NATURE wood parenchyma round the vessels is to be regarded as a glandular sheath for the secretion of carbohydrates into the transpiration stream. The medullary rays store these materials and convey them to the sheaths. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, December 28, 1914.-M. P. Appell in the chair.-Paul Appell: The principle of the minimum of the energy of accelerations and the substitution of force linkages.-Ph. A. Guye and F. E. E. Germann: The influence of the gaseous impurities of silver on the values of the atomic weights determined by the classical methods; the atomic weights of chlorine and of phosphorus. Referring to their recent determinations of the amounts of carbon monoxide and water in highly purified silver found after fusion in hydrogen, it is shown that the use of such silver in atomic weight determinations would lead to a value about 0.005 too high, a negligible quantity. effect of such an error on other atomic weights based The on silver is discussed. The resulting corrections are of the order of 1 to 2 units in the second decimal place, exceptionally 3 to 4 units. Phosphorus, for example, would be lowered from 31-028 to 31-007.-F. Gonnessiat : The eclipse of the sun: results.-A. Buhl: The intervention of the formulæ of Riemann, Stokes, and Green in the extensions of Abel's theorem.-Lucien Godeaux : Triple surfaces endowed with a finite number of points of diramation.-R. Marcille: Determination of the Hübl iodine number in alcoholic liquids. The iodine numbers of essential oils. The determinations must be made in liquids containing a definite alcohol concentration, and the reaction must be carried out in the dark. Henry Hubert: The diabase veins of western French Africa.-D. Eginitis: The recent earthquakes at Thebes. The village of Thebes was ruined by an earthquake on November 17, 1914, this being the fourth time this has happened within the last sixtytwo years. The seismographs at Athens due to this earthquake are discussed. The three violent shocks of the first day have been followed by a series of smaller ones. Up to the middle of December more than 500 shocks coming from the same epicentre have been recorded at the Athens Observatory. This long duration is one of the characteristics of earthquakes in this part of Greece.-E. M. Martel: The Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Diagrams of four transversal sections are shown, showing the arrangement of the three principal stages.-L. G. Seurat: The morphology of the female genital apparatus of the Spiruridæ. JANUARY 7, 1915 Pp. 15. (London 27. Symboles Internationaux, DIARY OF SOCIETIES. FRIDAY, JANUARY 8. ROVAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETV, at 5.-Total Eclipse of the Sun, 1914. GEOLOGISTS' ASSOCIATION, at 8.-The Value of Graptolites to the Strat ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETV, at 8.30.-The Adai Group of the TUESDAY, JANUARY 12. INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, at 8-The Lateral Pressure and CONTENTS. Vegetable Tannins. By E. S. Lead Poisoning. By T. Wireless Telegraphy. By J. A. F. Translations of Poincaré on Method. By p. Letters to the Editor: The Appley Bridge Meteorite. A Suggested Definition of Magnetic European Aerodynamical Laboratories. (Illustrated.) The Food of British Wild Birds. By Attempts to Manufacture Scientific Discovery. By Our Astronomical Column: PAGE 400 499 500 50% 502 504 (Illustrated.)— "Permanence." 505 THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1915. TH THE WAR. HE war drags on; and we are learning to understand the mentality of the German race more completely. It is being revealed in various forms. The policy always adopted by the bully, of attempting to terrorise by attack on defenceless persons, is shown by the shelling of the wateringplaces of Yorkshire, resulting in the murder (for that is the only word which fits the case) of 103 harmless people. "Murder" should certainly have been the verdict, although it was disallowed by the coroner; for although the commanders of the German vessels may not yet be known by name, a verdict of murder would have rendered them subject, when captured, to trial by a British jury. The cowardly and murderous onslaught has led, we are told, to rejoicings in Berlin. It is as we feared; the German nation has lost its moral perspective. They may rest assured, however, that there will be no similar reprisals on the side of the Allies. We do not revenge ourselves on innocent women and children. It was scarcely worth while, perhaps, for the French universities and British men of letters and science to have replied to the self-named "intellectuals" of Germany. Neutral countries have already made up their minds from the perusal of official documents, not the least important being those from German sources, that the war is one of pure aggression on the part of the Germans. We hear from Switzerland, from America, and from Scandinavia that the public in these countries now pay no attention to German polemic literature. If they had conceivably had any case, they have given it away by their inhuman acts, which have raised a sentiment of disgust in every civilised mind. We look with contemptuous amusement at the childish renunciation of foreign honours by our Teutonic colleagues in science. That is even the attitude of some of their own countrymen; Prof. Verworn, of Bonn, writing in the Berliner Tageblatt, describes it as unworthy of German men of science, and Profs. Waldeyer, Martin, and Orth have protested against the foolish conduct of their countrymen. We can only shrug our shoulders and say that the loss is theirs, not ours. We have also been disillusioned by the words of the well-known