In preparing this translation for publication certain minor modifications and additions have been introduced into the original Russian text, in order to increase its readibility and usefulness. Thus, instead of the first person, the third person has been used throughout; wherever possible footnotes have been included with the main text. The chapters and their subsections of the Russian edition have been renamed parts and chapters respectively and the last have been numbered consecutively. An authors and subject index has been added. In particular, the former has been combined with the list of references of the original text, in order to enable the reader to find quickly all information on anyone reference in which he may be especially interested. This has been considered most important with a view to the difficulties experienced outside Russia in obtaining references, published in that country. Russian names have been printed in Russian letters in the authors index, in order to overcome any possible confusion arising from transliteration.
