4IO 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A MONTHLY journal called 'Revista 

 de Construcciones y Agrimensura' is 

 published monthly at Havana by 

 Aurelio Sandoval. It contains many 

 excellent plans and illustrations of 

 buildings, articles on road and railroad 

 construction, surveying, mechanics and 

 technical education, and appears to be 

 edited with much care. The last num- 

 ber contains the questions propounded 

 to the candidates for chief of the me- 

 chanical laboratory in the engineering 

 department of the University of Ha- 

 vana, and these indicate that a high 

 scientific and technical standard is de- 

 manded as a qualification for a pro- 

 fessorship. The University of Havana 

 was completely reorganized in 1900, 

 under an order issued by Gen. Chaffee, 

 and the previously independent school 

 of engineering made one of its depart- 

 ments under the faculty of letters and 

 sciences. The university recently con- 

 ferred its first degree of Civil Engi- 

 neer upon Sr. Andrfis Castella, who had 

 the highest rank in an examination 

 held for an assistant professorship in 

 engineering. 



'The Economic Disposal of Towns' 

 IIefuse,' by W. Francis Goodrich, is 

 one of the 'Engineering Times' Library, 

 published by King & Son, London. 

 The author holds that garbage and 

 street sweepings should be destroyed by 

 fire and in no other way, and he pre- 

 sents facts and figures from all coun- 

 tries showing the great growth of pro- 

 cesses of cremation. Dumping street 

 refuse at sea, sorting it out into parts 

 which may be utilized, and the pro- 

 cesses of reduction by boiling are sum- 

 marily dismissed as unworthy of con- 

 sideration. The volume contains a 

 large amount of information regarding 

 different kinds of crematories, with re- 

 sults of comparative tests, and also a 

 lengthy discussion as to the best kind 

 of chimneys and boilers to utilize the 

 hot waste gases for the purpose of 

 generating power. Cremating furnaces 

 are now in operation at 106 towns in 



England, there being 18 in London 

 alone, and at 12 towns in Scotland and 

 Ireland. At Bradford, Canterbury, 

 Fleetwood, Oldham and a few other 

 places, the waste gases are utilized for 

 producing electric power for street 

 lighting. 



'Public Watek Supplies,' by Profess- 

 ors F. E. Turneaure and F. H. Russell 

 (John Wiley & Sons), is a comprehen- 

 sive work covering the entire range of 

 the subject, sanitary as well as con- 

 structive. That certain diseases are 

 communicated through water is now 

 thoroughly established, and the demon- 

 stration that the water can be rendered 

 harmless by proper filtration is com- 

 plete. Hence purity as well as quan- 

 tity is an important factor in the con- 

 sideration of a modern water supply. 

 The chemical and bacteriological part 

 of such works has heretofore been gen- 

 erally kept aside from the engineering 

 part, but by the cooperation of two au- 

 thors, both specialists in their respect- 

 ive lines, the difficult task of coordina- 

 tion has been here attempted. The 

 book is mainly designed for engineer- 

 ing students in technical schools, but 

 it cannot be said that the chapters on 

 the chemistry and bacteriology of 

 water are written in such a manner as 

 to produce the best results. The engi- 

 neering discussions relating to filter 

 beds, walls, reservoirs, mains, stand- 

 pipes and other details seem, on the 

 other hand, to be clear and complete 

 and likely to be of interest and value to 

 all engaged in planning water supplies. 

 The volume is the largest yet published 

 on this subject in this country, is well 

 printed with the exception of some of 

 the cuts, and contains many carefully 

 prepared descriptions of constructed 

 plants. That the authors have not 

 been completely successful in com- 

 bining the sanitary and constructive 

 elements is not surprising, in view of 

 the difficulty of the task, but they de- 

 serve great credit for their painstaking 

 work and the valuable volume pro- 

 duced. 



