112 Notices of Books. (January, 
in an extract from the ‘English Mechanic.” We also meet 
with the “recommendation” of the Rivers’ Pollution Com- 
missioners. We trust that this is a ‘‘last appearance”’ prior 
to its departure for that “limbo large and broad,” of which 
Milton sings. There are many interesting paragraphs in this 
book to which we may recur on a future opportunity. The work 
further contains a list of eminent scientific men who have died 
within the year, and concludes with an elaborate index. 
The appearance of this volume is a proof of the increasing 
demand for scientific literature on the other side of the Atlantic. 
It is not improbable that in the course of a few years America 
may occupy as prominent a position in chemical science and in 
chemical manufactures as she has already done in the mecha- 
nical arts. 
Report on Béton Aggloméré; or Coignet-Béton, and the Materials 
of which it is Made. By O. A. Gititmore, Major Corps 
of Engineers, Brevet Major-General, U.S.A. Washington: 
Government Printing Office. 1873. 
Practical Treatise on Limes, Hydraulic Cements, and Mortars 
By Q. A. Gittmore, A.M., Brigadier-General of U.S. 
Volunteers. Fourth Edition, revised and Enlarged. New 
York: D. Van Nostrand. 1873. 
‘‘ Beton Aggloméré” is a term presumably unknown to the major 
portion of mankind; ‘ Béton,” however, under its synonym of 
‘‘concrete,” is to us dwellers in towns a well-known material. 
Béton aggloméré is a concrete of superior quality, an artificial 
stone, in fact, prepared under certain conditions from given 
materials. The conditions are the use of the best materials; 
the use of only sufficient water to convert the matrix of lime or 
cement into a stiff, viscous paste; the incorporation of the solid 
ingredients, as sand, with the matrix bya thorough or prolonged 
mixing or trituration, producing an artificial stone paste, inco- 
herent in character until compacted by pressure, by which every 
grain of sand and gravel is completely coated with a thin film of 
the paste; and, finally, this béton, or artificial stone, is formed 
by thoroughly ramming the stone paste, in thin, successive 
layers, with iron-shod rammers. The materials employed in 
making this béton are sand, common fat, or hydraulic lime, or 
Portland cement. Having given a concise statement of par- 
ticulars and conditions favourable and unfavourable to the 
formation and induration of this new artificial stone, General 
Gillmore proceeds to consider, in a lengthy course of actual ex- 
periment, its merit and demerit. This consideration is accom- 
panied by a detailed description of the mortar-mixing mills, the 
proportion of materials employed in, and the tensile strength 
and other properties of the result of, the process. To complete 
the means of comparison a series of experiments and abstracts 
