8 4 6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



nature, because on the whole the katabolic 

 conditions of the environment preponderate 

 over the anabolic. In conclusion, certain psy- 

 chological and sociological aspects of sex re- 

 lations are discussed, namely, the occurrence 

 of the love of mates and of offspring among 

 animals, the intellectual and emotional dif- 

 ferences between the sexes, and the various 

 proposals for checking increase of popula- 

 tion. The authors express strong aversion, 

 based on biological grounds, to the recent 

 attempts of some women to mold their sex 

 into the fashion of men. They hold that 

 the difference between the mental capabili- 

 ties of women and men is highly beneficial 

 to the race, and is hence to be fostered and 

 not obliterated. Each chapter of the work 

 is followed by a summary of its main points, 

 and a list of books bearing upon the special 

 topic under treatment. The authors have 

 discussed the recently published views of 

 Prof. Weisman on Heredity, and have taken 

 account also of Wallace's latest criticisms 

 on Darwinism. They express regret that 

 limits of space have made it impossible to 

 give the botanical side of their subject its 

 proportionate share of attention, but they 

 have inserted illustrations of the essential 

 facts, which they deem sufficient to show 

 the parallelism of the reproductive processes 

 throughout nature. A defect of the book is 

 in its language, which is frequently so in- 

 volved as to be obscure, and is still oftener 

 awkward. The volume is illustrated and has 

 an index. 



The Metallurgy of Steel. By Henry Ma- 

 rion Howe. Vol. I. New York : The 

 Scientific Publishing Company. Pp. 380, 

 quarto. Price, $10. 



In this work metallurgists are provided 

 with an account of the most important of 

 metallurgical industries on a scale which is 

 seldom ventured upon. Its purpose is to 

 describe the present practice of steel-mak- 

 ing in America without attempting to give 

 the history of the industry. Hence the au- 

 thor says : " In describing old experiments 

 and abandoned processes, I have not aimed 

 to give matter of historic interest, but rather 

 that which might be useful, whether in de- 

 terring others from repeating unnecessary 

 or hopeless experiments, or in guiding them 

 should processes once unsuccessful become 



commercially possible through changed con- 

 ditions." Most of the first half of this vol- 

 ume is devoted to the characters of differ- 

 ent steels, produced by admixtures of carbon, 

 silicon, manganese, and other metallic and 

 non-metallic elements. In considering the 

 effect of carbon on iron, the author presents 

 both the chemical and the microscopical evi- 

 dence which goes to show that there are two 

 conditions of combination of carbon with 

 iron. In one of the early chapters the pro- 

 cesses of hardening, tempering, and anneal- 

 ing are described, and the changes produced 

 in the metal by these operations are ex- 

 plained. The absorption of gases by iron 

 and their escape from the metal, and the 

 various means taken to prevent the conse- 

 quent forming of blow-holes and pipes, form 

 a division of the subject that receives full 

 discussion. The author considers next the 

 varieties of stucture shown by the micro- 

 scope, and the changes of crystallization, 

 etc., produced by various treatments of the 

 metal. The operations included under cold 

 working and hot working are then described, 

 after which the making of steel is taken up. 

 A great many varieties of the direct process, 

 several charcoal-hearth processes, and the 

 crucible process are described and their re- 

 sults are compared. The closing chapter is 

 a description of the apparatus for the Besse- 

 mer process, including a variety of modifica- 

 tions. The material of this volume has been 

 published in supplements to The Engineer- 

 ing and Mining Journal within the past two 

 years, during which time new results have 

 been attained in some departments of the 

 subject. Some of these — namely, on man- 

 ganese steel and other special steels, on anti- 

 rust coatings, and on lead-quenching — are 

 added in appendixes. In stating the cost of 

 metallurgical processes, the author has gen- 

 erally given the quantities of material and 

 the amount of labor needed for a given work 

 rather than the expense in dollars and cents, 

 for the reasons that the former fluctuate less 

 than the latter, and more managers are will- 

 ing to tell what quantities of materials they 

 use than what is their exact cost of produc- 

 tion. He has inserted a great many refer- 

 ences to original authorities, for the purpose 

 of showing that his statements have a solid 

 foundation, or so that the reader may exam- 

 ine any special topic more in detail. In re- 



