July 1, 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



159 



care in revision, could have been rendered faultless, has 

 been but little altered after twenty years' interval, and 

 then often for the worse. 



A Contribution to our Knotrledqe of Seedlinqs. By the 

 Right Hon. Sir -John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.K.S. 

 (Kegan Paul & Co.) Illustrated. 5s. This — the seventy- 

 ninth volume in the well-known International Scientific 

 Series — is an abridged edition of a larger work published 

 under the same title. It is described upon the title-page 

 as a " popular edition," but this must only be taken in a 

 comparative sense, for no one unfamiliar with botanical 

 phraseology could properly imderstand the contents. 

 Readers who have received that preliminary education will, 

 however, be interested in Sir John Lubbock's attempt to 

 throw light upon an important stage in the life-history of 

 plants. The forms of many interesting cotyledons are 

 described and figured, and explanations are offered why 

 cotyledons differ from the subsequent leaves and from one 

 another. In a previous work on " Flowers, Fruits, and 

 Leaves,'' the author gave an account of the causes which 

 determine the form and structure of seeds and fruits. 

 The present work, with its many suggestive ideas, forms a 

 worthy companion to its forerunner. 



Minerals, and Hair to Studi/ Them: a Book for Beginners 

 in Mineralog;/. By Edward Salisbury Dana. (New'York : 

 .John Wiley c^- Sons. London; Chapman & Hall.) Illus- 

 trated. Students of mineralogy are not very numerous, but 

 this volume should certainly be r.he means of adding to their 

 ranks. Written by a master of the subject, and with the 

 desire to encourage those who wish to learn about minerals, 

 the volume admirably supplies the wants of elementary 

 students. Many guide-books to fields of scientific know- 

 ledge fail to point out the pitfalls and difliculties which are 

 always liable to crop up in practical work, and which fre- 

 quently discourage beginners. But this is not so in Prof. 

 Dana's work. By clear descriptions he lights the way 

 of the student ; and while he directs attention to this or 

 that point of interest in the form, structure, or other 

 characters of minerals, he gives, where necessary, a 

 caution as to sources of error in an experimental 

 examination. The arrangement of matter is excellent. 

 Sections on forms of crystals and kinds of structure, 

 physical characters, chemical characters, and the use of 

 the blow -pipe, form nearly one-half of the book ; the re- 

 mainder is concerned with the description of mineral 

 species and the determination of minerals. Numerous 

 illustrations, most of them new, are distributed through 

 the book, and these, with the lucid text, make up a volume 

 which will cultivate powers of observation, and excite 

 interest in a neglected science. 



Discovericti and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century. By 

 Eobert Routledge, B.Sc, F.C.S. Eleventh Edition. 

 (George Pioutledge & Sons.) Illustrated. When a work 

 has reached its eleventh edition it is almost beyond the 

 effects of criticism. Little need, therefore, be said about 

 the volume before us except that it contains a good general 

 account of engineering achievements and scientific dis- 

 coveries, written in a style " understanded of the people," 

 and liberally illustrated. Some parts of the book have 

 been brought up to date much more thoroughly than 

 others. Thus the statement that " the number of observed 

 bright lines in the iron spectrum has been since [that is, 

 since Kirchhoff ! extended to four hundred and sixty, and 

 yet each is found to have its exact counterpart in a dark 

 solar line," is behind the times, for nearly two thousand 

 iron lines have been identified in the solar spectrum by 

 Rowland. Several other cases of imperfect revision have 

 been noticed in glancing through the book ; but, taken as 



a whole, the new edition of the work deserves to be as 

 successful as previous ones. 



Heating and Ventilating Buildings. By Prof. RoUa C. 

