508 Scientific Intelligence. 



4. Annual Report of the Board of Scientific Advice for 

 India for the year 1905-1906. Pp. 171. Calcutta, 1907 

 (Government Central Press). — The Board of Scientific Advice 

 for India was established in 1902 as a central authority for the 

 coordination of official scientific inquiry, with the design of mak- 

 ing research work as effective as possible and also of aiding the 

 Government of India in connection with the investigation of 

 questions of economic and applied science. The subjects included 

 are economic and agricultural chemistry, astronomy and meteor- 

 ology, geology, geodesy and geography, botany and zoology. 

 The volume now issued contains concise reports by different 

 authors in these different departments and presents many inter- 

 esting facts. In geodesy, Lieut. -Col. Burrard gives the results of 

 determination of the altitude of some of the peaks of the Hima- 

 layas as influenced by atmospheric refraction ; the height of Mt. 

 Everest, for example, as observed from the plains of India, is 

 some 29,002-3 feet, while from the Darjeeling Hills it is 29,141. 

 The same author in connection with the Seistan (Afghanistan) 

 geography, discusses desiccation in Central Asia, expressing the 

 opinion that the theory of a permanent climatic change within 

 the human period calls for meteorological proof before it can be 

 accepted. The constant tendency of the sand to increase while 

 the amount of water is constant is shown to have an important 

 bearing on the problem. 



5. Mendelism • by R. C. Pumstnett. Second edition, pp. vii 

 + 85. Cambridge, 1907 (MacMillan & Bowes). — The appear- 

 ance of a new edition of this well-written essay on Mendel's 

 principles of heredity within two years after the first printing 

 of the work indicates the cordial reception which the little book 

 has received. The stories of Mendel's discoveries and their 

 applications in the breeding of plants and animals is presented in 

 popular language by one who has had wide experience in testing 

 the applicability of the so-called law. Even in the short time 

 that has elapsed since the printing of the first edition, discoveries 

 have been made which have necessitated considerable revision of 

 the original text,- and it is obvious that the end is not yet. 



w. e. c. 



6. Les Prix Nobel in 190 ^. Stockholm, 1907 (P. A. Norstedt 

 & Soner). — This annual volume describes the distribution of the 

 Nobel prizes in 1904. It contains sketches and portraits of the 

 recipients of the prizes — in science, Lord Rayleigh, Sir William 

 Ramsay and Dr. I. P. Pawlow, — and also reproductions of the 

 Nobel medals and diplomas. The Nobel lectures, delivered at 

 Stockholm by the three gentlemen named, are also reproduced. 



7. Memorials of Linnmus. British Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, Special Guide No. 3. Pp. 16. London, 1907. — This pamph- 

 let contains a list of the collection of portraits, manuscripts, 

 specimens, and books brought together at the British Museum to 

 commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Linnaeus. 



