Chemistry and Physics. 219 



prisms because it isolates the effect due to a single prism and does 

 not involve the resultant dispersion of two prisms. — Proc. Phys. 

 Soc. London, xxvi, p. 154, April, 1914. h. s. u. 



10. Experimental Studies in Electricity and Magnetism ; by 

 Francis E. Nipher. Pp. 73, with 29 figures and 11 plates. 

 Philadelphia, 1914 (P. Blakiston's Son and Co.). — At the sugges- 

 tion of Thomas R. Lyle, F.R.S., Professor Nipher decided to pre- 

 sent in book form a consecutive account of the results of his 

 investigations which have appeared heretofore only in the Trans- 

 actions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis. The subject 

 matter is arranged in two parts or chapters which deal respec- 

 tively with "Experimental Evidence for the One-fluid Theory of 

 Electricity " and with the " Causes of Local Magnetic Storms." 

 The discussions are so intimately associated with the descriptions 

 and figures pertaining to the discrete experiments as to preclude 

 the possibility of giving an outline of the work in a few sentences. 

 Many of the experiments possess novel features and all of them 

 were most ingeniously devised and skilfully performed. Most of 

 the text-figures and all of the plates of the first chapter are very 

 clear half-tone reproductions of excellent photographs of electri- 

 cal discharges which took place under widely different condi- 

 tions. The plate and paragraphs pertaining to the artificial 

 production of ball lightning are especially striking. The last 

 four plates show automatically registered graphs of a magnetic 

 storm due to wind, of a magnetic storm due to rain, of the mag- 

 netic effect of cloud shadows, and of a very pronounced magnetic 

 storm at sunset. Although the first part of the monograph con- 

 tains much of interest and value primarily to the physicist and 

 the second to the meteorologist, the entire text may be perused 

 with profit by the general scientific reader. h. s. u. 



11. Smithsonian Physical Tables. Sixth Revised Edition ; 

 prepared by Frederick E. Fowle. (Publication 2269.) Pp. 

 xxxvi, 355, with 407 tables and an index. Washington, 1914. 

 Smithsonian Misc. Collections, vol. 63, No. 6. — The revision of 

 this very useful book, commenced for the fifth edition (1910), has 

 been continued ; a large proportion of the tables have been 

 rechecked, typographical errors corrected, later data inserted, and 

 72 new tables added. Among the last named may be noted a new 

 set of wire tables from the Bureau of Standards, new mathemati- 

 cal tables, and tables of data pertaining to Rontgen rays, radio- 

 activity, radiation, international standard wave-lengths, etc. Much 

 credit is due to Mr. Fowle and his collaborators for the close 

 approximation which they have made to perfection in a work of 

 this kind. h. s. u. 



II. Geology and Mineralogy. 



1. The u Fern Ledges" Carboniferous Flora of St. John, 

 JVeie Brunswick ; by Marie C. Stopes. Memoir 41, Geol. Surv. 

 Canada, 1914. Pp. 168, 25 plates, 21 text figs. — In the suburbs 



