292 
NATURE 
[JANuARY 28, 1904 
trated by forty-one full-page views and plans, and one 
hundred and forty-two figures in the text; it is written 
in a simple style and printed in large type; and within 
a moderate compass the volume furnishes a large 
amount of information, combined with the results of 
experience, especially in the United States, which 
should prove of considerable value to engineers en- 
gaged in irrigating arid regions. 
OUR BOOK SHELF. 
Graphic Statics, with Applications to Trusses, Beams, 
and Arches. By Jerome Sondericker, B.S., C.E. 
Pp. viiit+137. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; 
London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1903.) Price 
8s. 6d. net. 
Tuts is a very practical treatise on the determination 
of the forces in braced structures, beams, masonry 
arches, and abutments. It is based on a course of 
instruction given at the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology. 
the strengths of materials, of the principles of statics, 
and of ordinary beam formula for stresses and de- 
flections, and is thus able to present his methods in a 
very concise form without any lengthy preliminary ex- 
planation, and he pays special attention to the pre- | 
cautions which should be taken in drawing the 
diagrams in order to secure the best results. 
The graphical processes are accompanied by 
analytical calculations, and the student is wisely 
encouraged to make himself familiar with both 
methods of computation, and not to follow either 
slavishly. Building construction is mainly drawn upon 
in providing examples, which include such cases as 
steel framed buildings under the action of gravitation 
loads and wind pressures. The author does not 
employ the strain energy method or its equivalent for 
structures with redundant elements, but proceeds by 
arbitrary assumption as to what seems probable in each 
particular case. This is often the only feasible plan, 
but too much reliance should not be placed on the 
results obtained. For instance, there is probably con- 
siderable error on p. 79 in the tacit assumption that 
the reactions in the trussed beam are the same as if 
the middle support did not yield. Considerable atten- 
tion is given to frames where the members are subject 
to binding stresses as well as to direct stresses. 
The three-hinged arch is dealt with, and some of the 
methods which have been proposed for determining the 
line of resistance in a masonry arch are briefly dis- 
cussed; the author works out one example in full de- 
tail, showing how to find the linear arch which lies 
within a specified region (such as the middle third), 
and has the least horizontal thrust. 
Memories of the Months. Third series. By Sir 
Herbert Maxwell, Bart. Pp. xi+290; illustrated. 
(London : Edward Arnold, 1903.) Price 7s. 6d. 
THE author has no occasion to offer apologies for con- 
verting the ‘‘ Memories ”’ into a trilogy, and it is with 
sincere pleasure that we welcome this latest addition 
to a charming series, of which we hope we have not 
yet seen the end. Whether his subject be forestry, the 
habits and activity of squirrels, local place-names, 
salmon-disease, or ‘‘ vole-plagues,’’ Sir Herbert writes 
with a charm peculiarly his own, and, while imparting 
information, does so in a style which many of our best 
novelists might envy. Perhaps the highest praise we 
can bestow is to say that whenever one of the author’s 
books comes into our hands for review, we invariably 
read it from beginning to end—and that with pleasure 
and satisfaction. 
NO. 1787, VOL. 69 | 
The author presupposes a knowledge of | 
As Sir Herbert is not, we believe, a professed 
naturalist, a few slight errors, mainly due to lack of 
acquaintance with current zoological literature, could 
scarcely fail to occur in a work of this nature. 
For instance, his arguments and conclusions drawn 
from the remarkable distribution of the fresh-water 
fishes of the genus Galaxias (p. 50) are rendered practi- 
cally nugatory by the recent discovery of a marine re- 
presentative of that group. Again, he does not appear 
to be aware that the Thessalian vole (p. 39) has been 
assigned to a new species by Captain Barrett-Hamil- 
ton, under the name of Microtus hartingi. We may 
also direct attention to the practical repetition, on pp. 
46 and 47, of the account of the damage inflicted on 
Scottish pine forests by crossbills given on pp. 1 and 2, 
the repetition extending even to the fading of the 
crimson of the head and neck of the bird to dull 
greenish-olive after death. Another repetition will be 
found by comparing pp. 73 and 115, in connection with 
the origin of the name Winchester; with the discre- 
pancy that ‘‘ Gwent’ is stated to mean ‘‘ white” in 
the latter, and ‘‘downs”’ in the former passage. 
Finally, the misprint Odicnemus on p. 102 is scarcely 
consonant with the author’s predilection for ety- 
mology. 
Where all is interesting, it is difficult to select 
passages for special notice. Attention may, however, 
be directed to the calculation of the muscular activity 
of the goldcrest as contrasted with that of man (p. 
40). It may also be noted that the author defends his 
contention as to the limited height to which holly is 
prickly by the remark that when this has been called 
in question it is owing to artificial strains, and not 
the natural wild stock, having been the subject of 
observations. 
With this we must take leave of a volume as charm- 
ing and full of interest as its predecessors. R.L. 
Educational Woodwork. By A. C. Horth. Pp. 159. 
(London: Percival Marshall and Co., n.d.) Price 
3s. 6d. net. 
Tue author has attempted to provide, within the re- 
stricted limits of a hundred and sixty pages, a three 
years’ course of woodwork, drawing, and object 
lessons; chapters on discipline, organisation and 
method; particulars as to the fittings and furniture 
required for the exercises, as well as hints on the in- 
struction of deaf, blind, and special children. At the 
same time he has found space for nearly two hundred 
illustrations. The consequence is that the instructions 
are meagre, and in many cases quite inadequate. The 
illustrations in the earlier pages are good, but some 
of the drawings intended to help the object lessons 
outlined in chapter viii. will fail to convey much mean- 
ing to pupils. The courses of woodwork are also pub- 
lished separately in pamphlet form at fourpence net for 
each year. 
Die Proportion des goldnen Schnitts. By J. Kiibler. 
Pp. 36. (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1903.) 
Tuis is an attempt to discuss the properties of quanti- 
ties in continued proportion, and in particular the 
series of proportionals derived from the problem of 
medial section, in connection with a large number of 
mathematical, physical, and even physiological 
problems. 
If books of this kind are written and read as a re- 
creation by people who enjoy thinking about semi- 
mathematical and semi-philosophical considerations, 
and who merely take the conclusions arrived at for 
what they are worth, without attaching special scien- 
tific value to them, then the present volume completely 
fulfils its object. 