Celtic scholar, Prof. Kuno Meyer, late of Liverpool University, now of Berlin, who has acted, and is acting, as an agent of the Prussian Government in attempting to excite the feelings of Nationalist Ireland and of American Irish in favour of Germany. Here is a man, eminent in his own subject, speaking English without an accent, who has spent thirty years of his life in an English university, a man who has (or had) many intimate friends in this country and has been received in many English households as a friend, turning out to be a dastardly enemy. Savages have a code that, after breaking bread in a man's house, it is treacherous to war against him; not so Prof. Kuno Meyer. This is evidently another instance of "Kultur." It behoves us to treat with suspicion all naturalised aliens of Teutonic extraction; and yet we know, alas! that in doing this, we are acting unjustly in some cases. But the individual, in these days, must suffer for the crimes of his countrymen. It is such instances as these which make the Allies determined that such a race must be deprived of power to do further mischief, whatever be the cost in life and money. Some correspondence has appeared in the Press. as to the relative merits of German contributions to science, as compared with the achievements of members of other races. The discussion is perhaps a useful one; for there is little doubt that the German estimate of the scientific ability of their own people is a much exaggerated one. The statement made in a previous issue of NATURE (October 8) that German science has not been remarkable for originality appears to meet with general assent. We in England have been always more intent on welcoming a discovery than in inquiring into the nationality of the discoverer; indeed, it is a common saying that science is international. But we are beginning to revise our verdict. Prof. Karl Pearson, Prof. Sayce, and Sir E. Ray Lankester have shown that Germany has played only a small part in inception of scientific truths, although by organisation she has greatly extended their application. Huxley and Bywater held this view, each as regards his own. subject; and it appears to be shared by geologists, physicists, and chemists. "Ausarbeiten" is the goal of the Germans; the inventive faculty has not been their strong point. Perhaps a mixed. race gains in original ability; both flint and steel are necessary to produce a spark. But one thing the German man of science knows how to do well -to exalt the achievements of his nation, often by ignoring that of others. This has probably been done in many cases without intention; it appears to be one way in which German patriotism manifests itself. Dr. Hugo Schweizer, an Americanised German, writing in the Popular Science Monthly (December issue), maintains the thesis that the development of science owes much, if not all, to the stimulus of the demands of Prussian military requirements. Naturally, his examples refer entirely to technical applications of science. And here, again, if they are analysed, it can be shown that the development of which he boasts is due to concentrated and organised effort; of the starting-points of the manufactures which he cites, few are of German origin. They have been appropriated and worked out, no doubt, in order to place the materials of war at the disposal of the German Army; but it is not proved that the necessities of peace are not more effective as a stimulus to progress than those of war. To take only one instance, it is probable that sooner or later all our railways will be electrified; but that would not suit military exigencies; each train must have an independent motive power; and so long as German militarism persists, we may reckon that German railways, at least, will not be run by the electric current. The aims of science are the antitheses of those of war. It is the object of pure science to attempt to know and correlate natural phenomena, and its devotees are inspired by an insatiable curiosity; it is the object of applied science to make use of that knowledge for the benefit of mankind. To degrade its applications to the destruction of life and property is the most unscientific act of which a people can be guilty. The of success is rare. For it demands that the sub ject should reveal itself while we remain almus unconscious of the hand of the artist. M Hutchinson is more artless, and rivals Boswe = the feat of giving us himself as well. not draw on letters, the biographer's best resource; to Lubbock, he explains, "exposure of the holy sanctities of his being would have bee impossible." Apology seems unnecessary, the for Lubbock's "attending the services at the village church" and reading his Bible, thougt Huxley did the latter and to some purpose. explanation is found in the belief that there was some room, after all, among the atoms for the spirits." After this it is pleasant to know that 40,000 people attended the last race meeting in his father's park at High Elms; amongst them were the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellor, evidently spirits. Picking holes is rather futile. But two statements, at any rate, catch the eye as perplexing. Sir Gabriel Stokes (i., 85: is made to say that the chance of laying the first Atlantic cable was "only ()20=3595, or about 2 to 1 against it"; obviously this should be (820, and one wonders who and what was the "Consul D'État" (ii., 23) whom Lubbock went to see in Paris. Mr. Hutchinson says reasonably enough that to anyone who did not know Lubbock's "serene, unruffled calm" one might easily conceive him as "an animated hurricane." Even to read the life is like travelling in an express train with but a blurred impression of