Der Naturwissenschaften Research Articles

Turba Philosophorum: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Alchemie

ANY man of science who wishes to see scientific method applied to solve literary and historical problems will savour intense intellectual delight in Prof. Ruska's book on the “Turba Philosophorum”. A major enigma in itself, the Turba comprises a multitude of lesser riddles, and though the author with characteristic modesty describes his work as a mere preliminary study, he will be found to have left but comparatively little for future research to unravel. Like the Emerald Table of Hermes, upon which also Ruska has published a valuable investigation, the Turba enjoyed an authoritative reputation, among medieval alchemists, and was confidently quoted whenever it was desired to clinch an argument or conclusively to refute an opponent. An English version of this alchemical classic was made so long ago as 1896, by the learned historian of occultism, Mr. A. E. Waite, but a critical study of the problem as a whole remained unattempted until Prof. Ruska began his systematic work upon it in 1927. Turba Philosophorum: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Alchemie. Von Julius Ruska. (Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Medizin: Fortsetzung des Archivs fur Geschichte der Mathematik, der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik. Herausgegeben vom Institut fur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften. Redigiert von P. Diepgen und J. Ruska, Band 1.) Pp. x + 368. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1931.) 58 gold marks.

The Epistemology of Natural Science and Mr. Karl Pearson

ONLY a few days ago I happened to see the review of my “Erkenntnistheoretische Grundzuge der Naturwissenschaften” (Leipzig, 1896) in NATURE of November 5, 1896. I too highly esteem English science and literature to follow Mr. Karl Pearson in the department of his “familiar ideas”; I shall confine myself to showing how little my reviewer has succeeded in rendering my views (see p. 3).

Studien zu Methodenlehre und Erkenntnisskritik Erkenntnistheoretische Grundzüge der Naturwissenschaften und ihre Beziehungen zuw Geistesleben der Gegenwart Allgemein wissenschaftliche Vorträge

IF we were to examine these two works purely from the standpoint of the critical reviewer, we should probably content ourselves by recommending the busy man of science to pass them by. We might, indeed, justify the sternness of our judgment by illustrating the hopelessly involved style of Herr Dreyer—his page-long-footnotes on footnotes, his misinterpretations of mathematical and physical theories, and his obvious, but nowhere justified, bias against Darwinism. We might then pass to Dr. Volkmann and show the vagueness of his definitions, the unphilosophical character of his epistemology, and indicate the danger which arises when loose analogies drawn from natural science are applied to other fields of thought. We might not unreasonably conclude with a sigh over the departing glory of German science. We might moan over the death or old age of the giants of a quarter of a century back, and regret that the strong and clear intellects of young Germany seem drawn rather to military and commercial pursuits than to the service of science. That Germany has become the first military, and is rapidly becoming the first commercial nation, are now familiar ideas; but that these victories have been won at the expense of literature and pure science, is an aspect of evolution which other nations are only just beginning to realise, and Germany herself will only realise last of all. It is a subtle qualitative, not a quantitative change which has been going on since 1870 in German science and literature. Few realise it, but it is none the less a reality. It is, perhaps, as well that leadership in all spheres should not fall to one people. From the historical stand-point accordingly, these two books are of interest, for they are very typical of much work which Germany has of recent years put forth. Their authors fully recognise that there are great problems still unsolved in the philosophical basis of the natural sciences, but it cannot be said that they throw any light on the solution of these problems, nay, that they even assist us in their clear enunciation. Herr Dreyer indeed tells us with much truth that: Studien zu Methodenlehre und Erkenntnisskritik. Von Friedrich Dreyer. Pp. viii + 223. (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1895.) Erkenntnistheoretische Grundzüge der Naturwissenschaften und ihre Beziehungen zum Geistesleben der Gegenwart. Allgemein wissenschaftliche Porträge. Von Dr. P. Volkmann. Pp. xii + 181. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1896.)

