PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. 
———— 
TrAT a new edition should be called for within three years of 
the issue of the last is satisfactory evidence that the Introduction 
to the Theory of Statistics, which has now been before the public 
for over fifteen years, continues to hold its own amongst its now 
numerous competitors. 
In the present edition an additional supplement has been in- 
cluded directing attention to the vagaries of observers in reading 
a scale, a curious subject on which a more extended note will 
shortly be published in the Journal of the Royal Statistical 
Society, and giving an example of the interesting frequency 
distributions presented by sizes of genera in any biological group. 
The lists of references have been brought up to date as usual and 
all new matter incorporated in the index. 
A Czech copyright edition was agreed and the translation 
made by Dr Vladimir Novak, Professor of Physics at the Czech 
Technical High School at Brno, and Dr Jos. Mraz, Ministerial 
Councillor of the State Statistical Office and Docent of Statistics 
at the Czech Technical High Schoel, Prague, and this appeared 
towards the close of last year, published by the State Statistical 
Office. That the State Statistical Office should have undertaken 
the publication of a work on pure theory shows a very note- 
worthy breadth of view as to the functions of such an Office : 
that the authorities should have selected the present work for 
translation was equally gratifying to the author and the pub- 
lishers. The author expresses his personal indebtedness to 
Dr Mraz, and thanks him for the care with which he read the 
text, and called attention to a number of minor points on which 
correction has been duly made. 
G.. 1. ¥. 
February 1927.