LITERARY NOTICES. 



\z-l 



the selection of the material of which the ma- 

 chines are made ; in the ajiplication of pure 

 science (in its strictest sense) to the form and 

 to the proportioning of the parts, and also in 

 the arrangement of these various parts in re- 

 lation the one to the other. The result is, that 

 the greatest possible strength is afforded with 

 only the least possible weight, and that fric- 

 tion in working has been reduced to a mini- 

 mum.'''' 



Finally, the hardly appreciable dif- 

 ference in the density of the air on the 

 upper side and the under side, of a shot 

 issuing from a gun is sufficient to deflect 

 the missile toward either side, according 

 to the " hand " of the rifling, to such 

 an extent that it has to be allowed for 

 in the sighting and rifling of guns de- 

 signed to be fired at long range. So, in 

 fixing long-range guns, pointing north 

 and south, the difference in the velocity 

 of the earth's rotation at the two ends 

 of the range has to be taken into con- 

 sideration. 



Sir Frederick's address having begun 

 by showing how appKcations of science 

 and discoveries act and react upon and 

 further one another, and having illus- 

 trated the importance of minute details 

 in this mutual helping, closed with a 

 demonstration that engineering has a 

 poetical side. 



The building of such a work as the 

 Eddystone Lighthouse, the throwing of 

 a long and lofty span across a navigable 

 river or strait, or the tunneling under 

 a body of water — like the English Chan- 

 nel, for instance — with the closer bring- 

 ing together of peoples that would result 

 from it, or the execution of a sanitary 

 work that will reduce disease one half 

 — a thing that is not unknown — afford 

 abundant scope for emotion and flight 

 of the imagination. "Whether it be these, 

 or the supply of pure water to every 

 dwelling — 



" or the distribution of light or of motive pow- 

 er ; or whether it be in the production of the 

 mighty ocean-steamer, or in the spanning of 

 valleys, the piercing of mountains and afford- 

 ing the firm, secure road for the express-train ; 

 or whether it be the encircling the world with 



telegraphs — the work of the civil engineer is 

 not cf the earth earthy, is not mechanical to 

 the exclusion of science, is not unintellectual ; 

 but is of a most beneficent nature, is consist- 

 ent with true poetical feeling, and is worthy 

 of the highest order of intellect." 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Animal Memoirs. Part I. — Mammals. By 

 Samuel Lockwood. New York and Chi- 

 cago : Ivison, Blakeman & Co. Pp. 317. 



This book is the first of a projected sc- 

 ries of "Readings in Natural History," in 

 which the author purposes to present mainly 

 individual portraits, or animal biographies, 

 in the fourfold setting of their morphology, 

 physiology, chorology (or geographical occu- 

 pancy), and origin, " but so far as possible 

 without technicality of treatment, and with 

 as little formal limning as is compatible with 

 clear and truthful outlines." Preference is 

 given, where possible, to such creatures as 

 the author has known with the intimacy that 

 attaches to pets. In accounting for the ori- 

 gin of the book, Prof. Lockwood describes 

 how his own interest in natural history be- 

 gan. It arose from his picking up, while he 

 was a very small boy, a torpid snake which 

 had been chilled in a severe storm. Having 

 taken it home, he was examining its dia- 

 mond-pointed scales, when it revived under 

 the influence of the warmth, and was at once 

 dispatched by an older brother. " I felt very 

 badly," he says, " to have it taken from me. 

 But a little picture of its ornamentation held 

 a place for a long time in my memory. The 

 pattern was a mosaic of pretty geometric 

 figures. From that time on my taste grew. 

 I had that day got a nibble in the lane which 

 led to the rich and open field of nature. 

 What an appetizer it proved to be ! I hun- 

 gered for more. My fii-st book was Gold- 

 smith's 'Animated Nature,' which was read 

 and reread with avidity. I took in every- 

 thing, even the wild statement that Indians 

 had passed safely over the Falls of Niagara 

 in their canoes." The key to the author's 

 mood is given in the sentence, " With the 

 imagination and judgment in healthful union, 

 let one enter into the mind of the animal — 

 that is, put himself in its place — and it will 

 be surprising how much of one's self can be 

 seen in that lowly thing." Prudence and 

 foresight, forecasting of the weather, mag- 



