244 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[March 20, 1885. 



them amusing enough) of a small boy, who (like Mrs. 

 Wititterly in " Nicholas Nickleby ") " forms and expresses 

 ■an immense variety of opinions on an immense variety of 

 subjects." Grown people may read some of the good- 

 natured satire in this tiny book not wholly without protit. 



Harbours and Docks By Leveson Francis 



Verxon-Harcourt, ma., M.I.C.E. Clarendon Press 

 Series. (London : Henry Frowde. 1885.) — A mere 

 glance at that ghastly annual record, the " Wreck Chart 

 of the British Islands," must convince every one of the 

 paramount importance of constructing harbours of refuge 

 and breakwaters iu all exposed and dangerous parts of the 

 coast, and of the maintenance of lighthouses, beacons, and 

 buoys in the highest state of efficiency. That preventible 

 loss of life occurs year after year from national neglect in 

 this respect it will be hard to deny, and those who are con- 

 cerned for the very existence of the brave men upon whom 

 England's greatness so largely depends, must perforce feel 

 an earnest interest in the work whose essential principles 

 are explained in the book before us. For JNIr. Harcourt, in 

 ■his two volumes (one of the text, the other of its illus- 

 trative plates), has given us what is practically an encyclo- 

 paedia of all that pertains to the construction and main- 

 tenance of harbours, docks, and breakwaters ; as well as of 

 buoys, beacons, and lighthouses. To the library of the 

 civil engineer, "Harbours and Docks" will form an indis- 

 .pensable addition. To the shipowner and mercantile man 

 it will convey a mass of information on subjects in which 

 his stake is of the heaviest ; while the general reader 

 will gather from these volumes ideas as novel as they 

 are interesting of the principle involved and the mechani- 

 cal appliances employed in the construction of harbours, 

 •docks, lighthouses, breakwaters, and every cognate work 

 •on which the safety of our shipping depends. Deprived 

 of docks and artificial harbours, British commerce must be 

 hopelessly crippled, even it it did not come to an end 

 altogether ; while the already too numerous " accidents " to 

 shipping would be increased and intensified one hundred- 

 fold were the present lights, buoys, and beacons controlled 

 by the Trinity House, by catastrophe or design to dis- 

 appear. Heuce the value of the work before us. To 

 Attempt anything like a pncis of its contents here would 

 te impossible. We must refer the reader to the back itself 

 to discover how thoroughly Mr. Harcourt deals with every 

 branch of his subject. Perhaps no better idea of the con- 

 ciseness, combined with adequacy, of our author's treatment 

 •of details could be obtained by the non-professional reader, 

 than that to be derived from a perusal of his description of 

 the makino; of the harbour and breakwater at Newhaven 

 <pp. .34.3 346), and following that perusal up by a visit, by 

 the Brighton Railway, to tho works now in progre.s3 there. 

 There is not a superfluous word in the description, v/hich 

 4s as short and simple as need be ; but by reference to the 

 plans, and to other parts of the book explaining the use of 

 •concrete, <kc., the reader who will go and view the work in 

 course of construction will find how thoroughly appre- 

 -hensible Mr. Harcourt has rendered it, and how intelligently 

 he has enabled the beholder to appreciate it. " Harbours 

 and Docks" is worthy of the series in which it appears. 

 We need say no more. 



Geographical Rmikr. ByJ. R. Blakiston,M.A. (London: 

 Griffith, Farran, Okeden, and Welsh.)— Primarily intended 

 as a reading-book for "Standard VII.," Mr. Blakiston's 

 book is really too good to be rendered aloud in the parrot- 

 like gabble of a public elementary school. For the bny or 

 girl who will study this little work with moderate atten- 

 tion will find that he (or she) has acquired no mean know- 

 ledge of what is called, in South Kensington slang, " Phy. 

 vsiojraphy." The physical geography of the sea, its tides 



currents, and natural history are all dealt with, as are 

 its waves, colour, and saltness. Theie is a chapter on 

 buoys, lighthouses, and lightships, and others on maritime 

 adventures, diving, volcanoes, earthquakes, lic. ; while 

 Arctic exploration concludes the geographical part proper 

 of the book. The second part deals in a lucid way with 

 familiar astronomical phenomena. Coloured physical majis 

 and astronomical diagrams are given by way of illustration. 

