DISCOVERY 



275 



the carbides, and the highly refractorj' metals in a compact 

 form, have received an important commercial application. 

 Again, in spite of the cost, there is a progressive tendency 

 for the extension of electrical methods of heating to 

 chemical processes at all ranges of temperature. In the 

 manufacture of certain classes of steel, of iron and of 

 iron alloys, the electric furnace is supplementing, and in 

 some cases supplanting, the older " flame " furnace. 

 " Electric " heat can always be more conveniently 

 applied and controlled. It can raise the material being 

 treated to higher temperatures and keep it freer from 

 contamination by gases, etc., than the heat generated in 

 the usual way, and for high-grade steels, where quality 

 is of the first importance, the electric furnace seems to 

 have a field of its own. Other notable substances 

 manufactured in the electric furnace are calcium 

 carbide, carborundum and the important compounds of 

 nitrogen, ammonia and nitric acid, made from the atmo- 

 sphere, which are the bases of many fertilisers and of all 

 modem explosives. 



Dr. Pring puts the whole matter before his readers. In 

 addition to a description of the great manufacturing 

 processes in which electric furnaces are used, he deals with 

 such diverse subjects as current supply, transformers, the 

 measurement of high temperatures, heat losses through 

 furnace walls, water-power development, and even the 

 design of furnace terminals. The illustrations, diagrams, 

 and tables, with which the book is plentifully supplied, 

 all help to make the book more valuable. Alas, also, they 

 make its price high. Is one a churl to expect a good book 

 and then to object to its price ? A publisher, there can 

 be no doubt, knows much more about cost of production 

 than a reviewer ; he must also know, from the results of 

 the sales of other books, how many people can afford to 

 pay the apparently high price for them, so fixing the price 

 is clearly his business. Yet thirty-two shillings is a lot 

 of money whatever it be spent upon. A monograph is a 

 book to be bought, not merely to be consulted, and a high 

 price prevents its purchase by many readers who happen 

 not to be made of money. The majority of scientific 

 textbooks still follow in the old rut of dry explanation of 

 elementarj- matter, " page one stuS," in which no one, 

 not excepting the author, takes the least interest. This 

 book contains much matter likely to be found in books 

 intending readers already possess. The omission of this 

 would make the book less comprehensive, less complete, 

 but not in the least less valuable, and might have made 

 it possible for the publisher to lower its cost a little, 

 perhaps even to the humble sovereign. 



A. S. R. 



Books Received 



(Books mentioned in this column may or may not 

 be reviewed in this number, or in a later number.) 



ARCHEOLOGY 



Balahish : The zi^h Memoir oj the Egypt Exploration 

 Society. By G. A. Wainwright. (George Allen 

 & Unwin, 42s.) 



LITERARY CRITICISM 

 Modern English Drama: An Outline. By Patrick 

 KiRWAN. (National Home-Reading Union, is.) 



MISCELLANEOUS 



The Fellowship of Learning. Presidential Address 

 delivered by Sir F. G. Kenyon, K.C.B., at the 

 Annual General Meeting of the British Academy, 

 July 6, 1921. (Published for the British Academy 

 by Humphrey Milford, O.xford University Press, 

 IS. 6^.) 



Travels of a Consular Officer in North-West China. 

 By Eric Teichm.vnn, CLE. (Cambridge Univer- 

 sity Press. 25s.) 



The Wit of the Wild. By Ernest Ingersoll. (George 

 Routledge cS: Sons, Ltd., 6s.) 



Fasting and Man's Correct Diet. By R. B. Pearson. 

 (Published by the Author, Chicago, U.S.A.) 



PSYCHOLOGY 



Seven Ages of Childhood. By Ella Lyman Cabot. 

 (Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co., Ltd., 12s. 6d.) 



The Care of the Adolescent Girl. By Phyllis 

 Bl.a.nch.\rd, Ph.D. With Prefaces by Dr. Mary 

 ScHARLiEB and Prof. G. Stanley Hall. (Kegan 

 Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co., Ltd., 7s. 6d.) 



Taboo and Genetics, A Study of the Biological, Sociolo- 

 gical and Psychological Foundations of the Family. 

 By M. M. Knight, Ph.D., Iver Lowther Peters, 

 Ph.D., and Phyllis Bl.^nchard, Ph.D. (Kegan 

 Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., los. 6d.) 



SCIENCE 



Terrestrial Magnetism. British (Terra Nova) Antarctic 

 Expedition, 1910-1913. By Charles Chree, 

 M.A., Sc.D., LL.D., F.R.S. (Harrison & Sons, 

 Ltd.) 



What is Science.' By Norman Campbell, Sc.D., 

 F.Inst.P. (Methuen & Co., Ltd., 5s.) 



Early Science in Oxford. Part I, Chemistry. By 

 R. T. Gunther. (Humphrey Milford, Oxford 

 University Press, los. 6^.) 



Relativity and the Universe. By Dr. Harry Schmidt. 

 Authorised translation by Karl Wichmann, 

 M.A., Ph.D. (Methuen & Co., Ltd., 5s.) 



The Mechanism of Life. By James Johnstone, D.Sc. 

 (Edwin Arnold, 15s.) 



The Origin and Evolution of the Human Race. By 

 Albert Churchward, M.D. (George Allen & 

 Unwin, 45s.) 



The Advancement of Science, 1921. Addresses delivered 

 at the 89th Annual Meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, Edinburgh, 

 September 192 1. (John Murray, 6s.) 



