August 28, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



275 



magnetism and electricity. The book has 

 been written to meet the needs of university 

 students, and in the first part it is assumed 

 that the student has not yet had an oppor- 

 tunity to become acquainted with the methods 

 of calculus ; but this assumption is soon dis- 

 carded. 



The range of the first volume may be briefly 

 indicated by an enumeration of subdivisions. 

 After an introduction of fifty pages come the 

 subjects of motion, force, work and energy, 

 harmonic motion, radiant propagation of 

 vibratory motion, universal gravitation, the 

 potential theory, gravity. Then follows a 

 section on instruments and methods of meas- 

 urement, and separate sections on the theory 

 of gases, theory of liquids and theory of 

 solid bodies, the last including a discussion 

 of elasticity and of friction. The style of 

 presentation is clear and direct, and frequent 

 brief summaries help the reader to seize upon 

 fundamental principles. Each section closes 

 with an index of literature relating to its 

 subject matter. 



Quite possibly the state of the American 

 market may not warrant the translation of 

 this excellent treatise into our language, but 

 it is well worth the attention of those who 

 are sufiiciently interested to examine the Ger- 

 man edition. W. LeConte Stevens. 



SOCIETIES AXD ACADEMIES. 



BIBLIOGR.\PHICAL SOCIETY OF CHICAGO. 



A REGULAR meeting of the Bibliographical 

 Society of Chicago was held in connection 

 with the annual meeting of the American 

 Library Association on the afternoon of 

 Wednesday, June 22, at Niagara Falls. After 

 the president's address by Mr. A. G. S. Joseph- 

 son, a paper on the ' International Catalogue 

 of Scientific Literature,' by Dr. Adler was 

 read. This paper is published above. 



Dr. Herbert Haviland Field, of Ziirich, was 

 introduced and gave an account of the Con- 

 cilium Bibliographicum founded in Ziirich by 

 the third International Congress of Zoology, in 

 1895. This institution collects and records all 

 publications in biology, giving to each article 

 separate cards of Library Bureau size. These 



cards aggregate at present twelve million for 

 150,000 titles, and thus constitute one of the 

 largest, if not, indeed, the largest, collection 

 of printed bibliographical cards. The Con- 

 cilium Bibliographicum regards it as a tech- 

 nical triumph to have produced these cards for 

 sale at the low price of one fifth cent per card. 

 The cards are classified according to a method- 

 ical classification which is a development of 

 the Dewey decimal system. For each topic 

 found in the various publications there is a 

 separate card published. In determining the 

 various entries the text and not the title of 

 the publication is considered, the number of 

 entries for a single work often attaining ten 

 or twelve. Besides supplying libraries and 

 other institutions with complete sets of cards, 

 the Concilium permits individual investiga- 

 tors to order cards for their own specialties. 

 Thus the traveler going to Borneo could ap- 

 ply for the cards dealing with the fauna of 

 Borneo. He would receive these at a nominal 

 charge. In like manner any topic of investi- 

 gation whatsoever can be asked for. The In- 

 stitute is to-day nearly self-supporting, 

 though it receives an annual subsidy of $1,500 

 from the Swiss Federal Government. It con- 

 fidently hopes that bibliographers in America 

 will lend it their support in obtaining similar 

 financial aid in the United States. 



Mr. Wilberforce Fames, of the Lenox 

 Library, New York, presented a report in favor 

 of the formation of an American Bibliograph- 

 ical Society and recommended that the Bib- 

 liographical Society of Chicago be authorized 

 to take the initiative in the formation of the 

 society. The report was adopted and active 

 steps toward organization will be taken in the 

 fall. Ch.\rles H. Brown, 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE ST. LOUIS CONGRESS OF THE ARTS AND 

 SCIENCES. 



To THE Editor of Science: In the May 

 number of the Atlantic Motithhj there ap- 

 peared an article by Dr. Hugo iliinsterberg, 

 giving, in a quasi-official manner, a statement 

 of the plans for the St. Louis Congress of 



