58o 



NA TURE 



[April 20, 1905 



1 



305 I 



miscellaneous processes, such as the manufacture of 

 threads, twines, cords, and ropes, while chapters 

 xviii. to xxi. treat on g;eneral mill manaijenient, 

 arrangement, and engineering. 



In the first section, very interesting and useful 

 particulars are supplied respecting the fibres and their 

 marketing, the only difficulty being the grasping of 

 the multitude of details here given. Had these de- 

 tails been represented by maps illustrating (a) area 

 of growth, (b) area of manufacture, (c) area of distri- 

 bution and use of the fibres in question, with 

 graphical illustrations of quantities, &c., the facts pre- 

 sented would have been vastly more interesting and 

 useful. This method, we believe, is employed in the 

 textile museums of certain of our northern technical 

 colleges. 



The author wisely remarks in his preface that were 

 it not for the similarity in the processes necessary 

 for the preparation and spinning of many of the 

 fibres here treated, it would be impossible to bring 

 the work within reasonable limits. The similarity in 

 treatment is certainly marked, and practically leads 

 the author throughout to the employment of the 

 " comparative method." Thus, in the first prepar- 

 ation of ramie, the hand and the chemical or 

 mechanical methods are naturally compared with 

 reference to quality of result and price, this latter 

 necessarily involving the question of native hand- 

 labour versus European machine-labour. Then the 

 difference between ramie and flax is naturally noted, 

 and so on. 



The comparative method would naturally arrange 

 itself under some six heads : — (i) methods of deal- 

 ing with the fibres in the raw state commercially ; 

 (2) methods of preparing, that is, of cleaning for the 

 subsequent mechanical operations; (3) ultimate length, 

 diameter, colour, &c., of the fibres; (4) the conditions 

 for preparation of the fibres as necessarily deciding the 

 types of machines required ; (5) the types of machines 

 for each quality of fibre ; (6) value of resultant thread 

 or fabric as revealed by scientific and " use " tests. 



This is approximately the grouping employed. 

 The greater proportion of the book is devoted to the 

 mechanical side, and it must be recognised that this 

 is just, as in many cases not only has the machine 

 taken the place of the hand method, but actually does 

 what would be impossible without mechanical aid. 

 Perhaps one of the most interesting comparisons in 

 the book is that afforded by chapters xii. and xiii., in 

 which dry, semi-dry, and wet methods of spinning 

 are successively dealt with. 



The section dealing with threads, twines, ropes, 

 &c., is chiefly interesting as introducing machines 

 which are practically unknown in the ordinary textile 

 industries. It very often happens that principles de- 

 veloped in one industry would be of great value in 

 another were they known ; in this wav the present 

 work may indirectly be of considerable use to indus- 

 tries other than those specially dealt with. 



Chapter xviii. deals in an interesting manner with 



the mechanical department, including the hackle 



setting, wood turning, fluting, oils, and oiling; this 



is certainly a useful chapter for the ordinarv mill 



NO. 1851, VOL. 71] 



manager. Chapters xix., xx., and xxi., however, in 

 our opinion, are somewhat out of place, it being im- 

 possible satisfactorily to consider modern mill con- 

 struction, boilers and engines, steam and water 

 power, and electric power transmission in the fifty- 

 six pages devoted to this subject. Mere statement, 

 usually very excellent, is all that is possible. We 

 would, however, question the advice given respecting 

 electric lighting in factories. There is a marked 

 tendency to revert to incandescent gas lighting, not 

 only on account of the expense, but also on account 

 of the light value. 



The work is not onlv to be commended to those 

 engaged in the particular trades in question, but also 

 to those engaged in the allied textile industries, as 

 such questions as the position of the nip of the rollers 

 in relation to the spindle and with reference to length 

 of fibre, the varieties of gills employed. Combe's ex- 

 pansion pulley and quick change motion in place of 

 the cones in cone drawing frames, &c., constitute 

 interesting mechanical arrangements which may be 

 of marked value in these allied industries. 



The work is illustrated by 161 figures, usually of 

 a most interesting type. The general arrangement is 

 certainly such as will commend itself to the mill 

 manager, who will naturally wish to refer to the work 

 under conditions requiring speed and accuracy. 



.ViDRED F. B.'VRKER. 



ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY. 

 English Estate Forestry. By A. C. Forbes. 

 Pp. xi + 332. (I.X)ndon : Edward Arnold, 1904.) 

 Price i2s. 6d. net. 



\S the title suggests, the book is intended for the 

 instruction of English foresters. In the 

 preface, the author states that he feels, 

 " probably in common with many practical foresters, 

 that English forestry is sufficiently distinct from Con- 

 tinental, or even Scotch forestry to entitle it to be 

 regarded as a separate subject." 



The author further emphasises this point in his 

 chapter on thinning and pruning, where he seems 

 to hint that all the mistakes and failures in English 

 sylviculture, about the middle of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, were due to the bad influence of .Scotch 

 forestry and Scotch foresters, who, according to 

 Mr. Forbes, were imported into England about 

 that time, bringing with them their mistaken ideas 

 of thinning and pruning, to the detriment of English 

 forestry. 



The following extract from the preface gives the 

 author's own views regarding the book : — 



" This book is intended to be suggestive rather 

 than instructive to the practical forester. There is 

 little in its pages but what he already knows, and 

 possibly a great deal with which he will not agree. 

 But as a more or less failliful record of individual 

 experience it is offered as a small contribution to 

 forestry literature, which, if ii dors not enrich, ii will 

 not, it is hoped, disgrac"'. " 



The concluding paragraph of the preface states 

 " thai this book is not, nor does it make a pretence 

 of being, ;i text-book. The intelligent reader, there- 

 fore, who discovers that it does not contain a planter's 



