, 1900 ; New York, the Macmillan Com- 

 pany. Eoyal 8vo. Pp. xv + 416. Price, 

 $5.00. 



In these days of open and easy avenues to 

 publication, when the papers of a fertile author 

 are almost certain to be widely scattered in 

 transactions and periodicals, it is a good sign to 

 see authors and publishers alike willing to 

 undertake the labor and expense of republica- 

 tion in collected form. Especially welcome — 

 perhaps one should say essential — are such 

 collected works to the student of the present 

 and coming generation, for the task of finding 

 out what has already been done in a science is 

 generally one of the most formidable prelimi- 

 naries to progress. 



In the republication of the well-known scien- 



tific papers of Lord Kelvin, Sir George Gabriel 

 Stokes and George Green, and in the more 

 recently collected papers of Maxwell, Cayley, 

 Adams, Lord Eayleigh and others, the Uni- 

 versity of Cambridge has set an example in the 

 work of ' University extension' of which the 

 academic world may well take note. Prob- 

 ably no more effective method of advancing 

 knowledge could be adopted. 



Volume II. of the papers of Professor Tait 

 contains numbers LXI. to CXXXIII. They 

 relate to a large variety of topics, ranging from 

 the kinetic theory of gases down through ad- 

 dresses and reviews to notes and brief abstracts. 

 Often, however, these notes and abstracts are 

 full of interest and suggestion, and they serve, 

 as Lord Eayleigh has remarked with reference 

 to his similar republications, ' to relieve the 

 general severity.' Nos. LIX. , Eeport on some 

 of the physical properties of fresh and sea 

 water; LXVIII.-LXXXL, On the kinetic 

 theory of gases ; LXXXVIII. , On impact ; and 

 CXII. , On the path of a rotating spherical pro- 

 jectile, are the longer papers of the collection. 

 The last cited paper will be found of special 

 interest to the lovers of golf who may happen 

 to possess the essential but rather rare fondness 

 for mathematical physios. As might be ex- 

 pected, many of the papers refer to quaternions 

 and their applications. Here and there also a 

 biographical notice, like those of Listing, Kirch- 

 hoif, Sir William E. Hamilton and Rankine, 

 gives an unexpected interest to the miscellany ; 

 and the student of the mathematico-physical 

 sciences is delighted and instructed at every 

 turn of a page. We may not always agree 

 with the author, but we never find him dull. 



The papers of Professor Eeynolds are re- 

 printed after the same fashion as those of Pro- 

 fessor Tait. They are 40 in number and refer 

 to a variety of subjects. Many of them are of 

 great practical interest to the engineering pro- 

 fession ; for example, those with reference to 

 the screw propulsion and the steering of ships, 

 the efficiency of belts, the theory of rolling 

 friction, the action of rain and oil in calming 

 the sea, etc. The longest paper. No. 33, is the 

 important experimental and theoretical investi- 

 gation on certain dimensional properties of 

 matter in the gaseous state, previously pub- 



