March 9, 19 16] 



NATURE 



31 



everything- is sacrificed to output, the blast 

 pressures are higher than in this country, where 

 they seldom exceed from 8 to 9 lb. per square 

 inch, but the above figures are certainly higher 

 than the highest we had associated with American 

 practice. They throw light, however, on the per- 

 formance of an American blast furnace erected in 

 -Middlesbrough some years ago which was worked 

 by American engineers, and which blew so much 

 iron ore out of the top of the furnace that it was 

 put, and has remained, on the low pressures that 

 are found to be suitable in English practice. 



A few pages later we are informed that the 

 temperature of the cementation furnace in the pro- 

 duction of blister steel — a process in which the 

 iron is never melted — is about 3000° F. This 

 corresponds to 1650° C, which is nearly 150° C. 

 above the melting point of iron. The author 

 makes several unsuccessful attempts to spell the 

 name "Siemens," the inventor of the open-hearth 

 furnace. Sometimes he calls him Sieman; at 

 others Siemans. On the whole, it is as well that 

 he does not introduce metallurgical theor}'. 



Chapters on equipment and fuel are followed 

 by four others dealing with the various operations 

 involved in hand forging. These are succeeded 

 by two on welding and one on brazing. The re- 

 mainder of the book is given up to the manufac- 

 ture and treatment of the various kinds of tool 

 steels, together with short chapters on art iron- 

 work and calculations. At the end of each 

 chapter are appended questions for review, of 

 which the following is a fair specimen : — " What 

 is carbon steel? What is air-hardening steel? 

 What is high-speed steel? Tell how each differs. 

 Tell how to harden and temper tools made from 

 high-speed steel. Describe the working of high- 

 speed steel in the forge fire. Describe the anneal- 

 ing of high-speed steel. Describe the grinding of 

 high-speed steel." The chapter containing the 

 information from which the foregoing questions 

 are to be answered is less than four pages in 

 ' ngth. 



The author states that the methods described in 

 his book have been "thoroughly tried out during 

 ten years of experience in teaching and super- 

 vising manual training." His book therefore 

 should contain much that is of value to those who 

 are interested in such methods. We think, how- 

 ever — largely no doubt owing to the way in which 

 it has been written — that it will appeal more to 

 American than English readers, and chiefly 

 because elementan.- education in this country, in 

 spite of its shortcomings, is better than in 

 'America. 



H. C. H. C. 

 XO. 2419. VOL. 9-1 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



A Plea for an Orderly Almatiac. By A. Philip. 

 Pp. 62. (Brechin : Advertiser Office, D. H. 

 Edwards, 191 5) Price 15. net. 



The author indicates some minor changes that 

 might be carried out without altering the existing 

 calendar. He points out the inconveniences that 

 arise from the present plan of arranging fixtures 

 for (say) the "third Wednesday of the month." 

 Such fixtures do not come in a regular order; 

 the second Tuesday may either precede or follow 

 the second Wednesday. This system offers little 

 facility for adjusting dates so as to fit each other 

 with a minimum of clashing. 



The remedy proposed is to take the "trimestre," 

 or three-monthly period, as our unit instead of 

 the month. Each trimestre must contain twelve 

 complete weeks from Sunday to Saturday, with 

 odd days at the beginning, end, or both. If 

 fixtures are arranged for definite days of these 

 twelve weeks, their relative order is invariable, 

 and the list can be prepared, once for all, so as 

 to secure the maximum convenience. It is sug- 

 gested that the trimestres should be : (i) March, 

 April, May (92 days) ; (ii) June, July, August (92 

 days) ; (iii) September, October, November (91 

 days) ; (iv) December, January, Februar}' (90 or 

 91 days). These practically coincide with the four 

 seasons, and the placing of the leap day at the 

 end reduces its inconvenience to a minimum. In 

 fact, the device of counting from March i is not 

 new to astronomers, some tables having been 

 drawn up on these lines. 



The author points out a decided convenience 

 that would result from beginning our national 

 financial year on March i, instead of April i. 

 It would avoid the anomaly that the financial year 

 may contain two, one, or no Easters. The effect 

 of these variations on the national income is quite 

 appreciable, and has been pointed out in the 

 House of Commons. He gives some suggestions 

 for adapting wages, weekly insurance payments, 

 and old age pensions to his scheme, and appends 

 tables showing the incidence of his twelve-week 

 periods up to the end of 191 9. 



A. C. D. Crommelin". 



Flora of the Presidency of Madras. By J. S. 

 Gatnhle. Part i. Ranunculaceae to Aqiit- 

 foliaceae. Pp. 200. (London : West, Newman 

 and Co. and Adlard and Son, 191 5.) Price Ss. 

 net. 



I\ the review of Prof. Fy son's "Flora of the 

 Nilgiri and Pulney Hill-tops" in Nature for 

 February 3, an account is given of the general 

 scheme for local Indian floras. The " Flora of the 

 Presidency of Madras " has now to be added to 

 their number, the first part having been published 

 at the end of January. 



The " Flora " is being prepared by Mr. J. S. 

 Gamble, late of the Indian Forest Department, well 

 known for his book on Indian timbers, and is a 

 model of what such a local flora should be. This 



