LITERARY NOTICES. 



127 



hands. The section on the general struct- 

 ure and geological history of the earth has 

 been prepared by Dr. John S. Newberry, 

 Professor of Geology and Paleontology in 

 Columbia College ; that devoted to the geo- 

 logical history of the North American Con- 

 tinent, by Professor Charles II. Hitchcock, 

 of Dartmouth College ; the portion relating 

 to general physiology and the physical feat- 

 ures of the United States, by Mr. Ilenry 

 Gannett, Chief Geographer of the United 

 States Geological Survey ; the pages explain- 

 ing terrestrial magnetism, with the chap- 

 ters on A'olcanoes and earthquakes, coral 

 islands, the earth's waters, and meteorology, 

 by Dr. W. Le Conte Stevens, Professor of 

 Physics in the Packer Collegiate Institute. 

 Dr. N. L. Britton, Lecturer in Botany, Co- 

 lumbia College, furnished the chapter on 

 plant-life ; Dr. C. Hart Merriam, the Orni- 

 thologist of the Department of Agriculture, 

 those relating to zoology and the animal 

 life of the United States ; Professor Will- 

 iam II. Dall, of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 that on ethnology ; and Mr. George F. Kunz, 

 gem expert and mineralogist with Messrs. 

 Tiffany k Co., of New York, that on precious 

 stones. Throughout the book references to 

 standard works have been inserted, which 

 will guide pupils and teachers to fuller 

 sources of information on the various topics 

 which can be only touched upon in a school 

 text-book. The text is copiously illustrated 

 with pictures, diagrams, and maps in color, 

 on which no pains have been spared to se- 

 cure accuracy and mechanical excellence. 



The Printing of Cotton Fahrics, compris- 

 ing Calico Bleaching, Printing, and 

 Dyeing. By Antonio Sansone. Man- 

 chester, England: Abel Hey wood & Sons. 

 Pp. 375, with Nineteeen Plates, Thirteen 

 Text Illustrations, and Eight Plates of 

 Printed Samples. 



The applications of new chemical dis- 

 coveries to technical purposes have become 

 so frequent during the last quarter of a cent- 

 ury as to cause almost a complete change 

 in several important branches of modern 

 industry, developing new fields of human 

 application and effecting marked improve- 

 ments in manufacturing generally. Like 

 other industries, the colorist branch, which 

 may be said to be the pet child of modern 

 chemical investigation, has not been slow 

 to feel the effect of the introduction of sci- 



entific methods in the every-day work of 

 the factory ; the result has been a steady 

 progress and improvement in the methods 

 of obtaining colors on fabrics, consequent 

 on the introduction of new coloring-matters 

 and a better understanding of the properties 

 of the substances used, and of the princi- 

 ples which govern the formation and fixa- 

 tion of each color on the fiber. 



The printing of tissues — that is, the art 

 of fixing various colors which form more or 

 less elaborate designs on cloth — is a very 

 complicated process, requiring for its suc- 

 cessful completion the assistance of all the 

 skill which chemical and mechanical prog- 

 ress has placed at the service of manufact- 

 urers. This progress, however, which per- 

 mits of greater facilities being introduced 

 gradually, rendering possible the adoption 

 of novel and more complicated designs which 

 could not be easily employed with older 

 methods, makes it at the same time impera- 

 tive on those engaged in this branch of in- 

 dustry to keep themselves posted on all the 

 forward steps made by others, in order to 

 meet the artistic requirements of the con- 

 sumer, and the competition of rival manu- 

 facturers. 



This progress is so steady and gradual 

 that it has to be followed incessantly. Pub- 

 lications treating specially of this branch of 

 manufactures are not very plentiful ; the con- 

 tinual changes and improvements are liable 

 to deprive a book of its practical usefulness 

 a few years after its publication. A com- 

 plete work on the subject, embodying the 

 latest devices and processes in use, can, 

 therefore, not help being welcome both to 

 the trained colorist and to the student. The 

 author is well fitted for the task he has 

 undertaken, having been for several years 

 director of the School of Dyeing and Print- 

 ing at the Technical School of Manchester, 

 the center of the printing industry. 



Theory and practice are given an equal 

 share of attention, which they both deserve 

 in an art in which scientific training, skill, 

 experience, and artistic taste have all to con- 

 tribute to the result. The opening chapter 

 is devoted to the history of calico-printing 

 which is traced from its origin in India, to 

 its present flourishing expansion. 



Before the tissue can actually be print- 

 ed upon, it is necessary that it should bo 

 bleached ; to this important preliminary op- 



