Mat 27, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



821 



i-ill has pointed out, if we were met to- 

 getlier this afternoon to settle this busi- 

 ness for ourselves^ we probably could so 

 settle it, though we are not likely to settle it 

 for the world at large. But one feature of 

 the Naturalists' discussions has been, as I 

 have watched the discussions, that the 

 members of the society get together to con- 

 sider in a particularly interested spirit mat- 

 ters which they do not propose to settle, 

 but from the analysis of which they hope 

 that a current of thought may be started 

 which will ultimately result in good. For 

 that reason we have had speakers this af- 

 ternoon who are representative of geology, 

 zoology, botany and psychology, and who 

 are representative of the country from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific. I think that we 

 may congratulate ourselves that, although 

 the audience that has listened this after- 

 noon has not been large, the discussion 

 may be brought, perhaps, before a larger 

 audience, and will perhaps start a current 

 of thought in a useful way that will 

 in time contribute to a solution of the 

 problem. 



I am going to read one more letter, again 

 without the signature, but a letter from one 

 ■of the strongest executives of one of the 

 •strongest universities in the country : 



I wish very much that I were ahle to cooperate 

 in the discussion which you propose. Unfortu- 

 nately, my presence is out of the question, on 

 account of an important previous engagement for 

 the very day which you name; and I am not yet 

 quite ready to send any brief formulation of my 

 views on the degree question. I do not believe 

 that the time is quite ripe for such radical meas- 

 ures as I have in mind; and I would rather that 

 those who think that they can do some good by 

 moderate reforms should have every chance to 

 make their experiments unimpeded by destructive 

 criticism. If those who believe that conservative 

 reform is possible can prove their case I shall be 

 very glad. I should wish » » » to be in a 

 position to cooperate with them on any measures 

 which might give promise of reform. Tlien if 

 reform measures fail the radicals will have a clear 

 fleld. 



The meeting was then declared ad- 

 joux-ned. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 Wilhelm Ostwald: Von Paul Walden. 



It is well known that in December last 

 the twenty-fifth anniversary of the doctorate 

 of Ostwald was celebrated in Leipzig. On 

 this occasion a ' Jubelband,' being the forty- 

 sixth volume of the Zeitschrift fiir physi- 

 Icalische Chemie, and containing original pa- 

 pers from thirty-four of Ostwald's former stu- 

 dents, was presented to him. The ' Jubel- 

 band ' contained a brief sketch of Ostwald's 

 life and work by van't Hoff, but the book 

 under review deals with both in a much fuller 

 manner. 



Walden discusses the life of Ostwald in five 

 periods: 'The Youth in Eiga, 1853-1871'; 

 ' The Student in Dorpat, 1872-1875 ' ; 'The 

 Teacher in Dorpat, 1875-1881 ' ; ' The Pro- 

 fessor in Eiga, 1881-1887 ' ; ' The Professor in 

 Leipzig, 1887 up to the present.' 



Ostwald does not seem to have been a 

 marked success as a gymnasium student, and 

 not to have taken his work in a really serious 

 manner until he came to Dorpat. His first 

 scientific publication, which appeared in 1875, 

 shows the bent of his mind at the early age 

 of twenty-two. It bore the title, ' On the 

 Chemical Mass Action of Water.' This was 

 soon followed by his ' Volume Chemical 

 Studies,' which are now recognized to be works 

 of real permanent value. 



That tremendous activity and power to 

 work, which is possessed by Ostwald to an 

 unusual degree, began to manifest itself during 

 the Eiga period. It was during this period 

 that the first edition of the great Lehrbuch 

 der Allgemeinen Chemie appeared — the book 

 which led to the organization of the modern 

 school of physical chemistry. It was in Eiga 

 also that the Zeitschrift fiir physihalische 

 Chemie was founded. This was to be the 

 official organ of the new physical chemistry 

 which was just being organized, and has prob- 

 ably contributed more to the development of 

 this branch of science than all other publica- 

 tions, in that it brought together in one place 