Encyclopädie der Naturwissenschaften

Archiv der PharmazieVolume 224, Issue 14 p. 639-640 Bücherschau Encyclopädie der Naturwissenschaften A. Geheeb, A. GeheebSearch for more papers by this author A. Geheeb, A. GeheebSearch for more papers by this author First published: 1886 https://doi.org/10.1002/ardp.18862241407AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume224, Issue141886Pages 639-640 RelatedInformation

Revue der Fortschritte der Naturwissenschaften

Archiv der PharmazieVolume 224, Issue 12 p. 560-560 Bücherschau Revue der Fortschritte der Naturwissenschaften Dr. Carl Jehn, Dr. Carl Jehn GesekeSearch for more papers by this author Dr. Carl Jehn, Dr. Carl Jehn GesekeSearch for more papers by this author First published: 1886 https://doi.org/10.1002/ardp.18862241213AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume224, Issue121886Pages 560-560 RelatedInformation

Revue der Fortschritte der Naturwissenschaften

Archiv der PharmazieVolume 224, Issue 1 p. 48-48 Bücherschau Revue der Fortschritte der Naturwissenschaften Dr. Carl Jehn, Dr. Carl Jehn GesekeSearch for more papers by this author Dr. Carl Jehn, Dr. Carl Jehn GesekeSearch for more papers by this author First published: 1886 https://doi.org/10.1002/ardp.18862240111AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume224, Issue11886Pages 48-48 RelatedInformation

Bronn's Classen und Ordnungen des Thierreichs

THE important work on the lowest division of the animal kingdom which Prof. Bütschli, of Heidelberg, has undertaken for the publishers of the well-known series of zoological treatises originated by the late Prof. Bronn, is so far advanced as to enable us to form some estimate of its merits and to call for an extended notice. The separate parts of Prof. Bütschli's work which have appeared at intervals during the last two years have now accumulated so as to form a large octavo of 900 pages and 50 plates. The whole of the Protozoa have been discussed with the exception of the Ciliata, the Dino-flagellata (formerly called Cilio-flagellata), and the Acinetaria. The work does not comprise in its scope the Mycetozoa, which should, in the opinion of the present writer, be included in the animal kingdom. This is the less to be regretted, since an excellent work on this group has been recently published by Dr. Zopf, of Berlin, in the “Encyklopädie der Naturwissenschaften,” and may be obtained separately of the publishers, Trewendt, of Breslau. Bronn's Classen und Ordnungen des Thierreichs. New Issue. (Leipzig: C. F. Winter, 1883-4-5.)

Hermann Müller

THE news of the death of Hermann Müller of Lippstadt will come with a sense of personal loss to many of our readers, who have looked with interest for his frequent contributions to the columns of NATURE on the branch of natural history which he has made specially his own—the mutual relations to one another of insects and flowers in promoting cross-fertilisation. Much as we owe on this subject to some of our own naturalists, especially Darwin and Lubbock, the chief authority in it is, and probably always will be, Hermann Müller. Any future inquirer will necessarily turn, for the main part of his information, to his two great works, “Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten,” published in 1873, and “Alpenblumen, ihre Befruchtung durch Insekten,” published in 1881. The mass of information contained in these volumes is simply marvellous. In the first place the author has worked out with the greatest care the structure of those classes of insects which play the greatest part in the fertilisation of flowers with regard to their capacity for collecting nectar or pollen, and for carrying pollen from flower to flower. A very large proportion, including all the commoner ones, of the species which make up the phanerogamic flora of Central Europe are then taken up seriatim, the structure of the male and female organs described, illustrated often with very careful drawings, and always with reference to any special contrivances connected with the mode in which insects obtain the honey; and then a list is given of all the insects which he has observed visiting the flower. No one who has worked in the same field will fail to recognise the unfailing trustworthiness and accuracy of his observations. The “Befruchtung der Blumen” has only during the present year been presented to English readers in Mr. D'Arcy Thompson's translation, with an appreciative preface by the late Mr. C. Darwin, a notice of which will shortly appear in our columns. But these two works by no means exhaust Prof. Müller's, labours in his favourite subject, as his numerous contributions to our columns show. He was also a frequent contributor to the German periodical Kosmos, discussing, with great wealth of knowledge and acute reasoning, the origin of species, the genesis of the colours of flowers, the laws of variation, and other similar subjects. Dr. Müller's contribution, “Blumen und Insekten,” to Schenk's “Handbuch der Botanik,” which forms a part of the “Encyklopædie der Naturwissenschaften,” now in course of publication, is an admirable résumé” of the whole subject.

Fertilisation of the Speedwell

IF Mr. Stapley, who wrote on this subject in last week's NATURE, can refer to Dr. H. Müller's treatise on the relations between flowers and insects, in the first volume of Shenk's Handbuch der Botanik (now publishing as part of Trewendt's Encyclopædie der Naturwissenschaften), he will see that his own observations are very similar to those of Dr. Müller. The latter, however, refers to and figures the Germander, not the Common, Speedwell. Is it possible that Mr. Stapley—who speaks of the Veronica officinalis as having larger flowers than the V. hederæfolia, whereas they have flowers of about the same size—mistakes the V. chamædrys for the V. officinalis?