196^ 



NATURE 



[October 22, 1914 



" Its adoption would give encouragement to 

 agriculture ; it would provide a national weapon 

 to fight artificial (or economic) shortage of 

 other fuel for internal combustion engines ; in- 

 directly it would encourage the further develop- 

 ment of a big and growing branch of engineering, 

 the success of which is impossible without an 

 assured supply of fuel at a reasonable cost." 



H. E. W. 



MODERN PRACTICE IN THE EXTRACTION 

 OF METALS FROM THEIR ORES. 



The M'etaUurgy of the Non-Ferrous Metals. By 

 Prof. W. Gowland. Pp. xxvii + 496. (Lon- 

 don: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 

 185. net. 



THIS book is a most valuable addition to the 

 series of metallurgical text-books pub- 

 lished by Messrs. C. Griffin and Co. It gives in 

 a concise but wonderfully complete form the up- 

 to-date practice in the extraction of the following 

 metals from their ores : copper, lead, gold, silver, 

 platinum, mercury, zinc, cadmium, tin, nickel, 

 cobalt, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, and alumin- 

 ium. Under the heading of each metal are con- 

 sidered (i) its physical and chemical properties; 



(2) the alloys of which it is the chief constituent; 



(3) the composition and applications of commercial 

 brands ; (4) the chief ores and processes by which 

 the metal is extracted from them and rendered 

 suitable for industrial or other purposes ; (5) the 

 principles and conditions on which the success of 

 these processes depends ; and (6) examples of 

 actual practice in important extraction works. 

 The author states that special attention has been 

 given to the metallurgy of gold, silver, copper, 

 and lead, which undoubtedly constitute the most 

 impjortant members of the above group. This 

 statement is thoroughly justified, for, so far as we 

 have been able to ascertain, every important 

 modern successful process has received attention. 



In writing this book the author has had in 

 view not only the student engaged in a course of 

 metallurgical training, but also the man who is 

 actually dealing with practical problems ; and he 

 is particularly well qualified to present both these 

 important aspects of the subject. It is perfectly 

 true, as he points out, that much valuable in- 

 formation with regard to modern metallurgical 

 practice may be found in technical periodicals and 

 the proceedings of societies. Those who have the 

 opportunity of consulting such publications will, 

 we think, find his critical comparisons of similar 

 processes of great value, while to the man whose 

 time is limited or who has no technical library 

 within reach the book will be one of the most 

 valuable that has ever been published. The clear 

 and full table of contents enables a reference to 

 NO. 2ZA7. VOL. Qdl 



any particular process, and, indeed, to any special 

 feature of it, to be readily made. • 



The author writes with rare, indeed, almost 

 unique, knowledge of the metallurgy of copper, 

 and his mastery of the subject cannot be better 

 illustrated than by mentioning that in the compass 

 of eighty-one pages every important aspect is 

 dealt with. The ore now being pyritically smelted 

 at the Tennessee Copper Co. 's works at Copper- 

 hill runs rather lower in copper than the 

 figure 2 to 2| per cent, mentioned by him (p. 100); 

 it does not exceed I'g per cent., and is tending to 

 become even lower in grade. We think that the 

 Chilian Mill might have received more attention 

 than the three lines devoted to it on p. 208. At 

 the present time almost, if not quite, all the 

 Cripple Creek gold ores are reduced by Chilian 

 mills, the Stamp Mill having been practically 

 superseded in this district. Harker's value of 

 1710° C. is given for the melting point of plati- 

 num. It is now generally recognised that this 

 figure, which was obtained on the thermo-electric 

 scale by extrapolation, is too low. The value 

 1755° C. quoted recently by the Bureau of 

 Standards is probably much nearer the true figure. 



SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



The Co-operation of Science and Industry. By 

 S. R. Illingworth. Pp. 91. (London : C. 

 Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 15. 6d. net. 



THIS little book has a special interest at the 

 present time. The author deals with the his- 

 tory of science as applied to industry, and while 

 avoiding any violent diatribes against the supine- 

 ness of the British manufacturer, he points out what 

 may be done to recover the supremacy of our trade. 

 The employment of more scientific men in most of 

 our works is strongly advocated, not only of the 

 higher class of research men, but also of the class 

 of routine analysts. The first class is required to 

 devise new processes along scientific lines, to dis- 

 cover uses and outlets for bye-products, and 

 always to be on the look-out for methods for gain- 

 ing the maximum yield of finished products at 

 the minimum of cost. 



" To many business men the employment of 

 such a man may appear a luxury ; almost a 

 gamble ! The few that have such men are only 

 employing them for some specific object, and 

 maybe will rest content when that object is 

 attained. Such an attitude is fatal." 



If the German manufacturers had been content 

 to take this line, the magnificent industries which 

 they have built up would certainly not have come 

 into existence. We have now, at this moment, 

 an opportunity of recovering the ground we have 

 lost. 



