Apbil 22, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



621 



ATTENDANCE AT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF 

 HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



To THE Editor of Science: Permit me to 

 call the attention of your readers to a mis- 

 statement that appeared in the issue of De- 

 cember 24, 1909, to the effect that the at- 

 tendance on the graduate school of Harvard 

 University showed a loss as compared with the 

 previous year. The error arose from the fact 

 that in the figures for 1908 the graduate stu- 

 dents at Eadcliffe were included under Grad- 

 uate Schools, whereas they were omitted in 

 1909 under the caption of graduate faculties, 

 but included under women undergraduates. 

 On November 1, 1908, there were 450 stu- 

 dents at Eadcliffe, of whom 394 were under- 

 graduates and 56 graduates. Adding the 

 latter to the enrollment in the Graduate 

 School of Arts and Sciences gave a total of 

 460. On November 1, 1909, there were 464 

 students at Eadcliffe, of whom 402 were under- 

 graduates and 62 graduates. Adding the lat- 

 ter to the enrollment in the Graduate School 

 gives a total of 485, representing an increase 

 of 25 over the figures of 1908. This year's 

 attendance on the Graduate School of Arts 

 and Sciences is the largest in the history of 

 the institution. Eudolf Tombo, Jr. 



Columbia Univeesitt 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Encyclopedie des Sciences Mathematiques 

 pures et appliquees, publiee sous les auspices 

 des Academies des Sciences de Gottingue, de 

 Leipzig, de Munich et de Vienne, avec la 

 collaboration de nombreux savants. Edition 

 frangaise, redigee et publiee d'apres I'edition 

 allemande sous la direction de Jules Molk. 

 Tome I., volume I., Arithmetique. Paris, 

 Gauthier-Villars ; Leipzig, B. G. Teubner. 

 1904^. 



It is customary to await the completion of a 

 work before writing a review of it, but un- 

 usual conditions frequently call for unusual 

 action. The greatness of the work before us 

 and its wide range of contact with subjects 

 familiar to all educated people seem to justify 

 a brief review at this stage of its development ; 

 especially since such a review may be of serv- 



ice to many who wish to take advantage of 

 the various parts of the work as soon as 

 possible, and since a large amount of work re- 

 mains to be done before this first volume can 

 be completed, although more than 600 pages 

 of it have been published. 



The German work upon which this French 

 edition is based is the work of scholars of many 

 different nations, so that the present work is 

 decidedly international and it is appropriately 

 issued by the two leading mathematical pub- 

 lishers in the world. The object of the Ger- 

 man edition is to give as completely as pos- 

 sible the fully established mathematical results 

 and to exhibit, by means of careful references, 

 the historical development of mathematical 

 methods since the beginning of the nineteenth 

 century. The work is not restricted to the 

 so-called pure mathematics, but it includes 

 applications to mechanics, physics, astronomy, 

 geodesy and the various technical subjects, so 

 as to exhibit in toto the position occupied by 

 mathematics in the present state of our civili- 

 zation. 



The French edition aims to retain the essen- 

 tial traits of the German, but it is not merely 

 a translation with the addition of more recent 

 references. On the contrary, it takes account 

 of the French traditions and habits as regards 

 lucid exposition and it treats many subjects 

 very much more extensively than the German 

 edition, while other subjects receive practically 

 the same treatment in the two editions. Both 

 editions are issued in parts — the first parts of 

 the German edition were published in 1898, 

 while those of the French began to appear six 

 years later. The German edition has the ad- 

 vantage of much greater progress towards 

 completion, while the French has a decided ad- 

 vantage as regards exhaustive treatment and 

 more recent references, although these ad- 

 vantages are partly offset by the fact that the 

 additions make the work more voluminous and 

 hence less convenient as a work of reference. 

 Notwithstanding the fact that the Germans 

 have acted as pioneers in this vast undertaking 

 and have partially prepared the way for the 

 French, yet the latter have had no easy task 

 before them, and in some cases they have done 



