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NATURE 



[October 5, 191 1 



for mutton ; but in the latter, used for beef, fish, 

 and fruit, the constancy both of the temperature and 

 the humidity is most important. There are at the 

 present time various devices for maintaining the con- 

 stancy of these factors more or less automatically. 

 so as to relieve the operating staff from the continual 

 strain of watching gauges, but no reference seems to 

 be made to them. 



Again, the advantages of the various methods for 

 producing cold are given, but no attempt at sum- 

 marising the knowledge so that a marine engineer 

 could easily determine which system would be the most 

 suitable for his particular case. 



Considerable attention is paid to the discovery and 

 prevention of faults in the whole storage system, and 

 th? advice given would doubtless be of great use to 

 the freezer engineer. In the sections on ventilating 

 and heating, which are clearly to be taken together, 

 the various methods in use are considered in some 

 detail. The author obviously inclines to electrical 

 methods, which certainly have the great advantage 

 that the transference of air and the generation of 

 heat can be far more easily controlled at a large 

 number of points. An interesting calculation is made 

 as to the expense of running electric heating on a 

 large liner, and appears to show that the cost is quite 

 disproportionate to the extra comfort obtained. 



There are some curious instances of the inclusion 

 of really extraneous matter, such as the question of 

 ventilation in mines, where the problem is essentially 

 different and the presence of poisonous or explosive 

 gases makes the failure of the ventilation a cause of 

 real danger and not merely of discomfort. 



In the heating section also there are a large number 

 of illustrations of electric heaters differing very little, 

 and more suitable to a catalogue. The book is well 

 illustrated, and should find a distinct place in the 

 literature of the subject. F. H. 



RADIOGRAPHY. 

 Disease in Bone and its Detection by the X-Rays. 



By E. W. H. Shenton. Pp. xii+72 + 46 figures. 



(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd, 1911.) Price 



4s. 6d. net. 

 jV/l R. E. W. H. SHENTON was one of the first 

 i»A medical men to take up the use of the 

 Rontgen-rays for the purposes of medical diagnosis. 

 His experience extends to more than fourteen years, 

 and thus dates back almost to the time of the publica- 

 tion of Prof. Rontgen's discovery. Mr. Shenton 

 points out in his preface the necessity for skill in 

 carrying out the examinations and in interpreting the 

 results. Many laymen are able to take "clear" X- 

 ray photographs, but only an expert can be sure of 

 taking photographs in the best way for obtaining the 

 maximum diagnostic information. The final words 

 of Mr. Shenton 's preface are — 



"To the staff of Guy's Hospital I owe mote than I 

 can acknowledge here, but for nothing am I more 

 grateful than their attitude towards the whole subject 

 of X-ray work. In my opinion, it has raised radio- 

 graphy from a branch of photography to a branch 

 of practical medicine. As a pioneer I might have had 

 the rough time pioneers look for, but my way has 



-'i 88, vol. 87J 



been considerably smoothed by their generous encour- 

 agement." 



In the diagnosis of diseases and injuries of bones, 

 changes of form or of density are those chieflv con- 

 cerned, for opacity to X-rays is a function of density. 

 Mr. Shenton makes the helpful general statement that 

 acute bone disease is made evident by increase of 

 transparency, and chronic disease by increase of 

 opacity. He warns us against the common error of 

 mistaking apparent variations in density of bone, due 

 to the condition of the X-ray tube, for actual varia- 

 tions in density. The exposure should be such as to 

 give the greatest possible amount of detail of texture 

 of the bones, and a "very clear" skiagram, where 

 the contrast between the bones and the soft parts is 

 extremely sharp, is usually lacking in detail of bone 

 texture. 



Mr. Shenton goes fully into the subject of fracture, 

 and directs especial attention to the subject of 

 "callus," the new material formed around fractures, 

 uniting the fragments. When first formed this 

 callus is entirely transparent to the X-rays. This 

 is a very fortunate fact, as otherwise we should not 

 be able to judge the nature and extent of a bony 

 lesion except just after its occurrence; not for many 

 weeks as we are able to do. The author directs 

 special attention also to the absence of unnecessary 

 callus in fractures treated by Mr. W. Arbuthnot 

 Lane's method of bringing the fragments into 

 accurate apposition by metal plates and screws. 



Various diseases of bone — abscesses, tumours, and 

 inflammatory diseases— are described and illustrated, 

 as are also the rheumatic and gouty conditions which 

 affect bones in the proximity of joints. The appear- 

 ance of the teeth in normal and abnormal conditions 

 is illustrated and described. 



The book is full of information, the result of the 

 author's almost unequalled experience. It is beauti- 

 fully printed in large clear type on art paper, so that 

 the illustrations show to the best possible advantage. 



A. C. J. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 A Text-book of Elementary Foundry Practice for the 



Use of Students in Colleges and Secondary Schools. 



By W. A. Richards. Pp. xii+121. (New York: 



The Macmillan Co. ; London : Macmillan and Co., 



Ltd., 1910.) Price 5s. 6d. net. 

 That a text-book of elementary foundry practice 

 should be required for the use of students in 

 secondary schools reads strangely in this country, but 

 indicates how far trade practice is being brought into 

 school curricula in the United States ; and this work 

 is by the instructor in forge and foundry practice in 

 the University High School and the University, 

 Chicago. A careful perusal of the book shows that it 

 is the practice of the foundry — and that mainly of 

 moulding— that is treated of, and not the science 

 underlying foundry work. Only hand tools and such 

 moulding as can be done with them are described, and 

 the making of moulds for the production of steel cast- 

 ings is not included. 



The author claims that though his book is written 

 for boys in secondary schools, he hopes it may suit 

 the college student, and that it is so plain and prac- 

 tical that it may be used without an instructor. A 