 Carpenter. (New York ; Wiley & Sons. London : Chap- 

 man & Hall.) Illustrated. Would that all the tradesmen 

 who call themselves plumbers and hot-water engineers 

 had to give evidence of familiarity with the contents of 

 this book before they were permitted to practise. The 

 general principles of heating and ventilation are usually 

 outside the knowledge of workers with lead and solder, 

 and even in technological classes they are neglected in 

 order to hurry on to applications. Prof. Carpenter gives 

 satisfactory accounts of principles of ventilation, the nature 

 and properties of heat, the radiation of heat, and similar 

 matters, before describing the methods of application to 

 the erection of systems of heating and ventilating. By 

 so doing he shows that he knows the value which purely 

 scientific facts possess for the self-styled " practical men," 

 who often despise knowledge of which the industrial 

 bearing is not apparent. With the clear and concise 

 introductory chapters as a foundation, the reader of the 

 work will be able to follow intelligently the descriptions of 

 various practical methods and systems employed in heating 

 and ventilating buildings. Steam and hot water systems, 

 heating with hot air, with exhaust steam, and with 

 electricity are all considered, and practical directions for 

 their construction and installation are given. Throughout 

 the book the information is sound and practicable. We 

 offer our congratulations to Prof. Carpenter at having 

 produced a splendid general treatise on a branch of 

 engineering little studied in this country. 



SHORT 'notices. 



The yational Geoi/raphic Mmjazine fU.S.A.). (London: E. 

 Marlborough & Co) Issued from Wasliington as the org in of the 

 National Geographic Society of America, this excellent monthly may 

 now be obtained in London or Paris. 



The Interchaiir/eable Incle.r. (Spink & Son, Piccadilly ) This is a 

 most ingenious invention for the cataloguing of all kinds of collections 

 Ihe metliod is simplicity itself. The desired narrative is written 

 upon specially prepared slips, which are then inserted iu the )"a^es 

 of a quarto volume, having slits already cut to receive them. The 

 slips are of various sizes, and are of course interchangeable, so that 

 perfect alphabetical or.ier is at any time possible by the simple j)roi'ess 

 of inserting yoiu- latest addition in its proper place, and then moving 

 the others the necessary spaces forward. Of the smaller slip, the 

 volume before us will take no less than 480. 



The Con'litioH of Workinif fl'omen and the faclori/ Arts. By 

 Jessie Boucherett and Helen Blackburn. (Elliot Stock.) This little 

 book is an interesting plea for the direct representation of women in 

 the construction of factory legislation, which the writers consider 

 to be nndtily oppressive to the interests of working women. 



Theatre Panics oml /heir Cure. By Archd. Young. (Andrew 

 Elliot, Edinburgh.) This is another attempt to deal with the terrible 

 dangers arising from a panic in th.catres and other buildings when 

 crowded with people. Mr. Young's ideas are admirably illustrated 

 in a series of plans by Mr. 1 homas T. Paterson. 



The Observer. (Kdward F. bigdow, I'ortland, Conn.) The 

 editors are to be cnigratulated upon their energetic attempt to further 

 tlie cause of popular work in nature studies. 



Hainan " First Brass " Oiins. By Leopold A. D. Montague. 

 (C. U. Nunn, Bury St. Edmunds.) A cheap guide to the Roman 

 briss coinage, and very useful to I'oUectors. 



Messrs. Macmilian A- Bowes send us a catalogue (Xo. 2.">7) of 

 valuable books on mathematics and astronomy from the libraries of 

 the late Mr. Arthur Cow])er Itanjard and Prof. Henrv J. Stephen 

 Smith. . 



\Ve notice that Mr. R. Kanthack, of 18, Berners Street, I.ondou, 

 has been appointed sole aient in the I'niteil Kingdom and Colonies 

 for Messrs. C. .V. Steinheil Sohiie, the famous astronomical instrument 

 makers of Munich. ' ' 



BOOKS received. 



Mars. By Pcrcival Lowell. (Longmans.) Illustrated. 12s. 6d. 



The Indian Calendar. By Robert Sewcll and S. B. Dikshit. With 

 Tables of Eclipses visible in India. By Dr. R. Schraur. (Swan, 

 Sonnenschein.) 31s. 6s. 



