NATURE 



[May i, 19 1 3 



feature of the work will commend it to the atten- 

 tion of those who are concerned practically with 

 the carbonisation of coal, whether in gas manu- 

 facture, coke-oven work or tar distillation. They 

 may not always agree with Prof. Lewes, but it 

 will be admitted that he speaks as a well-trained 

 chemist with the experience of a generation on 

 practically every aspect of the subject, and that 

 his opinions are fairly and temperately stated, 

 such as becomes a man of science whose sole 

 object is to elucidate the facts. 



A commendable feature of the book is the excel- 

 lence of the illustrations. Many of them are novel 

 and all are of the character that experts will 

 appreciate. T. E. Thorpe. 



THE TRAINING OF GOLDSMITHS. 

 Metalwork and Enamelling : a Practical Treatise 

 on Gold- and Silver-smiths' Work and their 

 Allied Crafts. By Herbert Maryon. Pp. xiii + 

 327 + plates. (London: Chapman and Hall, 

 Ltd., 1912.) Price 75. 6d. net. 



THE abolition of the apprenticeship system of 

 training and the establishment of technical 

 institutions for the education of young goldsmiths 

 and silversmiths have created a demand for text- 

 books which have in view the wants both of 

 technical students and of those who are already 

 practically engaged in these crafts. 



The modern practice whereby the worker in 

 the precious metals confines himself to a single 

 branch of the craft results in technical skilfulness 

 and in cheapness of production, but its influence 

 is definitely against the production of craftsmen 

 who are masters of their art. There will, how- 

 ever, always be a demand, and we hope an in- 

 creasing demand, for work executed throughout 

 by one man — a man who can both design and 

 carry the work through — and text-books which will 

 assist in the production of such men are rendering 

 great service to the ancient craft of precious 

 metal working. The information must be given in 

 a form not too academic, and expressed in lan- 

 guage that the worker of ordinary intelligence can 

 understand. 



This book is an important addition to this class 

 of technical literature, and will be of value not 

 only to the student but to those already engaged 

 in gold- and silver-smiths' work. It deals with 

 metalwork and enamelling from the essentially 

 practical and technical rather than from the 

 artistic or historical point of view. The author 

 has departed from the course adopted by most 

 writers on the subject, which consists in describing 

 in detail the making of single articles, such as a 

 brooch, cup, or casket. 



NO. 2 2/0, VOL. 91] 



The operations of soldering, raising, stone- 

 setting, enamelling, &c, are fully discussed in a 

 clear and concise manner, and the descriptions are 

 accompanied by good illustrations. 



Two chapters are devoted to a description of the 

 materials and tools used, and to the making of 

 small tools required for special work. The 

 sharpening, hardening, and tempering of tools, 

 which are matters of considerable importance to 

 the craftsman, have also been dealt with. Design- 

 ing, which is the essential basis of the gold- and 

 silver-smiths' art, is ably discussed, and the 

 method of teaching design adopted by Mr. Catter- 

 son Smith, at the Birmingham Municipal School of 

 Art, for training lads who propose to enter the 

 jewellery and metal trades is described and well 

 illustrated. 



Twenty-three plates illustrative of some of the 

 finest examples of Greek, Etruscan, Renaissance, 

 Celtic, and modern gold- and silver-smiths' work 

 are given. These are taken from masterpieces 

 exhibited in the British Museum and the Victoria' 

 and Albert Museum, and the publishers are to be 

 highly congratulated on the excellent way in which 

 these have been reproduced. The plates, which 

 are fully described, will be of considerable assist- 

 ance to students in studying the numerous styles 

 of ornamentation, &c. A short chapter on the life 

 and work of Benvenuto Cellini is appended. 



A bibliography is given, but several important 

 modern works have been omitted. 



Ernest A. Smith. 



GAS, OIL AND PETROL ENGINES. 

 The Gas, Petrol and Oil Engine. Vol. ii. : The 

 Gas, Petrol and Oil Engine in Practice. By 

 Dr. Dugald Clerk, F.R.S., and G. A. Burls. 

 New and revised edition. Pp. viii + 838. 

 (London : Longmans, Green and Co., 1913.) 

 Price 255. net. 



THE first volume of this book, which' we re- 

 viewed some three years ago (November 1 1 , 

 1909), was devoted chiefly to thermodynamics. 

 Dr. Dugald Clerk, with the help of Mr. Burls, 

 has now issued the companion volume treating of 

 the gas, petrol and oil engine in practice. The 

 current volume is much bulkier than its prede- 

 cessor, and is one calling more for the skill of an 

 editor in its composition than for that of an author. 

 " Practice " with gas, oil and petrol engines now 

 covers such a ramification of diverse uses that it 

 is exceedingly difficult to write any treatise on the 

 subject which shall show at the same time breadth 

 of knowledge and unity of conception ; and it is 

 characteristic of Dr. Clerk's writings that the 

 former is always the more pronounced. 



