October ii, 1894] 



NA TURE 



569 



prevention and remedial measures against them, than 

 any other entomologist ; and whose store of information 

 - many writers upon economic entomology have calmly 

 used without acknowledgment. His " Praktische Insekten- 

 Kunde" is a model of what a work upon baneful insects 

 should be. 



The 149 illustrations in "Agricultural Zoology" are 

 good, especially those from Taschenberg, which arc very 

 clear, and some of these form very pretty pictures. It 

 would be a grc.it assistance to readers if an index had 

 been supplied, for it is difficult to find references that are 

 required. 



Upon the whole we cannot congratulate Prof. Ritzema 

 Bos upon his last production. If he had reproduced parts 

 of his larger work, " Tierische Schadlinge und N iitz- 

 linge," without alteration, it would have been far better 

 than boiling it down and entitling the result " Agricultural 

 Zoology.'' 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Progress in Flying Machines. By O. Chanute, C.E. 



(London : Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, and Co., 



1894-) 

 This book is a reissue of a series of twenty-seven 

 articles which appeared in Tlie Railroad and Engineering 

 Journal (now re-designated as The American Engineer) 

 of New York City. It gives a very complete account 

 of the many experiments that have been performed by 

 various experimenters with details of the machines used, 

 and clear reasons why so many of them have failed. 

 After a short statement of general principles the author 

 describes the machines in which wings and parachutes 

 were used ; then those in which screws were used to lift 

 and to propel. The author believes that the true func- 

 tion of aerial screws is to propel and not to lift (page 

 72) ; but Lord Kelvin, in the discussion on aerial naviga- 

 tion at the British Association in Oxford, last August, 

 ■Stated his belief in screws working round a vertical axis 

 for the latter purpose. The greater part of the book is 

 devoted to a description and discussion of aeroplanes. 

 The whole subject of aerial navigation resolves itself 

 into ten problems or conditions : 



(1) The resistance and supporting power of the air. 



(2) The motor, its character and its activity. 



(3) Selection of the instrument to obtain propulsion. 



(4) The form and kind of the apparatus for sustaining 

 the weight — whether flapping wings, screws, or aero- 

 planes. 



(5) The amount of the sustaining surface required. 



(6) The best materials to be employed for the framing 

 and for the moving parts. 



(7). The maintenance of the equilibrium, which is the 

 most important, and perhaps the most difticult of solu- 

 tion, of all the problems. 



(S) The guidance in any desired direction. 



(9) The starting up into the air under all conditions. 



(10) The alighting safely anywhere. Safety in starting 

 up, in sailing, and in coming down is essential. 



All these problems are lully and fairly discussed in 

 this volume. There are eighty-two diagrams, and an 

 excellent index, which add greatly to the value of the 

 book. 



Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs; their Properties and 

 Uses. By Bernard Uyer, D.Sc. (Lond.) (London: 

 C. Lockwood and Co., 1894.) 



Thi.s little book, which is a handbook for practical 

 farmers, and is not addressed to the agricultural 

 student, is issued opportunely. It contains the full text 

 of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act 1893, and the 



NO. 1302, VOL. 50] 



Regulations and Forms of the Board of Agriculture 

 relating to the same, and also some useful notes on the 

 Act, by Mr. A. J. David, Barrister-at-Law. Dr. Dyer's 

 notes were first published in the form of newspaper 

 articles, and have been reprinted by request ; they will 

 prove very useful to the class to whom they are ad- 

 dressed, containing as they do short descriptions of the 

 origin, composition, and uses of farmyard manure, arti- 

 ficial manures, and of purchased feeding stuffs, all of a 

 practical nature. The notes on the new " Fertilisers and 

 Feeding Stuffs Act" will also be useful to those who wish 

 to put this Act into use ; but these, we anticipate, will 

 be few. 



Heat treated Experimentally. By Linnaeus Cumming, 

 M.A. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894.) 



The companion volume to this — " Electricity treated 

 Experimentally " — is known to most teachers of physics. 

 The present work aims at giving (i) an elementary 

 account, with easy experiments, of the general laws of 

 heat ; (2) a brief account of the classic researches of 

 Regnault, Joule, and other eminent investigators ; (3) a 

 description of the theory of heat comprehensible to 

 students whose mathematical range does not extend 

 beyond elementary trigonometry. This laudable design 

 is satisfactorily realised. Mr. Cumming writes clearly ; 

 in other words, he knows what to say and how to say it. 

 The experiments described are all workable and well 

 arranged, hence the book is one which may be used in 

 science classes with confidence and pleasure. 



Ways and Works in India. By G. W. Macgeorge, 



M.I. C.E. (Westminster : Constable and Co., 1S94.) 

 An account of the public works in India from the earliest 

 times up to the present day should be useful, if only as an 

 outline for a precise and detailed history of Indian 

 Public Works. The materials for the compilation before 

 us have been collected by the author from various official 

 publications, and the facts are arranged in a satisfactory 

 manner. The subjects treated are the trigonometrical sur- 

 vey of India; roads; irrigation works; railways; water- 

 supply of towns ; internal telegraphic system ; and sea 

 and harbour works. The data referring to these matters 

 will be valuable to all interested in the progress of India. 

 The work does not appeal to a large public in England ; 

 nevertheless, it presents, in a readable form, much useful 

 information on the engineering works which will stand 

 for many years as monuments to British rule in India. 



Manual Pratique de L'Aeronaute. By W. de Fonvielle. 

 (Paris : Bernard Tignol.) 



In this book of 246 pages, M. de Fonvielle, a well- 

 known writer on aeronautical matters, contrives to com- 

 press a mass of information of use to the aeronaut. We 

 recommend the book to practical aeronauts, meteorolo- 

 gists, and the numerous amateurs who are interested in 

 ballooning and its possibilities. Seventy figures illus- 

 trate the text. It has been said that the development of 

 the art of flying has been retarded by the balloon ; but 

 even if this is conceded, .M. do Fonvielle's book shows that 

 science has gained a little from ballooning. 



Fruit Culture for Profit. By C. B. Whitehead, B.A. 

 Pp. 68. (London : Society for Promoting Christian 

 Knowledge, 1S94.) 



In view of the recent correspondence in the Times, 

 on fruit culture, this book appears very opportunely. 

 Fruit-growing is now recognised as a valuable branch of 

 agricultuie, and English producers are becoming alive 

 to its importance. The Royal Agricultural Society 

 and the Board of Agriculture have encouraged fruit- 

 growing by publishing articles and pamphlets upon the 

 subject. These publications, and .^Ir. Whitehead's little 

 \oluuie, should be obtained by all who are interested in 

 the profitable production of fruit. 



