NOVEMBEK 3, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



567 



time than it now does by the natural method. 

 The most pernicious and untenable application 

 of this idea appears when he claims that a 

 child's attention shovild be focused upon the 

 exact mistake he has made in previous repeti- 

 tions. 



In spite of these and some other less im- 

 portant mistakes and misplacements of em- 

 phasis, the book is a fresh, stimulating and 

 generally correct organization of the prin- 

 ciples of education. 



Wilbur S. Jackman. 



The Study of Chemical Composition. By 

 Ida Freund, Staff Lecturer and Associate 

 of Newnham College. Cambridge, Univer- 

 sity Press. 1904. 8vo. Pp. xvi + 650. 

 This book presents an account of the method 

 and historical development of the study of 

 chemical composition. The initial discoveries 

 forming the basis of the modern views of the 

 composition of bodies are described, and the 

 methods by means of which further experi- 

 mental facts bearing upon the subject were 

 obtained are clearly set forth. The historical 

 development of the important laws is traced 

 by showing ho*v these grew from the study of 

 certain classes of phenomena. In the course 

 of this presentation many well-chosen quota- 

 tions from classical original articles, including 

 actual experimental data obtained, are given 

 in sufficient detail to enable the reader to form 

 an idea as to the degree of accuracy attained 

 in the experiments which are of special conse- 

 quence. Though the historical method of 

 treatment has been adopted, no attempt has 

 been made to secure such completeness or pro- 

 portion as to deserve the name of history. 

 The aim has been to describe only the most 

 vital discoveries, and to do this thoroughly, 

 rather than to dwell upon a greater number 

 of facts. 



A carefully written introduction of thirty 

 pages devoted to a discussion of the method 

 of inductive sciences prefaces the nineteen 

 chapters in which the subject matter is treated. 

 The first eight chapters deal with theories of 

 combustion and the composition of bodies by 

 weight. Here the work of Lavoisier, Dalton, 

 Itichter, Berthollet, Proust, Stas, Morley and 



others is described. Chapter nine presents 

 the views concerning the constitution of mat- 

 ter held prior to 1800, and the following 

 chapter deals with Dalton's atomic theory. 

 Chapters eleven to thirteen relate to the com- 

 bination of gases by volume, the work of Avo- 

 gadro and Cannizzaro, and the molecular 

 hypothesis. After detailing the discovery of 

 Dulong and Petit in chapter fourteen, the 

 subjects of isomorphism, periodic law, valency 

 and isomerism are treated in the chapters fol- 

 lowing, and the book is fittingly closed with a 

 final chapter setting forth the modern views 

 concerning the ultimate constitution of mat- 

 ter and the genesis of the elements. 



Throughout the book, facts and theories 

 have been sharply and clearly separated from 

 each other, a matter of vital importance in a 

 treatise of this nature. The treatment is 

 concise, clear and conservative, yet none the 

 less interesting. The book can be heartily 

 recommended to students of physical science 

 and others desiring a reasonably condensed 

 presentation of the existing views of chemical 

 composition. Like the other volumes of the 

 Cambridge Physical Series, the book is well 

 printed. Louis Kahlenberg. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The American Naturalist, with the excep- 

 tion of the American Journal of Science, the 

 oldest of the American scientific periodicals, 

 announces a change in its editorial manage- 

 ment. Dr. William McMichael Woodworth, 

 who has so acceptably filled the position of 

 editor-in-chief since 1898, retires and his place 

 is taken by Dr. Glover M. Allen, the secretary 

 of the Boston Society of Natural History. 

 All correspondence intended for the editorial 

 department should be directed to The Amer- 

 ican Naturalist, Cambridge, Mass. 



The October issue of the Journal of Nerv- 

 ous a'nd Mental Disease opens with a report 

 by Dr. Frank R. Fry of a case of cerebral 

 tumor which presented some puzzling symp- 

 toms which led to the belief that the tumor 

 was located in the left cerebellum, whereas 

 the autopsy discovered it occupying the 

 greater part of the site of the left inferior 



