November 19. 1908] 



NA TURE 



The other eleven types are treated with almost 

 similar fulness, and numerous interesting problems 

 are broufjht into notice. The arrangements of the 

 floral members (phyllotaxis) in each type receive 

 especial attention, as might be expected from an adept 

 in this subject. 



Dr. Church has produced a valuable contribution 

 to botanical literature, excellent alike in the text 

 and in the illustrations, and the execution is worthy 

 of the Clarendon Press. If the remaining- eighty- 

 eight tvpes are worked out in the same manner as 

 their forerunners, the whole will form one of the 

 most valuable introductions to the study of angiosperms 

 in any language, but there is reason to doubt whether 

 its necessary size and cost, and the thoroughness 

 ■of the treatment, may not put it out of reach of most 

 ■" elementary " students of botany. Its value will be 

 more appreciated by teachers and by advanced 

 students; few botanists can fail to benefit from its 

 pages, and no botanical school can afford to neglect 

 so valuable and suggestive a storehouse of informa- 

 tion. There is the more reason to regret that it- is 

 on the heavy, highly glazed paper so trying to many 

 ■eyes and of very doubtful durability. 



COTlOy WKAYl^C. 



The Cotton ^Vcaver^i Handbook. By H. B. Hcylin. 

 Pp. x + 326. (London : Charles Griffin and Co., 

 Ltd., 1908.) Price 6s. net. 



DURING the last twenty-five years many excellent 

 books dealing with textile subjects have been 

 published in Germany, .\merica, and England, but 

 in none of them has cotton weaving been treated as 

 -Mr. llcylin treats it. His book contains 462 pages, 

 of which 112 are blank paper, 12 sheets are blank 

 design paper, and 326 pages are of printed matter, 

 ilie latter being divided .as follows : — 8 pages are 

 iillotted to the index, 30 to a reprint of cotton-weaving 

 examination questions set by the City and Guilds of 

 London Institute, and 36 pages to pictures of textile 

 «i-iachinery. On the remaining 252 pages there aie 

 •upwards of 350 figures, but with the exception of 

 those relating to designs, drafts, and lifting plans, 

 the illustrations are poor. Most of them consist of 

 pictures of machinery and appliances which are of 

 small value to the student, and when, as in this case, 

 ihcy are mainly without reference letters, and inade- 

 <]uately described, they do little more than add to the 

 size of the book. The following may be taken as 

 examples of the majority of these illustrations. Fig. 

 350 is a picture of a smallware loom, and the de- 

 scriptive matter consists of " There is a separate 

 shuttle for each tape woven." Fig. 357 has letters 

 lidded to special mechanism, but these are not 

 referred to. Figs. 273, 274, and 275 are perspective, 

 edge, and plan views of ladder tape, and the onlv 

 description given is that " ladder tape used for Vene- 

 tian blinds is a good example of what may be done 

 by the four-ply system of weaving." 



In the text there is ample evidence of haste. Statc- 

 nients .are repeated again and again, as on pp. 30, 

 32, and 34, where we are told that the scope for 

 \0. 203-8, VOL. 70] 



producing a variety of weave effects is in proporlioi-i 

 to the number of threads in the repeat of a design. 

 Again, on pp. 16, 18, and 33, similar repetitions 

 are found concerning broken drafts. That mistakes 

 are very numerous will be seen from the following, 

 which are selected, almost at random, from a long 

 list. On p. 84 it is stated that the ordinary picking 

 motion is " put out of action whilst the wire is in- 

 serted to form the warp pile." In these looms the 

 shuttle and the wire are passed through the warp 

 together. The twist tester figured on p. igo is said 

 to " take out the twist at both ends of the thread 

 simultaneously," whereas it can only untwist from 

 one end. On p. 124, Fig. 294 should read Fig. 296. 

 On the last line of p. 170, /120 should read 4/120, 

 and on p. 225 " the slacker will be the top speed " 

 should read " the slacker will be the top shed." On 

 p. 214 the calculation for determining the point of 

 connection between the back heald cords and the 

 tappet treadle is wrong, and resolves itself into a 

 calculation to determine the required lift of a tappet 

 for operating the back heald shaft. On p. 221 a 

 swing pinion is said to be compounded with a W'heel 

 D, and also to gear with the wheel D. Three calcu- 

 l.ations are given on p. 245 ; one is without answer, 

 and both the others lack some of the cancelled 

 figures. 



The chapter on weaves is the best in the book, 

 but since this branch of the subject has been more 

 exhaustively treated by German, American, and 

 British writers than any other, it would perhaps be 

 unreasonable to expect Mr. Heylin to say much that 

 is new concerning them. With regard to the heading 

 of this chapter, it is stated on p. 6 that the term 

 "weave is sometimes miscalled design"; neverthe- 

 less, the latter term is used throughout the book. 

 The chapters on the pow'er loom and its accessories, 

 and on preparing yarn for the loom, are quite inade- 

 quate. Frequent reference is made for details to the 

 frontispiece, which is an unlettered picture of a power 

 loom, and, therefore, affords no means of identifying 

 the parts. To a reader who is familiar with the 

 loom such descriptions as are given are useless, and 

 to others they will be unintelligible. The " Costing 

 of Cloth " precedes the " Systems of Naming 

 Yarns," and prices are given in shillings, pence and 

 farthings, instead of in pence and decimals of pence ; 

 also, where yarns are weighed, pennyweights and 

 grains are used instead of grains only. Several pages 

 are occupied with rules and examples for determining 

 the counts of folded yarns, but in no case is the 

 basis of a rule given ; further, the problems do not 

 amount to more than the addition, or the subtraction, 

 of fractions, as, jV + Ho + rsV = l'o' ''"d iV-2'o=iiV A" 

 undated market report with official quotations for 

 cotton and yarn occupies five pages. 



By a thorough revision, and by filling in the blank 

 pages and deleting the examination questions, the 

 subjects named in the contents might be adequately 

 dealt with, but in its present form this book contains 

 so little that is new, and so much that is inexact or 

 untrue, that it is difficult to say for whom it is 

 suited. 



