The Groups of Steiner in Problems of Contact (Second Paper)

1. Denote by G the group of the equation upon which depends the determi. nation of the curves of order n 3 having simple contact at 1 n ( n -3 ) points with a given curve C of order n having no double points. The case in which n is odd was discussed in the former paper (Transactions, January, 1902) and G was shown to be a subgroup of the group defined by the invariants 43, 04, , , * *, the latter group being holoedrically isomorphic with the first hypoabelian grouip on 2p indices with coefficients taken modulo 2. For n even, G is contained in the group H defined by the invariants 04' 069 * with even subscripts. JORDAN has shown (Traite, pp. 229-242) that H is holoedrically isomorphic with the abelian linear group A on 2p indices with coefficients taken modulo 2. The object of the present paper is to establish the latter theorem by a short, elementary proof, which makes no use of the abstract substitutions [al, 1 ., p, p1] of JORDAN, and which exhibits explicitly the correspondence t between the substitutions of the isomorphic groups.