128 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



experience or observation." The fact that 

 one purpose of the treatise is to interest be- 

 ginners in the subject of political economy 

 has also modified its character. " The author 

 has not held himself, as strictly as he has 

 sought in previous works to do, to the treat- 

 ment of political economy as a science, to be 

 distinguished from the art of political econ- 

 omy. He has allowed himself great freedom 

 in assuming that certain results are desirable 

 in themselves, and certain other results un- 

 desirable ; and he has sought to show how 

 these may be avoided and those attained. 

 Much, which, in his other works, has been 

 treated as belonging to the applications of 

 political economy, is wrought into the sub- 

 stance of the present treatise." The work 

 is divided into two chief parts, one treating 

 of " Production and Exchange," the other of 

 " Distribution and Consumption." Each 

 section is numbered and has a title, and the 

 volume is indexed. 



Fuel and its Applications. By E. J. Mills 

 and F. J. Rowan. Illustrated. Phila- 

 delphia : P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 

 xx + 802. Price, $7.50. 



It is one of the obstacles to gaining a 

 competent knowledge of technology that its 

 manuals become almost worthless when a 

 few years old, but it is the glory of the sci- 

 ences on which technology depends that 

 they advance fast enough to make these 

 books antiquated so quickly. This is espe- 

 cially true of the group of industries based 

 upon the science of chemistry. In order to 

 supply the lack of a comprehensive, authori- 

 tative new work dealing with these indus- 

 tries, a series ' of volumes has been pro- 

 jected, under the general title "Chemical 

 Technology, or Chemistry in its Applica- 

 tions to Arts and Manufactures." It will 

 be edited by Charles E. Groves, F. R. S., 

 editor of the " Journal of the Chemical So- 

 ciety," and William Thorp, B. Sc. As much 

 of the matter of Richardson and Watts's 

 "Chemical Technology " as is available, es- 

 pecially the historical portions, will be incor- 

 porated in the new work. Of this series the 

 present volume is the first. The most im- 

 portant sections of the general field, to be 

 covered in later volumes, are "Lighting," 

 "Acids and Alkalies," "Glass and Pottery," 

 "Metallurgy," "Textile Fabrics," "Leather, 



Paper, etc.," " Coloring Matters and Dyes," 

 "Oils and Varnishes," "Brewing and Dis- 

 tilling," "Sugar, Starch, Flour," etc. The 

 present volume treats of "Fuel and its Ap- 

 plications " generally ; its special employ- 

 ment in various branches of chemical manu- 

 facture being preserved for detailed consid- 

 eration in the volumes devoted to the special 

 subjects enumerated above. In the chapters 

 devoted to the production of fuel, tables are 

 given showing the composition of the differ- 

 ent woods and coals, together with informa- 

 tion concerning the formation of peat, lig- 

 nite, and coal, the world's production of coal, 

 explosions in mines from fire-damp and coal- 

 dust, etc. The figures representing the out- 

 put of coal in Britain and other countries 

 show the enormous development which has 

 taken place in the fuel industry all over the 

 world. Methods of burning charcoal, both 

 in heaps and kilns ; and methods of coking, 

 in heaps and in ovens, are described, with 

 illustrative views and diagrams. On the 

 continent of Europe, methods of cleaning, 

 washing, and classifying coal have reached 

 a great degree of elaboration, and the prac- 

 tice in Britain has progressed somewhat in 

 the same direction. Considerable space is 

 devoted to these methods, and the machines 

 employed in them. The most marked ad- 

 vance in respect to the manufacture and 

 application of fuels in the past generation 

 has been in the control and utilization of 

 gases. The waste gases from coking ovens 

 are now collected for their ammonia, tar, 

 and other by-products, the gases from blast- 

 furnaces using coal and from gas-producers 

 are also made to yield these products ; and 

 great advance has been achieved in the ex- 

 traction of ammonia in shale distillation. 

 More important than these is the use of 

 coal-gas, and in America of " natural " gas 

 also, as fuel. The methods and appliances 

 for using gaseous and also liquid fuel re- 

 ceive a general representation in this vol- 

 ume, and copious references are given for 

 specialists who may wish to study particular 

 branches of the subject. The portion of the 

 volume devoted to the application of fuel is 

 introduced by chapters on the theory of heat 

 and the nature of flame. The matters of 

 chimney - draught, forced combustion, and 

 smoke prevention are then taken up. The 

 special application of fuel considered first 