successive landmarks. Only one of his many personalities needs treatment here, and that requires a little more justice than it has always received. Lubbock's father was a mathematician of some repute, and treasurer of the Royal Society when the Duke of Sussex was little more than nominal president. His mother notes that at the age of four "His great delight is in insects." He was some four years at Eton, where he was thought birth and development of evolutionary theory. If the part he played was not as weighty as that of Lyell, of Huxley, and of Hooker, it was even more effective. For he spoke as a man of affairs and with convinced sincerity; and if he was "a great banker amongst scientists" so much the better. Like Spottiswoode, he could show that a scientific mind was capable of business success; both, in fact, were members of the X Club, that mysterious body, impossible of successor, which was said to govern scientific affairs," and "not to do it badly"; Lubbock was, indeed, its last surviving member. Biography is an art in which any great measure in an Etonian sense. "Against the advice of his tutor he read some natural history and geology." At the age of fourteen his father was obliged to make use of him in the bank. "He and I with a worthy old clerk carried on the business." Lubbock thought that "beginning so early gave him an instinct for business," and well it might. At the age of nineteen he made a minute time-table for his day from half-past six to midnight. Science and literature fill the compartments; 9.30 to to was devoted to "sermons (if I read them any later they invariably send me to sleep)." Such a discipline would have sterilised most men. But his neighbour Darwin gave him a wider training. He did much sound and valuable work in entomology, and at the age of twenty-four was elected into the Royal Society. He had already made the acquaintance of many well-known scientific men. And then in 1860 came the "Origin." Lubbock warmly grasped the principle of evolution. The same year he saw Boucher de Perthes at Abbeville; he satisfied himself as to the human manufacture of its stone implements, and that they were contemporary with the mammoth. In 1865 he published "Prehistoric Times." Darwin wrote, "Though you have necessarily only compiled the materials, your general result is most original." He was then contesting Maidstone and was advised to keep the book back, but thought it "would be scarcely honourable "; it is believed to have increased the majority against him. It is rather remarkable that Mr. Hutchinson thinks his writing wanting in "style." Darwin in this respect, and he was no mean judge, thought the book "perfection." A little later he showed that our bronze implements were not, as supposed, of Roman date, and he established against Ferguson the prehistoric age of Stonehenge and Avebury. He secured what was left of the latter from destruction by the builder. The "Origin of Civilisation" followed in 1870. Frazer admits that it contributed to his own opinions as to the evolution of religion and society, and that Lubbock had anticipated him as to the relation between magic and religion, and the priority of the former. THE HE appearance of this book, the work of the Assistant Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, will be welcomed by all who are interested in hardy trees and shrubs, for it is the best and most comprehensive work upon the subject that has appeared since the advent of "Loudon's Encyclopædia of Trees and Shrubs," more than seventy years ago. The need for such a work has long been evident, for Loudon's book is hopelessly out of date, not only by reason of the large number of plants which have been introduced in the intervening years, but also on account of the many changes which modern research have necessitated in nomenclature. Since Loudon wrote his famous book the rich regions of western North America, Chile, China, Japan, and other countries have been ransacked for horticultural treasures, and the scope of the present work places good descriptions of these and other woody plants in an easily available form. In his later life he occupied himself with geology and botany, but always from an evolutionary point of view. The former won him the Prestwich medal. He was a keen observer; when exploring with Huxley and Tyndall the lake-dwellings in the Lake of Geneva, he dived more than once after a supposed stone axe, and he produced consternation amongst Swiss geologists by finding nummulites in a rock mapped as Triassic. His botanical work has been thought to deal too much with the trite and obvious, and perhaps it was so to the instructed. But our scientific knowledge is too much a thing apart from ordinary life, and Lubbock wanted to extend its field; no one could be more competent for the task. His "British Wild Flowers considered in Relation to Insects" would be a revelation to most people. The later "Notes | date, due credit being given to the many nurseryon the Life History of British Flowering Plants" show that mere "collecting" leaves the problem of every species untouched. In his great work on "Seedlings" he availed himself of the help of others; it breaks new ground which still awaits a generalisation. In literature he has been subject to the same criticism. The answer is the wide-world popu The book is divided into two parts, the first being devoted to chapters on cultural requirements and various special subjects, whilst the latter is given up to descriptive matter. The opening chapter gives an interesting epitome of the history of the introduction of hardy exotic trees and shrubs to the British Isles between the middle of the sixteenth century and the present