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THURSDAY, MARCH 19, k 



COAL MINING. 

 Practical Coal Mining. By Leading Experts in 

 Mining and Engineering. Edited by W. S. Boulton. 

 Vol. ii., pp. vi + 161-348; vol. iii., pp. viii + 192; 

 vol. iv., pp. viii+ 193-404. (London: The Gresham 

 Publishing Companv, iyo7.) Price 6i". net each. 



IN Nature of May 23, 1907, a notice was published of 

 the first instalment of this work, which, when 

 completed in six volumes, is intended to cover the 

 whole ground of modern cOal-mining practice. Three 

 further volumes have been received, containing the 

 conclusion of Prof. H. Louis' section on shaft sink- 

 ing, which broke off in the middle of a paragraph, 

 and sections on breaking ground by Mr. H. F. 

 Bulman, on methods of working and timbering by 

 Mr. E. H. Robertson, on haulage by Prof. G. R. 

 Thompson, on winding bv Prof. C. Latham, on 

 pumping by Mr. W. E. Lishman, on ventilation by 

 Mr. H. W. G. Halbaum, and on transmission of 

 |jower by Mr. W. E. Lishman. This division of 

 responsibility among many contributors renders a 

 certain want of harmony in the treatment of the 

 subject-matter inevitable. The work will, however, 

 certainly prove as a whole a valuable addition to 

 coal-mining literature. 



The concluding instalment of the section on shaft 

 sinking by Prof. H. Louis is excellent. Recent 

 German experience of shaft sinking in difficult cases 

 recorded by Riemer and other Continental authorities 

 is set forth in concise form ; details of cost hitherto 

 unpublished are given, and the accompanying sixty- 

 live illustrations, unlike most of the others in the 

 .work, have in every case an indication of the scale to 

 which they are drawn. 



The fifth section, on breaking ground, covering 

 fifty-nine pages, contains much practical information 

 on driving stone drifts and on coal-cutting machines. 

 The details relating to explosives do not, however, 

 exceed a few words, and no description is given of 

 the rock drills employed in driving stone-drifts. 



The sixth section, on methods of working and 

 timbering, the most important branch of mining, 

 covers only fifty-four pages, and the illustrations are 

 not very happily chosen. Altogether this section does 

 not compare favourably with the treatment the sub- 

 jects have received in the existing treatises by 

 Hughes, Pamely, and others. 



The seventh section, on haulage, which forms the 

 commencement of vol. iii., covers seventv-four pages, 

 and has been carefully compiled, the information given 

 regarding tubs, rails, haulage, roads and systems of 

 haulage being concise, accurate, and up to date. 

 Interesting details are furnished of the recent applica- 

 tion of mechanical conveyors in the road leading from 

 each working face to the level beneath in steep seams. 

 In regular seams, not seriously disturbed by faults, 

 much is to be hoped from the application of conveyor 

 systems ; bijt there will always remain a large number 

 of mines in disturbed areas where the natural con- 

 ditions preclude such systematic working, and thus 



NO. 2003 vor.. yyl 



give- scope to the ingenuity of tlie manager in arrang- 

 ing his system of secondary haulage. 



The eigHth section, on winding, covers ninety pages, 

 and is adequate as far as it goes. Less hackneyed 

 illustrations might have been selected with advantage, 

 and more attention might usefully have been given 

 to the great changes in winding that have taken place 

 in recent years. The operating of main winding 

 gears by electricity, for example, is dealt with in fifty 

 lines. Winding by electricity is, it is true, little prac- 

 tised in Great Britain, although there is a large plant 

 of 1500 horse-power in South Wales. In Germany, 

 however, winding by electricity is making rapid pro- 

 Igress. One firm alone has in hand about forty 

 winding engines, some dealing with 2000 tons of coal 

 per day and lifting from depths of 900 yards. 

 I The ninth section, on pumping, covers 83 pages, 

 and contains a concise summary of the recent 

 literature on mine drainage, with well-selected illus- 

 trations of the principal types of pumps. 



The tenth section, on ventilation, covers 80 pages, 

 gives the princples on which the practice ot mine- 

 ventilation is based and discusses the theory of the 

 centrifugal fan. The properties of mine gases and 

 the instruments of measurement are also briefly dealt 

 with. 



The eleventh section, on transmission of power, 

 deals first with electricity as the leading power agent, 

 and then in turn with steam, compressed air, and 

 hydraulic power. In this section various topics, such 

 as winding, hauling, pumping, ventilation, and coal- 

 cutting, are incidentally dealt with, the result being 

 that there is a certain amount of clashing with pre- 

 vious sections. The Kaselowsky pump, for example, 

 described on p. 403, is also described on p. 244 of the 

 same volume. 



The work is profusely illustrated, the three volumes 

 containing 293 illustrations and twenty plates ; and 

 the type is large and clear. The ornate binding and 

 the garish frontispieces are, perhaps, a little wanting 

 in dignity for a comprehensive treatise on mining. 



M.AL.iRIA AND N.iT]ONAL DECAY. 

 Malaria. A Neglected Factor in the History of Greece 

 and Rome. By W. H. S. Jones. With an intro- 

 duction by Major R. Ross, C.B., F.R.S., and a 

 concluding chapter by G. G. Ellett. Pp. vii + ioS. 

 (Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes; London: Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd., J907.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 



THE subject of the rise and decline of nations and 

 of the causes to which they are due is of 

 perennial interest. One of the problems which his- 

 torians have striven to solve is the great change in 

 the Greek character which occurred during the fourth 

 century B.C. To quote from Mr. Jones's essay : — 



" Home life took precedence of city-life. Patriotism 

 decaved, and lofty aspirations almost ceased to stir 

 the hearts of men! In art there appeared a tendency 

 to sentimentalism ; philosophy in many quarters 

 became distinctly pessimistic. Some schools of 

 thought actually took ' absence of feeling ' or ' absence 

 of care ' as the highest goal of human endeavour. 

 Dissatisfaction and querulousness are marked charac- 



