SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



131 



GENERAL NOTICES. 



The strong efforts now being made to 

 develop a vehicle that shall propel itself, and 

 the measure of success already achieved, 

 promise the early attainment of an advance 

 in locomotion as great as that afforded by 

 the introduction of the safety type of bicycle. 

 A good idea of the mechanical principles that 

 are being employed in the solution of the 

 problem may be gained from a translation of 

 a recent book by a French engineer.* Of 

 the four kinds of motor that have been ap- 

 plied to self-propelling vehicles steam, elec- 

 tric, compressed air, and naphtha the au- 

 thor has by far the most hopes of the last, 

 and gives most space to this type in his book. 

 His early chapters are devoted to a state- 

 ment of the mechanics of steam and other 

 gases, and he gives here also the theory of 

 the electric motor. In describing the vari- 

 ous systems of steam traction he gives first 

 place to the SerpoUet generator the only 

 generator of steam allowed for traffic in the 

 large cities of France. Other steam motors 

 that find place here are the Le Blant, De 

 Dion & Bouton, Bollee, Filtz, Rowan, and 

 Francq. Compressed-air autocars are repre- 

 sented by the Popp-Conti tramway and the 

 Mekarski system. M. Farman is naturally 

 most familiar with motor wagons of European 

 origin, but he has inserted such accounts as 

 were accessible to him of the American types. 

 Among petroleum motors he ranks as king 

 the one invented by the German Daimler, 

 which is employed in the carriages of Pan- 

 hard & Levassor, Peugeot, Gautier, and other 

 builders. He gives a full description of this 

 and describes also the Roger car with the 

 Benz motor, the Gladiator auto-cycles, the 

 Duryea, Kane-Pennington, Tenting, and Dela- 

 haye cars, and several machines so far used 

 only for agricultural or other industrial pur- 

 poses. Electric carriages are represented by 

 the Jeantaud, Morris & Salom, and Bogard. 

 His concluding chapter deals with lubrica 

 tion, tires, bearings, and other details. Over 

 a hundred carefully drawn figures and dia- 

 grams illustrate the volume. 



The notes which the reader will find 

 in Miss Merriani's attractive volume were 



* Autocars. By D. Farman. New York: The 

 Macmiilan Co. Pp. 249, 12mo. Price, $1.50. 



taken at Twin Oaks in southern California.* 

 The author is a bird enthusiast who, before 

 going to the Pacific coast, had known only 

 the birds of New York and Massachusetts. 

 " Every morning right after breakfast " she 

 has her horse brought round, and together in 

 silent sympathy she and Canello, the faithful 

 patient little broncho, go the rounds of the 

 valley, getting acquainted with the birds as 

 they come from the south. Canello liked 

 well to " watch birds in the high alfalfa un- 

 der the sycamores, but when it came to stand- 

 ing still where the hot sun beat down through 

 the brush and there was nothing to eat, his 

 interest in ornithology flagged perceptibly." 

 Then after dinner the author strolls through 

 the trees to get a nearer view of the nests. 

 The white egret, the green heron, the spotted 

 sandpiper, the valley quail, are as fascinating 

 to Miss Merriam as are the ants to Sir John 

 Lubbock. Her description of all the birds is 

 marked by a charming simplicity and by a 

 beautiful use of English. She is in touch 

 with Nature, with an eye for color, an ear 

 atune to melody, and intellect clear and clean. 

 It is a pity that we have not more such books 

 as this and more such women as the author- 

 ess. We can imagine no better mental tonic 

 than a ride on horseback in the early morn- 

 ing while the dew is on the grass, with the 

 authoress as a chaperon and teacher of bird 

 lore, for the weary city woman who needs to 

 be lulled back to rest and get mental and 

 physical health on the bosom of Mother Na- 

 ture. 



Prof. Ramsay, who was associated with 

 Lord Rayleigh in the remarkable discovery 

 of argon, has written a popular historical 

 sketch of the several investigations that have 

 given us our present knowledge as to what 

 air is composed of.f He begins with the 

 work of Robert Boyle, who published about 

 1650 his Memoirs for a General History of 

 the Air, and proceeds with the less known 

 labors of John Mayow and Stephen Hales. 



* A-Birding on a Bronco. By Florence A. 

 Merriam. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

 Price, $1.25. 



t The Gases of the Atmosphere. By William 

 Ramsay, F. R. 8. London and New York : The 

 Macmiilan Co. Pp. 240, 12mo. Price, $2. 



