vi A BORE 
501 
THURSDAY, 
JOLN. 06; rere. 
LOCOMOTIVES AND RAILWAYS. 
The Railways of the World. By Ernest Protheroe. 
Pp. xx+752+xvi plates. (London: George 
Routledge and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) \ Price 7s. 6d. 
net. 
OYS of to-day are indeed fortunate in their 
literature ; books are available on most sub- 
jects, written to interest them—not merely fairy 
tales, but dealing with many themes in a scientific 
way and in language free from technical terms 
likely to worry the young mind. 
The volume under notice is certainly one of the 
best of its kind, “ Every Boy’s Book of Railways 
and Steamships” by the same author was most 
interesting, but ‘The Railways of the World” is 
alluring ; and as most boys love a locomotive and 
study railway working, they will indeed be de- 
lighted with the contents of this book and hasten 
to possess a copy. / 
To commence with, the usual account of the 
early locomotive and railway is dealt with: and, 
of course, Stephenson is given the lion’s share of 
the credit. It is a pity that the earlier pioneers 
are being overlooked and forgotten. For instance, 
the Liverpool and Manchester and many other 
railways were projected and surveyed by William 
James, called by many “ The Father of Railways,” 
before Stephenson appeared on the scene. Again, 
the famous locomotive “The Rocket” was fitted 
with a multitubular boiler, the very soul of a loco- 
motive, by the Stephenson’s—this boiler being of 
William H. James’s design, and used by Messrs. 
Losh and Stephenson, as recorded in an agreement 
dated September 1, 1821. 
In a volume of this nature it is possible to deal 
with much interesting matter. In chapter iii. we 
find the locomotive past and present well treated. 
Stroudley’s “Gladstone ”’ awakens many remin- 
iscences and we are only too pleased to find on 
page 421 that the author considers that “ William 
Stroudley proved himself one of the cyclopean 
knights of locomotive engineering who have left 
their mark on British railway practice.” With 
this we can cordially agree. Stroudley was the 
first locomotive engineer to pay attention to the 
details of locomotive design and his master hand 
can even now be recognised on many British 
railways. 
Reference is made to the famous Caledonian 
engine No. 123, which did such remarkable work 
in “the race to the North” in 1888. This engine 
was built by Neilson and Co. of Glasgow, and not 
by the railway company as stated. 
Chapter iv. is most interesting. Locomotives 
NO. 2323, VOL. 93] 
of to-day are described in a capable way, but as 
the space at our disposal is limited, detailed com- 
ment is impossible. We cannot, however, agree 
that “a built-up crank axle is screwed together,” 
see page 102. The parts are heated and shrunk 
together, and sometimes have the additional 
security of a screwed plug in the joints. 
It is interesting to note that our author refers 
to certain notable cases of heredity in locomotive 
engineering ; many are, of course, interesting, but 
if the subject were pursued to the bitter end 
perhaps the records would not be so conclusive. 
On page 358 the old fairy tale of building a six- 
coupled goods engine and tender in ten working 
hours is served up, but nothing is said as regards 
its cost. The inconvenience of specially pre- 
paring and arranging the work at the expense of 
disorganising the whole works for the time being 
is not referred to. If there was any economy the 
practice would be common, but, as a matter of 
fact, this is not the case. 
The chapters dealing with Scottish railways are 
far too short. The locomotive history of the 
Caledonian railway is one of intense interest. The 
late Mr. Dugald Drummond of the London and 
South Western Railway became famous there, and 
more recently the magnificent locomotives, de- 
signed by Mr. J..F. McIntosh, have been the 
delight of locomotive connoisseurs; ‘The Dun- 
alastair”’ being the first of his creation, the first 
with “the big boiler,” a practice carefully followed 
ever since. ‘‘The Highland Chief,” a fine sample 
of North British practice, and an_ excellent 
example of the big boiler policy is illustrated— 
facing page 482. 
The volume concludes with interesting descrip- 
tions of Continental practice and that of other 
parts of the world, and the work has been well 
done. Nominally written for boys, the language 
used is sufficiently non-technical to be clear; on the 
other hand, the book will be found very interesting 
to the railwayman. The information is sound, 
the illustrations good, and the general appearance 
excellent. Nop. E 
PARASITIC “PROTOZOA. 
Some Minute Animal Parasites, or Unseen Foes 
in the Animal World. By Drs. H. B. Fantham 
and Annie Porter. Pp. xi-319. (London: 
Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 5s. net. 
HIS volume gives an account of the principal 
Protozoa which produce disease in man and 
in animals associated with man, e.g. domestic 
animals, game, bees, etc. As the book is in- 
tended to be of service to different classes of 
readers it Dagon nveyen in a semi-popular 
kg Oy x 
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