636 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 671 



The second part of the " Catalogue of Type 

 and Figured Specimens" in the Department 

 of Geology of the United States National 

 Museum consists of three sections in con- 

 tinuation of the Catalogue, Part I., dealing 

 with the fossil invertebrates ; section II. treats 

 of the fossil vertebrates, section III. of fossil 

 plants and section IV. of minerals, rocks and 

 ores. 



All working paleontologists will welcome 

 this volume as one which will greatly facili- 

 tate their work, and botanists in general will 

 find section III. of much value. This part, 

 constituting the greater portion of the vol- 

 ume, has been compiled by Dr. A. C. Peale, 

 with the cooperation of Dr. F. H. Knowlton 

 and Mr. David White. The specimens are 

 described under their catalogue numbers, and 

 the description in each case includes the name, 

 authority, locality and geological horizon, to- 

 gether with citation of publication giving the 

 first description and figure. 



The entire catalogue closes with January 1, 

 1905, and includes all changes to that date. 

 It may, therefore, be regarded as substantially 

 up to date. D. P. Penhallow 



N. H. Ahel. So, vie et son oeuvre. Par Ch. 



Lucas de PesloIjan. Paris, Gauthier-Vil- 



lars. 1906. Pp. xiii + 168. 



The writing of popular or semi-popular 

 biography of scientific men, like the sketch of 

 Faraday by Tyndall, or of Clerk Maxwell by 

 Glazebrook, is highly commendable. A popu- 

 lar biography of a mathematician like Abel, 

 who, though he died at the age of twenty- 

 «even, made, according to Hermite and Syl- 

 vester, several discoveries of such originality 

 as probably to keep mathematicians busy for 

 one hundred and fifty years in the fuller un- 

 folding of his ideas, can not be without in- 

 terest. Mr. de Pesloiian, the author of the 

 present sketch, has done his work fairly well. 



In the case of a few technical matters he 

 did not exercise sufficient care in the reading 

 of the proofs, but with that exception the 

 work is creditable. This booklet does not 

 pretend to offer new facts on the life of Abel, 

 :iior is it intended to supplant the larger biog- 



raphy, written in 1885 by C. A. Bjerknes. 

 De Pesloiian exhibits great admiration and 

 much sympathy for the subject of his sketch. 

 The title-page is preceded by a good picture 

 of Abel. Floeian Cajori 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE 



AN ADAMS JOURNAL CONDUCTED BY THE AMERI- 

 CAN EXPERIMENT STATIONS 



The interesting communication of Dr. H. 

 J. Webber, in Science of October 18, touch- 

 ing the publication of research to be made 

 under the Adams Act, is quite timely and, as 

 to every point discussed, most commendable. 

 Formerly connected with one of the stations 

 and yet deeply interested in the work, a 

 teacher in an agricultural college, and pub- 

 lisher of the Journal of Mycology — on one or 

 all these grounds may I take the liberty of 

 offering some suggestions. 



The necessity of such a publication — dis- 

 tinct from the popular bulletins — could not 

 for a moment be questioned. I believe the 

 plan essentially as proposed could be carried 

 out. A committee of three for each subject 

 or division, elected for three years (election of 

 one member each year) but eligible for re- 

 election, to pass on the completed work sub- 

 mitted by the directors of the stations, would 

 doubtless be acceptable to all. Here, of 

 course, if anywhere, there would be friction — 

 censorship! some one would be sure to say! 

 — yet the arrangement would probably and 

 almost universally encourage, not discourage, 

 investigators. 



The classification is on a generous scale, 

 and could be taken up, one division after the 

 other as occasion demands. But I would sug- 

 gest that the name Adams Journal (conducted 

 by the American experiment stations) be used ; 

 that series be established, as " Agronomy 

 Series, No. 1" (No. 2 et seq.) ; "Horticulture 

 Series, No. 1" (No. 2 et seq.); "Plant 

 Pathology Series, No. 1" (No. 2 et seq.), etc. 

 Each number should contain only an investi- 

 gator's work on one subject; a full index 

 should be appended to each number, and the 

 numbers should be sold separately (at or below 

 cost). The pagination should be continuous 



