640 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 



he said most justly, " he was a kind and gen- 

 erous friend to the young men and particularly 

 solicitous for their advancement." 



These were the qualities which made Dr. 

 Dudley so successful as president of the 

 American Chemical Society. In that high 

 oiBce his kindly diplomacy and great tact en- 

 abled him to harmonize many conflicting in- 

 terests, and to so largely help to advance the 

 interests of the society and bring it to that ex- 

 cellent condition of harmony and eificiency 

 which now prevails. 



This book will be a valuable addition to all 

 libraries and particularly to those of the 

 younger generation. It should be read and 

 pondered by all men. 



"William McMurtrie 



Taschenbuch fiir MathemaWker und Pliysiher. 



By Felix Auerbach and Eudolf Eotha. 



Leipzig, B. G. Teubner. 2 Jahrgang, 1911. 



The second volume of the " Taschenbuch " 

 consisting of 5S0 pages, may not correspond 

 to the American idea of a " Taschenbuch," 

 but it is an unusually convenient " Hand- " 

 bueh " for mathematicians and physicists. A 

 part of the table of contents is of value only 

 or chiefly to residents of Germany — the cal- 

 ender for Berlin, the table of magnetic ele- 

 ments for central Europe, the " Verzeichnis 

 der Hochschullehrer " — ^but with these ex- 

 ceptions the entire book is of general interest. 

 The articles dealing with astronomical facts 

 concerning planets and comets, the tables of 

 astronomical and geodetic constants, the 

 four-place logarithm tables of numbers and 

 trigonometric functions, the tables of squares 

 and Bessel functions, the numerous tables of 

 all the important physical constants, call for 

 no review. One notes, however, how admir- 

 able is the synopsis of the fundamental defi- 

 nition and operations of mathematics. A 

 candidate for a doctor's degree in physics 

 would do well to master the mathematical 

 portion of this volume. Not only is here 

 given the theoretical groundwork of the sub- 

 ject, there are also given labor-saving appli- 

 cations; e. g., the complete Fourier's series 

 are worked out for a number of common 



forms of the function. There is also an appli- 

 cation to life-insurance mathematics. 



The synopsis of the fundamental principles 

 of physics, while lacking the continuity of the 

 mathematical synopsis, is none the less com- 

 plete. There is here condensed what one 

 ordinarily finds spread over several volumes 

 of general physics. 



The article which will be of the greatest 

 interest to readers of the " Taschenbuch " is 

 that on the principle of relativity by Willy 

 Wien. It is an historical and a critical sum- 

 mary, complete at least in its physical aspect. 

 The contributions to this theory made by 

 Minkowski are briefly set forth not only in 

 this article but also in the review of Minkow- 

 ski's work with which the book opens. That 

 one who has contributed so much to this far- 

 reaching theory should be cut off in the very 

 prime of his power is to be greatly deplored. 

 Physicists and mathematicians will be pleased 

 to have the portrait of Minkowski which ac- 

 companies the article. G. F. Hull 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



CONCERNING A NEW ARRANGEMENT OP THE ELE- 

 MENTS ON A HELIX, AND THE RELATION- 

 SHIPS ■milCH MAY BE USEFULLY 

 EXPRESSED THEREON 



In this abstract of a paper which, under the 

 title " Helix Chemica," has been published in 

 TJie American Chemical Journal, Vol. XLV., 

 p. 160, 1911, the wi'iter wishes to explain 

 briefly the grounds of the proposed arrange- 

 ment and to illustrate by a few examples the 

 many uses to which the helix may be put to 

 bring out and compare the complex relation- 

 ships of the elements. 



In Fig. 1 the helix is presented from the 

 side, in Fig. 2 from the end, where of course 

 the front curve of each series hides those be- 

 hind it. In Figs. 3-6 the curves are drawn 

 as if they were on the end of a barrel, enabling 

 one to see the groups and series at the same 

 time. A great number of harmonic relations 

 are presented on these figures, only a few of 

 which can be discussed in this abstract. The 

 system uses the series of Mendeleefl', but 

 makes one half of each group the antithesis, 



