284 Notices respecting JSew Books. 



and the vibrations to the series-numbers have a real physical 

 significance, and are not merely juggling with numbers. Thus 



p= - — j is the ratio of the two portions into which half a stretched 



string is divided by the node corresponding to the particular 

 harmonic, and p is double of the inverse of this ratio. Musicians 

 should find the author's method of analysing music of great 

 practical value, since it enables the construction of the whole com- 

 position to be visible almost at a glance. The notation is simplified 

 by the employment of letters to represent the principal chords ; 

 e. g., d for the major (Dor) and m for the minor (Moll) chord. 

 To illustratn the method, Beethoven's " Die Ehre Gottes " is 

 analysed in the minutest detail. 



Professor Goldschmidt has undertaken a great task and has 

 acquitted himself with conspicuous ability. The principle which 

 he has enunciated and discussed has already attracted no small 

 attention among continental writers. A new theory not only 

 coordinates, and throws fresh light on, facts already known, but 

 opens out vistas of fields for further research. We anticipate, 

 therefore, that "IJber harmonische Analyse von Musikstiicken " is 

 only the first of a series of papers in which the author discusses in 

 detail various aspects of this fascinating subject. 



Die Formelzeiclien. Bin Beitrag zur Losung der Frage der algebra- 

 ischen Bezeichnung der physikalischen, technischen und chemischen 

 Grossen. Von Oloe Linders. Leipzig : Jah & Schunke. 

 1905. Pp. 96. 



There can be no doubt that the subject of notation is one of 

 growing importance in science, and the desirability of an inter- 

 national system is hardly open to question. The saving of time 

 and worry which would result from the adoption of such a system 

 would be considerable. Efforts in this direction have been made 

 before, and although a few international symbols, such as 7r, B, H, 

 /*, &c, have become firmly established, an extension of the some- 

 what meagre list is to be fervently desired. One cannot help 

 admiring the patience of the author in drawing up a table of 

 symbols for no fewer than 871 physical and chemical quantities, 

 giving their dimensions in the C.G.S. system, and their proposed 

 symbols, not only according to his own system, but also according 

 to twelve other authorities. In many cases, the columns allotted to 

 the latter are blanks. In his own system of notation, the author 

 presses into service the Latin, German, Greek, and Russian 

 alphabets. The author's effort is deserving of all praise, and we 

 should be doing him an injustice did we omit to mention that he 

 by no means regards his own proposals as final, but only as tentative 

 and forming a contribution towards the subject ; he clearly realises 

 that the time is not yet ripe for the definite adoption of an 

 international system of notation, and that such a step should only 

 be decided upon after very careful consideration and free and 

 thorough discussion of the various systems proposed. 



