December 21, 191 1] 



NATURE 



241 



The first six chapters are devoted to surveying and 

 levelling, and the mensuration of earthvs^orks, the 

 subject being treated with special reference to the 

 class of work which has to be carried out by muni- 

 cipal engineers, such as the laying out of roads, 

 tram-lines, sewers, &c. ; next follow three chapters 

 dealing with such general problems as the stresses 

 and strains in beams and struts under given loading, 

 and the methods of determining the necessary scant- 

 lings of simple beams and pillars. In a special 

 chapter on the various materials employed in con- 

 structional work, the author gives a concise descrip- 

 tion of their structure, essential properties, manufac- 

 ture, and the usual methods of testing them to ensure 

 soundness and freedom from all defects. Retaining 

 walls and their design are fully discussed in chapter 

 xvi., and examples are worked out to illustrate the 

 use of the formulse and the methods of securing safety 

 with economy of material. 



The making and repair of roads form a very im- 

 portant part of the duty of a municipal engineer : 

 prior to the advent of the motor-car, the roads outside 

 town areas had been much neglected, and they were 

 in a totally inadequate condition to deal with fast 

 and heavy traffic; as a consequence the questions of 

 road maintenance and road construction have entered 

 during the past ten years upon an entirely new phase. 

 To mention only one of the changed conditions, with 

 horse traffic the dust nuisance was, in country dis- 

 tricts, a matter of slight importance; at the present 

 day, on roads on which there is a heavy motor-car 

 traffic, the suppression of dust becomes a factor 

 which must be dealt with, and to which other details 

 may have to be subordinated. In chapter xix, the 

 author gives an excellent abstract of a report upon 

 the proceedings of the International Road Congress, 

 which met in Paris in 1908, prepared for the Local 

 Government Board of Ireland by the chief engineer, 

 Mr. Cowan. This congress agreed to a series of reso- 

 lutions embodying the views of the delegates as to 

 the lines upon which in the future roads should be 

 constructed and maintained, and also as to how best 

 to cope with the dust problem, though at present 

 opinion is divided as to the respective merits of sur- 

 face tarring and tar-macadam. 



A valuable chapter is that devoted to the design 

 of structures in reinforced concrete; some excellent 

 notes are given as to the essential qualities of the 

 two materials employed — the concrete and the Steel — 

 then a series of simple formulae is worked out, and, 

 finally, typical illustrations of design are given, such 

 as floors, piles, reservoir walls, bridges, and sewers, 

 in each case attention being directed to practical 

 difficulties which have to be met and overcome, if 

 thoroughly sound, durable work is to be produced. 

 This chapter is appropriately followed by one on 

 masonry road bridges and similar work. 



The problem of the removal of domestic and trade 

 rofuso, solid and liquid, is dealt with in six very com- 

 plete chapters — one of the best sections, in fact, of 

 the book. All the most modern and efficient methods 

 are discussed and explained, both in regard to the 

 laying out and the construction of sewers, and in 

 regard to the ultimate treatment of the sewage at the 

 NO. 2199, VOL. 88] 



outfall works. An abstract is given of the report of 

 the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal of 1908, 

 a report which embodies the views of chemists, 

 biologists, and engineers, and is a storehouse of 

 information upon a subject which is of vital import- 

 ance to the general public, and the layman is as much 

 concerned with the efficient solution of this knotty 

 problem as the engineers who have to design and 

 maintain the necessary works. To make this section 

 of the book complete, the author has added a chapter 

 on the ventilation of buildings and house drainage, in 

 which the best types of modern sanitary house fit- 

 tings are described, with the help of a series of good 

 illustrations. 



Waterworks, their design and maintenance, form 

 the subject of three chapters. Full details are given 

 of the best system of filtration, of methods of soften- 

 ing hard waters so as to render them more suitable 

 for domestic purposes, and of detecting and checking 

 waste of water, a constant source of worry to the 

 engineer in charge of such works; some figures are 

 given to show how excessive this waste by leakage 

 and by the culpable negligence of householders may 

 be, and how important it is to put a stop to it, if 

 needless expense in constructional works is to be 

 avoided, and a shortage of supply in periods of 

 drought prevented. 



Constructional steel work is discussed in a very 

 complete chapter. The examples chosen cover a wide 

 range of such class of work— overhead water tanks, 

 roofs, and bridges of various type. The illustrations 

 in this chapter are clear and not overburdened with 

 detail, and are, therefore, much more likely to prove 

 useful to a designer who consults them than is often 

 the case with plates reproducing engineering draw- 

 ings. For the guidance of young engineers, Mr. 

 Taylor has given a special chapter to the subject of 

 the preparation and drafting of specifications, a 

 chapter which will no doubt be constantly consulted, 

 as it is full of the most useful hints and advice. 



Mr. Taylor is to be congratulated on the production 

 of a book which will find a place on the desk and in 

 the drawing office of every civil engineer, and the 

 publishers, too, must be given a word of praise for 

 the excellence of the numerous plates and wood- 

 cuts. T. H. B. 



CHEMICAT. I'JIKNOMENA OF (.IFF. 

 Chemical Phenomena in Life. By Prof. !•'. C'/apek. 

 Pp. ix+152. (Harper's Library of Living Thought.) 

 (London and New York : Harper and Bros., 191 1.) 

 Price 2s. 6d. net. 



ME.SSRS. HARPER could not have secured a 

 more authoritative or a clearer writer than 

 Prof. Czapek, of Prague, to present to the public the 

 most recent views of biochemistry. The chemistry of 

 protoplasm and its behaviour, as well as that of its 

 constituents, have been greatly illuminated since that 

 branch of chemistrj' known as the chemistry of col- 

 loids has been subjected to investigation. The main 

 properties of colloids were discovered by Thomas 

 Graham in 186 1, and the conception of ions we owe 

 to Faraday. Nevertheless, the science of physical 