men, collectors, and private individuals who encouraged and made such work possible. Following this are chapters upon propagation, hybridising and selection, nursery work, transplanting, arrangement of shrubberies, staking and other means of support, pruning, care of old trees, evergreen trees and shrubs, climbing shrubs, pendulous trees, fastigiate or erect-branched trees, dwarf trees and shrubs, trees and shrubs with handsome fruits, handsome-barked trees and shrubs, variegated and coloured trees and shrubs, fine-foliaged trees and shrubs, autumnal colour in trees and shrubs, early- and late-flowering trees and shrubs, street planting, hedges, trees and shrubs for wet places, shrubs for dry positions and poor soils, shrubs for shady places, and trees and shrubs for the seaside. All the necessary general information upon each subject is given in a clear and concise manner, but special details of culture required by individual plants are given later in the descriptive part of the work. The early part of the book will appeal specially to the purely practical man, but the more important part, which commences at page 113 of vol. i., and is continued to the end of the second volume, will be found to be of value to everyone who is interested in hardy ligneous plants, whether from the point of view of the botanist, student, landowner, gardener, or forester. Descriptions are given of all the species of trees and shrubs, so far identified, which are of any importance in the British Isles, with many of the most distinct botanical varieties, and in almost every case the descriptions have been prepared from living plants in the Kew collections. The arrangement of genera and species is, as far as possible, alphabetical, this arrangement only being altered where two species are very closely allied, and the distinguishing features can be more clearly defined when the descriptions run concurrently. An ample index of some forty pages, however, atones for this little digression. One system of description obtains throughout the work. The name of each genus appears in large capitals with the order to which it belongs. in small capitals. Then follows a general description of the genus with distribution and special cultural directions. The principal species are then described, each description being headed by the scientific and common names, and, when necessary, the chief synonyms, together with an indication as to where a good botanical drawing of the plant can be found. The following description gives an idea of the general style of the work: L. TRAGOPHYLLA, Hemsley. CHINESE WOOdbine. (Bot. Mag., t. 8064.) A deciduous climbing shrub, with smooth young shoots. Leaves oval, tapering about equally to both ends; 2 to 4 ins. long, to 2 ins. wide; slightly glaucous above, glaucous and slightly downy beneath. The uppermost pair of leaves are wholly united by their bases, forming a diamond shape; the next pair lower down are less united, but still clasp the stem; still lower down come short-stalked leaves. Flower bright yellow, produced in a terminal head of ten to twenty. Corolla-tube 2 to 3 ins. long, slenderly cylindrical, smooth outside, downy within; across the two lips the corolla measures 1 in. or more in width Berries red. Native of the province of Hupeh, China; discovered by Henry and introduced for Messrs. Veitch by Wil son in 1900. It flowered for the first time at Coombe Wood, in July, 1904, L. Caprifolium is closel related, but differs in its whorled flowers and in the smooth interior of the corolla-tube. L. tragophylla is the largest flowered and most showy of the tru honeysuckle (Periclymenum) group. It likes a deep semi-shaded position. moist loam, and Mr. Wilson recommends for it a It will thus be seen that the descriptions are clear, concise, and ample for all practical purposes. Botanical terms have been avoided whenever possible, but in such a work they could not be excluded, and for the benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with such terms an excellent glossary precedes the commencement of part ii. Mr. Bean's intimate connection with the Kew collections for upwards of a quarter of a century, coupled with his keen powers of observation and critical knowledge of everything connected with hardy ligneous plants, offer a sufficient guarantee for the thorough trustworthiness of the book, and it should find a place in the library of every lover of trees and shrubs, whilst nurserymen and others would do good work, and indirectly pay a graceful compliment to the author, by adopting it as the national standard of nomenclature. Both author and The publisher has done his share in a manner worthy of the firm, and Mr. E. J. Wallis and Miss E. Goldring are to be complimented upon the photographs and drawings. duction of a book which is likely to be the standard publisher are to be congratulated upon the prowork upon trees and shrubs for at least half a century. W. DALLIMORE. FIRST PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICS. Neue Grundlagen der Logik, Arithmetik und Mengenlehre. By Julius König. Pp. viii+ 259. (Leipzig: Veit and Co., 1914.) Price 8 marks. HIS is an interesting and very readable book which, with a comparatively small amount of new notation, discusses the elements of the theory of sets. The most original section is that on "logical forms "; this is a theory of induction or less corresponding to Whitehead and Russell's theory of types, and axioms of reducibility. The most controversial chapter is that on Zermelo's axiom, and the principle of selection; here the author is very ingenious, but, we fear, not very convincing. Given a class (a, b, c, ...) he treats the term "a or b or c or . . .", that is (nearly) |