88 Scientific Intelligence. 



a backward condition until his proposal of the "claus" for the 

 unit of entropy is adopted, appears more amusing than convinc- 

 ing. 



In conclusion, it may be said that the wish expressed in the last 

 paragraph of the appendix — "that the somewhat novel way of 

 arranging and treating the subject-matter of the groundwork of 

 thermodynamics may meet with the approval of those who spe- 

 cially deal with that science" — will perhaps see a fair measure 

 of fulfillment. The remainder of the subject matter illustrates, 

 in a manner unfortunately not rare, the statement made at the 

 end of the fourth chapter, that thermodynamics "is perhaps the 

 most slippery branch of science there is. " l. p. w. 



16. Electricity and Matter ; by J. J. Thomson, 162 pp. New York, 

 1904 (Charles Scribner's Sons).— This volume gives in full the six 

 lectures delivered by Professor Thomson at Yale University, on 

 the Silliman foundation, in May, 1903. Those who were so for- 

 tunate as to hear this most interesting and suggestive discussion 

 of the nature of electricity and constitution of matter, by one 

 whose own contributions have been of the first importance, will 

 be glad to have the lectures preserved for them in permanent 

 form. The volume also serves the more important end of 

 enabling the gifted lecturer to reach a much larger audience; this, 

 indeed, should include all those who are interested in the progress 

 of science and who, at the same time, have some basis of physical 

 knowledge to make their reading intelligent. 



17. J^tude sur les Resonances dans les Meseaux de distribution 

 par C our ants alter natifs ; par G. Chevrier. 76 pp. Paris, 1904 

 (edit6 par l'Eclairage Electrique). — This is a systematic and 

 homogeneous presentation of a subject, the various aspects of 

 which have been discussed by numerous authors from different 

 points of view. The theory of oscillatory movements in general 

 is given first, followed by a presentation of the theory specialized 

 for the case of circuits with capacity and self-induction. The 

 third part gives the application of the results obtained to the 

 condition of the practical current. 



18. Elehtrische Fernphotographie und Ahnliches ; von Dr. 

 Arthur Korn. 66 pp. Leipzig, 1904 (S. Hirzel). — The author 

 here reproduces three memoirs, recently published in the Phy- 

 sikalische Zeitschrift, giving an exact description of his methods 

 and apparatus; a historical introduction is added. Those who 

 have not kept up with the progress in this interesting line of 

 experiment will be surprised to see what can now be accom- 

 plished. 



19. The Telescope; by Thomas Nolan. Second edition, revised 

 and enlarged, 128 pp., ] 2mo. New York, 1904 (D. Yan Nostrand 

 Company). — To the matter contained in the first edition of this 

 little book, there has been added a new chapter describing the 

 advances made since 1880 and, following this, a bibliography of 

 the important literature on the telescope. The author has suc- 

 ceeded in setting before the reader a large amount of interesting 

 information simply presented and in a very small space. 



