January 14, 1909'J 



NATURE 



The work includes chapters on the biology and 

 ethnology of Russia, as well as of the remarkable 

 faunal history of the Black Sea; it gives a short but 

 interesting discussion of the density of the population, 

 illustrated by a map, which would have been more 

 readily useful if the index of shading had given refer- 

 ence to another measurement as well as to square- 

 versts. The book concludes with two long and in- 

 structive sections on the economic geography and on 

 the towns which will be of great service to those who 

 cannot use the detailed information in the forty-one 

 volumes of the great Russian Encyclopaedia (Entsikhlo- 

 peditcheski Slovar, 1890-1904). 



LOCOMOri VE ENGIXEERING. 



Locomotive Perjormancc. By William F. M. Goss. 



Pp. xvi+439. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; 



London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1907.) Price 



2is. net. 

 The Railway Locomotive. H7;(if /.' is and wliy it is 



Vi'hat it is. By Vaughan Pendred. Pp. xi + 3U). 



(London : A. Constable and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 



6x. net. 



PROF. GOSS and his assistants in the engineer- 

 ing laboratory of the Purdue University are to 

 be congratulated on the very able manner in which 

 they have carried out their researches on the perform- 

 ance of locomotives, and more particularly the experi- 

 ments with the two locomotives installed in the 

 loccmotive testing plant at Purdue L^niversity. 



The present volume is an account of the growth 

 of the engineering laboratories at Purdue, the loco- 

 inotive testing plant being more particularly dealt 

 with, its inception being largely due to the interest 

 taken by the late President Smart, of that university, 

 in conjunction with the late A. J. Pitkin v^hile general 

 superintendent of the Schenectady Locomotive Works. 

 In fact, the success of the laboratory appears to be 

 largely due to the cooperation of the university 

 authorities with the famous locomotive builders at 

 Schenectady, many mechanical engineers being also 

 interested in the success of the laboratory and render- 

 ing valuable assistance in many ways. As loco- 

 motive engineers, as a rule, base their designs on 

 the result of practice and experience rather than on 

 theoretical considerations, the contents of this volume 

 must be of much interest to them, and we can 

 strongly recommend its careful study. 



The contents of the book are divided into five head- 

 ings, the first four chapters dealing with " loco- 

 motive testing," under heading No. i. These are 

 most interesting, since the inception of the testing 

 plant is described and the many difficulties discussed, 

 the development of the laboratory largely increasing 

 the interest taken by American locomotive engineers 

 in the scientific treatment of the subject. 



Chapter v. comes under heading No. 2, and gives 

 a typical exhibit of the performance of a locomotive 

 under varying conditions of speed and cut-off. 

 Fig. 62 is an interesting illustration of the influence 

 of speed on the indicator diagram when running with 

 a late cut-off, making it very evident that both must 

 NO. 2046, VOL. 79] 



be considered as having an important influence on 

 the mean effective pressure. 



Chapter vi. in part iii. deals with boiler perform- 

 ance, a most interesting subject. The question of 

 locomotive boiler design has come prominently to 

 the front in recent years, and much attention has been 

 given to it. The human factor, however, in the form 

 of the fireman, enters very largely into the question, 

 a fact which our author very carefully points out. 

 Another most important detail of locomotive design 

 is dealt with in chapter xi. ; we refer to the smoke- 

 box, or front end, since the efficiency of the engine 

 is very largely due to the correct proportions and 

 arrangement of the blast-pipe and chimney. The 

 arrangement of these details is thoroughly discussed, 

 and the best proportions expressed in simple equa- 

 tions. 



Part iv. of the book deals very largely with 

 cylinders, valve gear, and the all-important question 

 of correct balancing. Prof. Goss is to be congratu- 

 lated on the able way in which he has handled the 

 latter subject; his experimental work as described in 

 chapter xviii. is most valuable, and has added con- 

 siderably to our knowledge. 



Locomotive performance is discussed in part v. of 

 this interesting book, the last chapter of which 

 generalises the many points discussed. Taken as a 

 whole the volume is quite unique; it contains valu- 

 able information of a highly scientific nature, and we 

 strongly recommend all interested in locomotive 

 engineering to study it. 



" The Railway Locomotive," by Mr. Vaughan 

 Pendred, is a book very difl'erent from Prof. Goss's; 

 it is one of the Westminster Series, and we are told 

 that it is intended to bridge over the gaps left by 

 specialisation. What this means is not quite clear; 

 but if it is the intention of our author to describe 

 the locomotive as it is for the benefit of engineers 

 not of the locomotive variety, then he is to be con- 

 gratulated upon having produced an interesting and 

 useful volume, and one likely to fulfil the object he 

 has in view. 



The book is divided into three sections. The loco- 

 motive as a vehicle is first treated, and occupies nine 

 chapters, the eighth of which deals with adhesion, 

 and we are pleased to notice that the late Mr. Patrick 

 Stirling's famous " singles " are quoted and referred 

 to as highly successful engines. They will be remem- 

 bered when many modern monstrosities have gone to 

 the scrap-heap and been forgotten. 



Section ii. deals with the boiler, the sectional 

 diagram of which. Fig. 39, is certainly not modern. 

 The author has much to say, naturally, about stay- 

 ing flat surfaces, and the differences in the co- 

 efficients of expansion of the copper fire-boxes in the 

 steel shells of locomotive boilers. He here deals with 

 the biggest worries of the locomotive engineer. Loco- 

 motive boilers have increased in dimensions in an 

 abnormal manner, and, unfortunately, the bigger the 

 boiler the bigger the wear and tear. Stay bolts are 

 dealt with in chapter xii., and, passing over what the 

 author has to say about Captain Palliser and armour 

 plating, which has nothing to do with the case, we 

 learn that various bronzes have been tried, as well as 



