Dec, 1904.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



i^3 



necessities of enlargement and revision, which arc imposed on 

 svich a work by the develnpments of modern practice and 

 scientific investigation of methods, are very liberally complied 

 with. The ample space of these two volumes, numbering over 

 a thousand pages and comprising more than five hundred 

 illustrations, permits of the most complete examination of the 

 growing requirements of industries which continually show- 

 expanding necessities and unbounded possibilities. The 

 volumes, primarily designed for the use of the works manager. 

 are written with a view to be of interest and instruction to the 

 student also. This is the more evident in the second volume. 

 where considerable additions have been made to the theoretical 

 consideration of questions connected with the absorption and 

 compression of gases; and to the application of electricity to 

 the chemical and .allied industries. ()ur space will not permit 

 us to enter into a detailed examination of Mr. Davis's 

 standard of theoretical requirement in the information 

 which he gives on his subjects ; but we may note that in 

 the chapters relating to gases and to heat the theoretical 

 side of the questions considered receives treatment which is 

 equally full and lucid. It will be of greater service both to Mr. 

 Davis and to intending purchasers of his valuable volumes to 

 enumerate briefly the new features which have been added to 

 the second edition. In the chapters dealing with steam and 

 power, the subject of water softening has been more fully 

 treated, and the flow of steam through pipes investigated 

 by the light of the latest information on thi; subject. The 

 flow of viscous liquids through pipes and the cost of moving 

 gases by various methods receive a good deal of attention ; 

 and suction producers, the Diesel engine, and the De Laval 

 steam turbine are now fully described. The first volume 

 concludes with a chapter on the treatment and preparation of 

 solids; the second begins with three chapters on heat and the 

 compression and absorption of gases to which we have 

 referred. In connection with the applications of electricity, 

 the electro- smelting furnaces of Stassano, Heroult, Harmet, 

 and Kjellin are both described and illustrated. But perhaps 

 the most important addition to this subject is the information 

 given relating to the comparatively new industrj' of electro- 

 magnetic separation, which is very fully described .and illus- 

 trated. All the various s\'stems of magnetic separation have 

 been noticed and many figures of separations from actual 

 practice have been included in the work. Increased attention 

 has also been given to the subjects of hygiene, and especially 

 to accidents and to the treatment of cases of gaseous poison- 

 ing. In this connection, the construction and use of respirators 

 has secured additional space, which it is hoped will lead to an 

 extension of knowledge of this important subject. 



"The Rob Roy on the Jordan" (John Murray) carries its 

 thirty and odd years lightly. The present eighth (2s. 6d. net) 

 edition of Mr. Macgregor's canoe cruise in Palestine, Egypt, 

 and the waters of Damascus is as fresh as the day it was 

 written. The most interesting point of a narrative that is full 

 of interest is Mr. Macgregor's description of his discovery of 

 the mouth of the Jordan, which " eludes our sight by diving 

 into jungle, where it defies all search from the north side as to 

 where its waters roll into this Lake of Nierom." He found it 

 entering the lake at the end of a promontory of papyrus of 

 the richest green, and upright as two walls on either hand. 

 Apart from the intrinsic interest of the matter the naivcli- of 

 the style lends it additional charm. 



Light and Water. — The luxnriousandattr.active volume which 

 Sir Montague Pollock calls " Light and Water " (George Hell 

 and Sons) is described by him, in his secondary title, as a Study 

 of Reflexion and Colour in Kiver, Lake, and Sea. It is, in 

 fact, an attempt to state the elementary scientific principles 

 which govern the reflexion of light from water, in such a way 

 as to be a guide to the artist or art student. The book serves 

 its purpose admirably; the simpler laws of optics are st 

 in terms that are comprehensible to the meanest intellige; 

 and the author's very agreeable style should commend his 

 book not merely toartists, but to any lover of Nature. Numerous 

 and beautiful illustrations, especially those accompanying the 

 chapters on colour in water, have a value .and interest in 

 themselves. 



Physical Science. — We must confess to no great predilection 

 for works which summarise in a compressed form half a do^en 

 scientific problems. But an exception must be made in the 



instance of " The Recent Development of Physical .Science," 

 by W. C. 1). Whctham, I'.R.S. (John Murray), which sets out 

 thos-j questions of gaseous li(|uel'action, of r.ulio activity, of 

 atoms, electrons, ions, and the ether, the consideration of 

 which has become the theme almost of household di.scussions. 

