5i° 



NA TURE 



March 29, 1906 



with the author that " Such a work should not be 

 overloaded with detail, but the facts presented 

 should be accurate and the matter reliable," for 

 nothing more certainly repels the very specially prac- 

 tical man than a mass of finical hedgings, which are 

 only fit for discussion among philosophers, but do not 

 affect the main present issues. While this is so, 

 looseness of expression is the last thing to permit 

 oneself, as no type of man more appreciates accurate 

 statements if they are simply expressed. While the 

 author has in the main succeeded in his ideal, there 

 are some points which the writer would change. Thus, 

 p. 7, " Elasticity ... is the length to which . . . ." 

 Similarly, tenacity, breaking load, ductility, and duc- 

 tility as applied to wire-drawing are not satisfactory. 

 Interesting and simply written chapters on refrac- 

 tories, iron ores, and the blast furnace follow. The 

 author's wide practical experience in foundries lends 

 a special interest to his chapters (vi. to ix.) on pig- 

 and cast-irons, for in the works he was daily brought 

 into contact with the adjustment of those properties 

 of cast-iron to the fulfilment of the orders on hand, 

 and this may account for his almost bitter treatment 

 of the enemy, sulphur, which is perhaps not quite 

 so black as he has painted it. 



These chapters should also show why there is such 

 a fascination in the study of this complicated material. 

 Next comes a good chapter on malleable cast-iron, but 

 a statement on p. 128 is a little confusing. British 

 malleables are said to contain something like 0-3 per 

 cent. S, which agrees with the writer's experience. 

 Then it is stated that grey haematite refined is used, 

 but this would really contain less than o. 1 per cent. S. 

 The fact seems to be that a material called refined 

 haematite, but really white haematite re-cast into small 

 pigs, is used, and the old refined grey pig is not 

 obtainable on the open market. 



In comparing the Siemens and Bessemer processes, 

 the important point of the much smaller percentage 

 of loss in the open-hearth seems to have been omitted. 

 The crucible, Bessemer, and open-hearth processes are 

 described in considerable detail, and p. 227, on the 

 production of sound steel, is excellent, while it was 

 only to be expected from the author's researches that 

 the influence of casting temperature would be 

 adequately dealt with. Chapters xviii. and xix., on 

 the metallography of the heat treatment of steel and 

 of hardened steels, are profusely illustrated, and deal 

 with the subject from the carbonist's point of view, 

 with the intimation that there are other theories, a 

 wise decision, as whichever of the many theories may 

 prove to be the correct one, that given is the easiest 

 to understand, and the reader may search out the 

 others if so minded. The author, in using for illus- 

 tration microsections of articles he has used, such 

 lis hack-saw, table-blade, razor, and file, sets the 

 seal on his desire to attract the practical man, and 

 if on examining similar tools he should find different 

 structure it ought to stimulate inquiry. The final 

 chapter on special steels, while good in itself, will 

 impress on the reader that there is much — very much 

 —more beyond. The work, which is printed on 

 surface paper, most agreeable to the eye, with 

 NO. I9OO, VOL. J?>] 



thirty-one of its sixty-four illustrations printed on 

 smooth paper to bring out the required detail, can be 

 recommended to the beginner as a " book which will 

 primarily awaken interest." 



A. McWlLLIAM. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Glue, Gelatine, and their Allied Products. By Thomas 



Lambert. Pp. xii+153. (London: Chas. Griffin 



and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 55. net. 

 This is a handbook intended for the use of glue manu- 

 facturers, agriculturists, and students of technology. 

 It describes the preparation and properties of glue and 

 gelatin, and also of certain side-products, such as 

 size, cements, and fertilisers. The description is 

 written chiefly from the practical standpoint, though 

 some notes on the chemistry of the products are in- 

 cluded. Diagrams of plant and machinery illustrate 

 the working of the various processes mentioned in the 

 text. 



While the book contains much trustworthy informa- 

 tion, there is some confusion in its arrangement. 

 Thus the first chapter purports to be " historical," but 

 it deals principally with matters quite other than his- 

 torical ; as, for example, " chondrin and its proper- 

 ties," "railway accommodation," "water supply," 

 and so on. Moreover, it would, we think, have been 

 better if the author had written either specifically for 

 manufacturers or specifically for the manufacturing 

 chemist, instead of addressing himself sometimes to 

 the one and sometimes to the other. The manufac- 

 turer, for instance, hardly wants a detailed description 

 of Kjeldahl's method of determining nitrogen; on the 

 other hand, the chemist might well be spared the state- 

 ment that " all crops contain certain mineral matters 

 in their ashes." 



The book would form a good nucleus for better 

 things. With some re-arrangement of its subject- 

 mat ter, and a less superficial treatment of the chem- 

 istry involved, it might develop into an excellent 

 manual of the technologv of glue and gelatin. 



c. s. 



Webbia-Raccolta di Scritti Botanici pubticati in 

 occasione del 50 anniversario dclla Morti di Fillipo 

 Barker Webb'. Edited by Prof. U. Martelli. Pp. 

 xi + 393. (Florence: S. Pellas, 1905.) 

 Philip Barker Webb, in whose honour this volume 

 has been compiled, lived in the first half of last cen- 

 tury ; during his career at Oxford he developed a 

 taste for the classics and natural history which a 

 substantial patrimony allowed him to cultivate. In 

 the course of his travels he visited Spain, Portugal, 

 the Canary Islands, and other countries, combining 

 botany and geology with pleasure. He resided 

 generallv in Paris during the intervals between his 

 journevs, and there he directed and carried out the 

 work in connection with the " Phytographia Canari- 

 ensis"; also he accumulated a large herbarium, in- 

 cluding several French collections. At his death his 

 botanical treasures were lost to France, as he be- 

 queathed all his plants and books, together with a 

 sum of money for their maintenance, to the Grand 

 Duke of Tuscany. 



This volume contains a number of original papers 

 that have been contributed by Italian botanists as a 

 token of gratitude for the stimulus which these collec- 

 tions have given to Italian botany. Most of the 

 papers are concerned with systematic botany. Prof. 

 O. Beccari, writing about' palms, contributes an 

 account of the Indian genus Trachycarpus, allied to 

 Chamaerops; a list of species from New Guinea, in- 



