260 Notices of Books. _ (April, 
years it is not probable it will be possible to find in Clerkenwell 
a workman capable of doing first-class work.” To remedy this 
lamentable state of things, Mr. Nelthropp suggests that it would 
be desirable to establish a school in connection with South Ken- 
sington, and to revive, in some measure, the powers of the 
Clock-makers’ Company, so that members should be elected 
only after examination by a competent governing body. 
Although watch-making seems to be falling into this state of 
decay in England, there are yet many amateurs who take great 
interest in the art. But with the exception of Mr. Denison’s 
excellent ‘‘ Rudimentary Treatise,” published some years ago in 
Weale’s series, we do not remember any modern English work 
on this subject. 
After defining the terms used in watch-work, and describing 
the tools used by the watch-maker, Mr. Nelthropp presents the 
reader with a sketch of the history of time-keepers. ‘ Le ciel 
est une horloge constante et perpétuelle,’’ and therefore the sun- 
dial was the earliest form of time-piece. As to watches, the 
antiquary knows that they were first made by Peter Hele, of 
Nuremberg, about the year 1500, and were called—from their 
place of manufacture and from their shape—‘‘ Nuremberg eggs.” 
Passing from the historical to the technical portion of the 
work, we find rules for calculating the number of teeth of wheels 
and leaves of pinions, and the necessary calculations for trains. 
Descriptions are then given of the five principal scapements— 
the verge, the horizontal, the duplex, the lever, and the detached 
escapement. A translation of a treatise on the pitching of 
wheels and pinions, by the astronomer M. de Lalande, is given 
in the shape of an Appendix. 
Although Mr. Nelthropp’s volume is not the work of a man 
practically engaged in the trade, it may be recommended not 
only to the antiquary who delves into the history of the watch- 
maker’s craft, but also to every intelligent person who seeks to 
know something about the anatomy of the little time-keeper 
which he carries in his pocket. 
4 