 Often books of the kind are very loosely scientific, and. in the 

 attempt to interest, are neglectful of the necessity to instruct. 

 Hut Mr. Whctham takes a very different view of his res|)onsi- 

 bihties. He relates the various problems one to the other; 

 he shows what conunon basis they h.ave ; he compares dis- 

 covery with theory ; he interprets the philosophical aspect of 

 scientific ende;ivour in physical science. To his task of inter- 

 pretation he brings a pen of singular clearness, and a manner 

 that is graphic, illustrative and succinct. Such an essay may 

 be comp.ired to the best form of public lecture. It demands 

 intelligence on the part of the auditor, but its underlying pur- 

 pose is to direct that intelligence into channels of greater and 

 more complete information. It would be a very poor compli- 

 ment to Mr. Whetham to describe his work as popular in the 

 ordinary sense of the expression, but in the better sense, as a 

 book of the greatest utility and interest to the educated ]iublic, 

 it may be so considered. 



Sociulogy. Mr. J. Lionel T.ayler's '-Aspect of Social Involu- 

 tion " (Smith, Llder, and Co.) is a suggestive contribution to 

 the new science of ICugenics. It has been more than once 

 pointed out, and that by observers in widely distributed fields 

 of observ.ition, that the improvement of the race cannot be 

 scientifically effected by any scheme that our knowledge can 

 at present propound. There seems, in fact, to be no way of 

 improving the race better than that which was suggested by 

 the late K. L. Stevenson in the words that "one person I have 

 to make good -myself. My duty to my neighbour is better 

 expressed by saying that I have to make him happy — if I can." 

 But at the root of happiness and of goodness lies increased 

 and better knowledge; and in a true appreciation of the diffi- 

 culties and of the problems is the only hope of the betterment of 

 the race. It is lor these reasons that such honest efforts as 

 those of Mr. Tayler to state the problems and the difficulties 

 are to be welcomed. 



Natural History.— There is a great deal of charm about Mr. 

 Graham Renshaw's "Natural liistory Essays " (Sherrat and 

 Hughes), which gather together in a convenient form and in a 

 capitally illustrated book a number of articles on well-known cr 

 littleanimals, typical examples of the mammalian .African faunai 

 such as the Harbary Ape, the l-'ennec Eox, the Blue Wilde- 

 beest, the White Rhinoceros, and that " True Quagga," the 

 extinction of which, though proved, is constantly denied by 

 honest but uninstructed hunters of South Africa. A pleasant 

 gossipy, and withal a sound and valuable book. 



Bablngton's Manual of British Botany. — A ninth edition has 

 been published of the late Professor Habington's " Manual of 

 British Botany " ((iurney and Jackson), which contains the 

 flowering plants and ferns arranged according to the natural 

 orders. The present edition of this useful work, for many 

 years almost the only critical handbook of British flora, has 

 been edited by Henry and James Groves, who have included 

 the notes prepared by its author with a view to a subsequent 

 edition, together with the results of recent work in botany. 



Flowering Plants and Ferns. — .'V second edition in one volume 

 has .ippeared of Mr. J. C. Willis' useful guide to the students 

 of botany, " .'\ Manual and Dictionary of the Flowering Plants 

 and Ferns" (Cambridge University Press). It is in fact a 

 summary of scientific information about the plants to be 

 found, either in a botanical garden or in the field, and it 

 embraces the subjects of morphology, classification, natural 

 history, and economic botany. It is well adapted both for 



!iie study or for work in the country, especially as the 

 r riptions of genera are not unnecessarily technical. 



The Timbers of Commerce. — "The Timbers of Commerce and 

 their Identilication " (William Rider and Son.s), by Hubert 

 Stone, I'.L.S., F.R.C.I., consists of an exhaustive tabulation 

 and characterisation of the various woods used in trade. 

 Under the heading of each wood is given its botanical classifi- 

 cation, its source of supply, its physical characteristics, its 

 uses in commerce, together with its numerous other qualities, 

 and fine photographs show sections of the principal kinds 