 This is an honest little volume, imparting a greater amount 

 of sound information on the subjects of which it treats 

 than some far more pretentious ones. 



Timber. No. 1, Vol. L (London.) — This first number 

 of a magazine devoted to the timber trade contains an 

 immense amount of information valuable to all concerned 

 in the purchase or use of the material from which it takes 

 its name. It seems to be amusing in addition — a by no 

 means universal attribute in a " trade " journal. 



liiinday Bits. No. 1. (London : Dale, Reynolds, & 

 Co.) — Here is a new departure in the literature of the first 

 day of the week, and, judging from its opening number, a 

 very manifest improvement on such of its predecessors as 

 we are familiar with : for it is not only instructive, but 

 really amusing, and supplies no small amount of reading 

 which the younger members of the family will be tempted 

 and attracted (instead of heiugordered or requested) to peruse. 

 Why Eo-callt/d "Sunday reading" should, ex necessitate, be 

 entirely solemn, serious, and dismal we never could 

 imagiue. The second title of the paper before us, " An 

 Unsectarian Journal of Entertaining Christian Literature," 

 fairly epitomises its contents. 



The Famitij Doctor. No. 1. (London: George Purkess. 

 1885.) — There is a good deal in this publication which will 

 be found u.seful to those suffering from slight ailments, and 

 who may be content to dispense with professional aid. 

 Invalid cookery, nursing, hygienic bootmaking, freaks of 

 nature, hospital reports, poisons and their antidotes, and 

 elementary anatomy and physiology, form the subjects of 

 .separate chapters. In addition to all this, we have the 

 first instalment of " A Dictionary of Diseases," a column 

 of jokes (presumably to enliven convalescent patients), and 

 a sensation novel ! Truly an astonishing pennyworth. 



We have also on our table Bradslreet' s, Le Franklin, 

 Ciel et Terre, Medical Press and Circular, Proceedings of 

 the Geological Society, Wheeling, Society, Journal of Botany, 

 The American Naturalist, The American Eagle fdevoted to 

 the projected American Exhibition in London in 1886), Tlie 

 Tricyclist, Journal of the New York Microscojncal Society, 

 and the Office Calendar for 1885 (from Alfred Boot k Son). 



The first part of a new serial issue of " The Family Physician, a 

 JIanual of Domestic Medicine by Physicians and Surgeons of the 

 principal London Hospitals," is to make its appearance on the 26th 

 inst. The work has already fjained an established reputation as a 

 sound and reliable guide for family use. 



Mr. Richard Jefferies has been engaged in writing a new work, 

 entitled " After London, or Wild England." The first portion of 

 tho book is named by its author " The Relapse into Barbarism," 

 the second part " Wild England." Messrs. Cassell & Co. will be 

 tho publishers. — Athenaeum . 



In consequence of a heavy fall of snow it became impossible to 

 l*wer 150 arc lamps at Dayton, in C)hio, to renew the carbons, and 

 hence there was no light for three evenings. 



At Kirkw.all, on Sunday night, there was the finest display of 

 Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, that has been witnessed there 

 for many years. About 9.30 they were at their brightest, and one 

 could have read a book at times. The whole northern sky was 

 illuminated, and a beautiful band stretched from the horizon in tho 

 east across the zenith to the horizon in the west, while the 

 streamers were shooting forth like rockets in all directions, and 

 the different colours blending together m.ade the sight very im- 

 posing. The barometer has fallen briskly since Sunday morning, 

 and on Monday was still falling, with a strong gale from the south- 

 west, accompanied with heavy showers of rain. 



