414 



NATUgE 



[September 3, 1903 



of coloured sections and two folding maps. Some of 

 the photographic plates, such as that of the " block- 

 structure " in porphyrite, facing p. io6, are of un- 

 usual beauty. G. A. J. C. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



A. Koelliker's Handbuch der Gewebelehre des 



Menschen. 6te Auflage. Drittes Band. Von 



Victor V. Ebner. Pp. 1020 ; 633 illustrations. 



(Leipzig : W. Engelmann, 1902.) Price i8s. net. 



The conclusion of the sixth edition of Koelliker's 



'* Histology " merits more than a passing remark. 



The first appearance of this well-known handbook 



about the middle of the last century formed an epoch 



in the science of which it treats (which it may almost 



be said to have created), and ever since it has held the 



foremost rank in works dealing with the subject. But 



« it is now more than thirty years ago that the fifth 



edition was published, and progress has been rapid 



in the interval. 



The first two volumes of the present edition were 

 edited by the original author, and no work that he 

 has done has been better done than this. But the 

 weight of years must eventually tell, even if one is 

 Koelliker, and the task of editing the third volume 

 was handed over by him to Prof. v. Ebner. A first 

 part of this volume, dealing with the digestive, re- 

 spiratory, and urinary organs has appeared, and has 

 already been noticed in Nature; the last part of the 

 work, embracing the structure of the generative 

 organs, the vascular system and the organs of special 

 sense, and comprising also an index of subjects and 

 authors for the whole book, is now in the hands of 

 histologists. Prof. Koelliker's selection of an editor 

 for his great work is amply justified ; a better successor 

 to himself could hardly have been found than the 

 eminent Vienna histologist, who has, moreover, been 

 ably assisted by Dr. Joseph Schaffer and Dr. Hans 

 Rabl. It is to all intents and purposes a new book 

 which has made its appearance. Hardly a page but 

 has been rewritten, and of thje 633 illustrations, 533 

 are entirely new^ — for the most part from original pre- 

 parations. Nevertheless, the general style of the pre- 

 ceding volumes is singularly well carried out in this 

 one, so that it is difificult at first to recognise that the 

 work is by another hand. Too much praise cannot be 

 given to the bibliographical notices, which are far more 

 complete than are to be found in any other work on 

 histology. 



The whole book is a storehouse of information based 

 on personal observations, and must long remain the 

 standard work of reference on the subject. 



The octogenarian master, whose own scientific 

 activity is by no means exhausted, must be well con- 

 tent to know that his work has been brought to so 

 brilliant a completion, and in presenting to him our 

 respectful congratulations, we may be permitted to 

 express the desire that he will still continue for many 

 years to enjov the satisfaction of witnessing the 

 success of his life-long labours. E. A. S. 



Building Superintendence. New edition, revised and 

 rewritten. Bv T. M. Clark. Pp. 306. (New 

 York : The Macmillan Company ; London : Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd., 1903.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 

 This is a book which appears to have had an extended 

 circulation in the United States, and, although It con- 

 tains a good deal of practical information, a large 

 amount would only apply to construction methods on 

 the North American Continent. It is primarily 

 addressed to the young architect, and gives him hints 

 as to the selection of good materials and as to the 

 direction of building operations generally. A know- 

 ledge of building construction is therefore assumed, 



NO. 1766, VOL. 68] 



and the book is intended to supplement that know- 

 ledge by the practical application to existing buildings. 

 The subject is divided into three main heads, 

 namely, stone buildings, wooden buildings, and steel- 

 framed buildings, and in each case a typical building 

 is described from the foundations upwards, showing 

 the successive stages of construction and general direc- 

 tion for the judging of the quality of materials. The 

 term " superintendent," which occurs so often, is pre- 

 sumably the American equivalent for the English 

 clerk of works. 



The English student should beware of information 

 which may apply in the States, but is not correct as 

 applied to England; for instance, on p. 5 we are told 

 that five courses of bricks commonly equal one foot 

 in height, whereas, as a matter of fact, four courses 

 in England usually equal one foot. Many of the terms 

 and names will also be quite unfamiliar to him. 



Chapter i., dealing with stone buildings, takes up 

 the construction of a stone church intended to be 

 erected on elevated ground. This occupies more than 

 lovi pages, and deals with the preliminary staking out 

 of its various parts— foundations, damp in cellars, the 

 making of concrete and mortar, defects common to 

 various kinds of stone, walling, flooring, roofing 

 beams, and plastering. The information is sometimes 

 effected by means of question and answer between the 

 architect and foreman in the manner made familiar 

 in the treatises of Viollet le Due. 



Chapter ii. deals with wooden dwelling-houses, 

 their location and aspect, drainage of site, employment 

 of contractors, the framing of the timber (uprights 

 and sills), chimneys, electric wiring and fitting, roof 

 shingles, plastering, plumbing fittings, doors, 

 windows, stairs and their arrangement and defects, 

 drainage and water supply, and painting. Chapter 

 iii., dealing with the writing of specifications, can be 

 passed over, as essential differences exist between 

 English and American practice. Chapter iv. deals 

 with contracts, and the author rightly dwells on the 

 importance of these, especially with regard to the 

 necessity for protecting the building owner. 



Chapter v. deals with the construction of a steel- 

 frame oflfice building, eleven storeys high, on a corner 

 city site 25 feet by 100 feet, in which economy of space 

 has to be carefully studied. This is probably one of 

 the most interesting chapters in the book, and its con 

 struction is dealt with in a progressive way, in the 

 same manner as in the stone and wood buildings. 



The plan, question of fire escapes, foundation, steel 

 ftamework, vaults, floors (fire-resisting), elevators, are 

 dealt with in turn. As will be seen, the book is 

 arranged on a sensible and convenient plan, and if it 

 could he written to be suitable for English readers, it 

 would be of greater benefit. As it is, however, it con- 

 tains a great deal of excellent advice founded upon 

 practical experience, and no architect could read it 

 through without having his wits sharpened for dis- 

 covering defects in workmanship at the periodical 

 visits which he pays to buildings in course of erection 

 from his designs. 



A Key to the Time Allusions in the Divine Comedy of 

 Dante Alighieri. By Gustave Pradeau. Pp. 32. 

 (London : Methuen and Co., 1902.) 

 The author, having found that different editions of 

 the great poem of Dante assigned different durations 

 of time for the action supposed to be occupied by it, 

 set himself to investigate the matter by a comparison 

 of all the time allusions until the poet ascends from 

 over Jerusalem to the primum mobile. He ingeniously 

 illustrates his argument by a diagram or " dial '' in 

 the circumference of which are the signs of the zodiac, 

 whilst ip the centre are four points representing respec- 



