May 2, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



lU 



December 20, 1901, is simplified much further 

 by noticing that, as the velocity of H is Wgh 

 sin 1? perpendicular to the plane OGE, the 

 hodograph of S (turned backwards through a 

 right angle) is similar to the projection on a 

 horizontal plane of the path of a point C on 

 the axis of the top; and thus 



Wgh sin i?e'/'* 



; (p^'O 



by which the vector of the projection of C is 

 derived from the herpolhode curve described 

 by the vector OH of resultant angular momen- 

 tum by means of a simple differentiation ; and 

 this holds for the general top, not merely the 

 symmetrical. I take this opportunity of call- 

 ing attention to some misprints :* as (i for u, 

 and p for the Weierstrassian symbol in equa- 

 tions (32) to (40). A. 6. Greenhill. 

 Oednance College, 

 Woolwich, Eng., 

 April 7, 1902. 



steiner's 'lost' manuscript op 1826. 



In 1826 Steiner announced that he had a 

 manuscript, 'tJber das Schneiden (mit Ein- 

 schluss der Beriihrung) der Kreise in der 

 Ebene, das Schneiden der Kugeln im Eaume 

 und das Schneiden der EJreise auf der Kugel- 

 flache,' ready for print. The subject of this 

 paper, treated by a mathematician like Steiner, 

 has always been considered as of fundamental 

 importance for the development of the geom- 

 etry of the circle. Since the death of Steiner 

 (1863) until recently, all efforts of recovering 

 this celebrated manuscript were in vain. In 

 1896, on the occasion of the centennial celebra- 

 tion of Steiner's birthday, in Bern, Dr. Biitz- 

 berger found a bos in the garret of the library 

 of the Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Bern, 

 containing several manuscripts of Steiner, 

 among which was also the one supposed to he, 

 lost. 



This fact is also interesting in connection 

 with Professor Fiedler's (Zurich) investiga- 

 tions on cyclography for which he received the 

 Steiner prize from the Berlin Academy of Sci- 

 ence. In a recent letter to the writer, Fiedler 

 remarks that he was in possession of the prin- 

 ciples of cyclography (treatment of geomet- 

 rical problems by means of circles) already in 



* These have already been corrected ( see Sci- 

 ence, XV., p. 440). — Editor. 



1S63, and that he waited for the publication of 

 Steiner's collected works by Weierstrass in 

 1881, because he expected to find in it said 

 paper and Steiner's corroboration of his 

 (Fiedler's) results by a similar method. The 

 inspection of Steiner's manuscript, found in 

 1896, shows however that it does not contain 

 the slightest trace of Fiedler's method. Fied- 

 ler is therefore the founder of cyclography. 

 University of Colorado. Arnold Emch. 



an unpublished letter by rafinesque. 



To THE Editor of Science : During the resi- 

 dence of C. S. Eafinesque in Sicily, after his 

 first four years' stay in America, he was in 

 frequent correspondence with American botan- 

 ists. From them he constantly sought for col- 

 lections of local plants, offering Sicilian and 

 other European plants in exchange. The 

 letters were written by Eafinesque during the 

 period of greatest mental strength and activity, 

 and hence seem to illustrate certain phases of 

 his mental life in a most interesting and in- 

 structive manner. Letters of this period seem 

 to be quite rare and the following, presented 

 me in copy by Mr. Curtis G. Lloyd, of Cin- 

 cinnati, with permission to use it as I should 

 wish, seems to well illustrate in the case of 

 Eafinesque his methods of enriching his own 

 herbarium. So far as I have any information 

 in the matter, Eafinesque always fully repaid 

 these exchange debts — thus setting a most 

 commendable example to others who may be 

 'less eccentric' than the Sicilian botanist. 

 The letter was written to Dr.Manasseh Cutler, 

 then of Massachusetts, but more recently of 

 Ohio, and seems to confirm our general view 

 that Eafinesque was an inveterate collector 

 and that he used every known honest means to 

 increase the number of sheets in his herba- 

 rium. The letter was written in 1806 and is 

 interesting of itself. I send it to you, think- 

 ing some readers of Science may be interested 

 in it through their knowledge of the 'eccen- 

 tric naturalist.' 



Brooklyn, N. Y., E. Ellsworth Call. 

 March 29, 1902. 



Palermo, 2nd May, 1806. 

 Dear Sir: — 



I confirm what I had the pleasiire to write 



