Su/>pleiiicnt, 1 

 January 18. 1S94J 



NA JURE 



Mil 



of the es?ay, while it would be superfluous for us to 

 add that from beginning to end it is pleasantly written, 

 and delightful to read. Those well acquainted with the 

 " Principia " will find much that will interest them, while 

 those not so fully enlightened will learn much by reading 

 through this account of the origin and history of Newton's 

 greatest work. 



WELLS ON ENGINEERING DESIGN. 



Engineering Drawing and Design. By Sydney H. 

 Wells, Wh.Sc, A.M. Inst.C.E. In Two Parts. (Lon- 

 don : Chas. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1893.) 



'T*HIS book is intended for the use of engineering 

 students in schools and colleges, and as a text-book 

 for examinations in which a knowledge of practical 

 geometry and machine drawing is required. The author 

 says in the preface that the chief reason which has led to 

 its preparation is that during the time he was engaged in 

 teaching on the engineering side of Dulvvich College, he 

 found it impossible to obtain a suitable text-book. 



The work is published in two parts. Vol. i. deals 

 with the geometrical part of the subject, but includes 

 many references to practical questions and machinery 

 wherein is to be found the applications of the particular 

 geometrical construction. -In the earlier treatment of 

 this subject we find much excellent instruction for 

 beginners, written in a clear and concise manner. The 

 methods of construction described are all clearly illus- 

 trated, and appear to have been chosen from the best 

 examples. 



Vol. ii. deals with " machine and engine drawing 

 and design." In the preface we find the following 

 statement: "A student ought not to be told the sizes 

 of bolts and nuts, or the diameter of flanges, or the details 

 of stuffing-boxes, in drawing an engine cylinder, any 

 more than we should expect to have to prove to him the 

 tr*ith of the triangle of forces, at each step in the graphical 

 determination of the stresses in a roof truss." This 

 statement evidently comes from the technical school view 

 of mechanical engineering. The triangle of forces is cer- 

 tainly a safe assumption ; but to allow one of Mr. Wells' 

 students fresh from college to run wild in a drawing-office 

 of an engineering works where standards are the rule, and 

 not the exception, would be a treat not to be missed. No 

 doubt he could turn out an excellent "technical school" 

 drawing, but whether it would " pay " is another matter. 

 A draughtsman generally has standards for flanges, 

 glands, studs, &c. for an engine cylinder. Notwithstand- 

 ing this, we congratulate the author on the contents of 

 vol. ii. of his book ; he has gone as far as he can to lead 

 his students into the way of being draughtsmen ; and of 

 course this, after all, can only be accomplished — or, 

 rather, completed — in the drawing-offtce of a mechanical 

 engineer. 



Por the many examples and questions included in the 

 second part we have nothing but praise; they are taken 

 from every-day practice, and are amply elucidated. On 

 page 183 we are told that copper pipes are made from 

 malleable sheets, and may be as thin as jV". \'ery few 

 NO. 1264, VOL. 49] 



copper pipes of small diameters are now used by en" 

 gineers made in this way ; they are usually solid drawn 

 When iron or copper pipes require flanges, these are 

 generally brazed to the pipes ; screwed flanges with lock- 

 nuts are seldom, if ever, used. Unions for small brass 

 and copper pipes are usually brazed, and not screwed on 

 the pipes, as shown in Fig. 1241'/. 



Section 26, on steam engine des'gn, is well done. It 

 is quite refreshing to find in a text-book of this kind that 

 questions of manufacture and shop practice are con- 

 sidered worthy of notice ; as a rule, such details are 

 carefully omitted — to the student's loss. The piston-rings 

 shovv-n in Fig, \Zoa are far too narrow for general work ; 

 and again, in Fig. 187, illustrative of a crosshead for a 

 single slipper guide, the slipper is far too light for its 

 work, besides being defectively attached to the crosshead. 

 Further on, in Fig. 191, showing a connecting-rod end, 

 surely the author would not recommend the strap to be 

 machined out square at the corners as shown ; the much- 

 abused "practical man" would put in a radius instead, 

 and by so doing increase the strength considerably. The 

 brasses are also shown apart ; whereas they must be 

 tightly brought together for the type of rod end illustrated. 



Beyond these few points, the two volumes are exceed- 

 ingly well written, and will be of great use to students 

 in our technical colleges. The author has taken great 

 pains to ensure the clearness of his descriptions, and has 

 succeeded in producing a thoroughly useful work. 



N. J. LOCKVER. 



THE EGYPTIAN COLLECTIONS AT 

 CAMBRIDGE. 



Catalogice of the Egyptian Collection in the Fitzwilliam 

 Museum. By E. A. Wallis-Budge, Litt.D. (Cam- 

 bridge: University Press, 1893.) 



WE recently noticed at some length Dr. Wallis- 

 Budge's book entitled " The Mummy," and 

 mentioned that it was intended as an introduction or a 

 supplement to his catalogue of the antiquities which 

 belong to the University. The catalogue itself is now 

 before us, and is, as might be expected, a scholarly piece 

 of work. There are people who like to read catalogues ; 

 to them this volume should prove to be of greater interest 

 even than its companion "The Mummy"; but fortu- 

 nately tastes differ, and we confess that, except perhaps 

 to a scholar of endowments equal to those of Dr. Budge 

 himself, " The Mummy " is the better of the two. It is 

 satisfactory, however, to remember that the Fitzwilliim 

 collection has been duly catalogued by competent hands, 

 and that this catalogue is now published in an accessible 

 form, Cambridge thus taking the lead among English 

 universities in allowing the world to know what treasures 

 it possesses of ancient Egyptian art. This knowledge is 

 very valuable to the student. How many of us, for ex- 

 ample, have seen and admired at the Louvre the granite 

 sarcophagus of Rameses III.? Yet how few of us have 

 known till now that the lid of the same coffin is at Cam- 

 bridge? When Oxford has published a catalogue like 

 this, and when the British Museum has followed suit, the 

 cross references from one collection to another will in 



