March 14, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



42.> 



existing treatise on the varied subjects in- 

 cluded under its comprehensive title. 



Frederic S. Lee. 

 Columbia University. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The February number (Vol. VIII., No. 5) 

 of the Bulletin of the American Mathematical 

 Society contains a report of the eighth annual 

 meeting of the Society, by the secretary; a 

 report of the January meeting of the Chicago 

 Section, by T. F. Holgate; a review of Wil- 

 son's Vector Analysis, by Alexander Ziwet; a 

 review of books by M. Simon and J. M. Hill 

 on Euclid, by J. S. Coolidge; 'Notes' and 

 'New Publications.' The March number of 

 the Bulletin contains the following articles : 

 'The Application of the Fundamental Laws 

 of Algebra to the Multiplication of Infinite 

 Series,' bj"- Florian Cajori; 'Concerning the 

 Class of a Group of Order p" that Contains 

 an Operator of Order p*""^ or p"""^. p being a 

 Prime,' by W. B. Fite; 'Proof that the Group 

 of an Irreducible Linear Differential Equa- 

 tion is Transitive,' by Saul Epsteen; 'Lines 

 of Length Zero on Surfaces,' by L. P. Eisen- 

 hart; 'Some Properties of Potential Surfaces,' 

 by Edward Kasner; a review of Gibson's Cal- 

 culus, by W. F. Osgood; 'Shorter Notices' of 

 Cohen's Theory of Numbers and Beman's 

 translation of Dedekind's Essay on the Theory 

 of Numbers, by L. E. Dickson, and of the 

 Annuaire des Bureau des Longitudes, by E. 

 W. Brown; 'Notes' and 'New Publications.' 



The American Naturalist for February 

 opens with an article by W. M. Wheeler on 

 'A New Agricultural Ant from Texas, with 

 remarks on the known North American 

 Species,' the new ant being Pogonomyrmex 

 iniberhiculus, while the notes include a key for 

 the identification of the species. LTnder the 

 caption ' Phyllospadix as a Beach-builder,' E. 

 E. Gibbs presents some new information re- 

 garding its life-history and shows how its 

 spreading tufts hold the sand and produce 

 sand-bars. G. H. Shull gives 'A Quantitative 

 Study of Variation in the Bracts, Rays, and 

 Disk Florets of Aster Sliorti Hook., A. Novce- 

 anglice L., A. puniceus L. and A. prenanthoides 



iluhl., from Yellow Springs, Ohio.' The 

 number contains the 'Quarterly Record 

 of Gifts, Appointments, Retirements and 

 Deaths,' and it is noted that hereafter these 

 will appear in the numbers for February, 

 May, August and November. The gifts for 

 the past year to schools, colleges, libraries and 

 museums amounted to $43,233,635, and this 

 does not include Mrs. Stanford's transfer of 

 securities to Stanford University nor any 

 appropriations made by national, state or local 

 governments. 



The Popular Science Monthly for March 

 contains a long and well-illustrated article by 

 J. C. Branner on 'The Palm Trees of Brazil,'^ 

 describing the appearance and uses of many 

 species. Alexander F. Chamberlain treats of 

 'Work and Rest: Genius and Stupidity,' 

 drawing the inference that brief periods of 

 intense work and long periods of rest produce 

 better results than long periods of steady ap- 

 plication. 'Science in 1901' is a resume of 

 progress along various lines from wireless 

 telegraphy to the better understanding of 

 yellow fever, reprinted from the London 

 Times. Ellis P. Oberholtzer describes 'Frank- 

 lin's Philosophical Society,' the oldest scien- 

 tific society in the country, and W. H. Dall 

 contributes an appreciative biographical 

 sketch, with portrait, of the late Alpheus 

 Hyatt. W. G. Sumner tells of the compara- 

 tively recent extraordinary outbreak of 'Sui- 

 cidal Fanaticism in Russia,' and Lindley M. 

 Keasbey discusses 'The DifFerentiation of the 

 Human Species,' believing that mnnkind was 

 homogeneous prior to the glacial period. E. B. 

 Titchener, after considering the problem 

 'Were the Earliest Organic Movements Con- 

 scious or Unconscious,' decides in favor of the 

 necessity of mind at the first appearance of 

 life. Finally we have the full text of the 

 'Trust Deed by Andrew Carnegie creating a 

 Trust for the benefit of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion.' 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 ..\MERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY. 



The regular bimonthly meeting of the 

 Physical Society was held at Columbia 



