412 



NATURE 



[August 22, 1907 



The subject-matter is dealt with under the follow- 

 ing heads : — General properties of matter ; moulding 

 sands ; facing sands ; foundry tools ; moulding-boxes ; 

 handling material in the foundry; open sand mould- 

 ing; cores; elementary aspects of moulding; green- 

 sand moulding; securing cores in moulds; moulding 

 from gi'.ides; bench, outside, an J plate moulding; 

 machine moulding; dry sand moulding; loam mould- 

 ing; chill casting; casting on toother metals; weigh- 

 ing and binding moulds; shrinkage, contraction, and 

 warping; dressing castings; common faults due to 

 mould and pattern ; wrought iron ; cast iron ; re- 

 fractory materials ; fuels and furnaces ; mixing by 

 analysis; further treatment of cast iron; high- 

 temperature measurement ; steel ; metals other than 

 iron; alloys; mechanical testing; micrographic 

 analysis; common faults due to the metal; and 

 foundry management. The illustrations, of which 

 there are 246, have been carefully chosen, and, like 

 the letterpress, are exceptionally well printed. From 

 this enumeration of the contents it will be seen 

 that, although bearing the comprehensive title of 

 "General Foundrv Practice," the work is almost 

 entirely devoted to iron and steel founding. Metals 

 cither than iron are disposed of in some twenty pages, 

 brass founding receiving chief attention. The in- 

 genious cire perdue process of bronze casting is not 

 mentioned, nor is the modern method of casting in 

 sections bronze statuary of heroic size, such as 

 Bartholdi's " Liberty " at New York and Schwan- 

 thaler's " Bavaria " at Munich. The plaster moulds 

 used for this purpose might have been added to the 

 green sand, dry sand, loam, and chilled moulds 

 described by the authors. A few lines, too, might 

 have been devoted to the moulds used for metals 

 with low melting points, brass, slate (for toy 

 soldiers), wood, and even paper (for stereotype plates) 

 being employed. 



As the eye of the metallurgist wanders up and 

 down the authors' well-filled pages, it will be 

 arrested by that section which deals with the in- 

 fluence of the various impurities in cast iron. Phos- 

 phorus, it is shown, increases the fluidity of cast 

 iron and renders the metal .suitable for art castings, 

 such as those for which the Russian works at 

 Kyschtym are famous. Sulphur tends to make cast- 

 ings harder and brittle. .Silicon, by tending to throw 

 the carbon out of the combined form and to make it 

 appear in the metal as graphite, has a beneficent 

 influence. Manganese, on the other hand, has a 

 tendency to keep the carbon in the combined form. 

 These facts have to be borne in mind in mixing bv 

 analysis, a method which, it is gratifying to find, is 

 steadily replacing mixing by fracture, by guess- 

 work, or by trial. As the underlying science of the 

 founder's art becomes more and more clear, well- 

 marshalled knowledge is increasingly helpful. As 

 the authors point out, the real theoretical know- 

 ledge of the man of science is built on experiment, 

 and his theories are tested by further e.xperiment. 

 The practical man constantly meets with difliculties 

 in his work; and he also must, in a truly scientific 

 way, devise a remedy by testing the results of his 

 NO. 1973, "^'OL- 76] 



former experience. The apparatus maj' be cruder 

 than that of the laboratory, but it will be used with 

 a subtle judgment of the needs of the case. Tlic 

 man who combines a scientific training with prac- 

 tical experience is gradually, but surely, becoming the 

 dominant Ivpe of industrial captain in the best 

 equipped foundries. 



The book is unusually free from typographical 

 and other errors, and there is little in the arrange- 

 ment of the material to which exception can be 

 taken. It might perhaps have been well to have 

 carried the subject a stage further, and to have 

 given the student some information regarding the 

 galvanising, nickel-plating, lacquering, and porce- 

 lain enamelling of castings, and regarding the re- 

 pairing of faulty castings by melting in iron by 

 means of the electric arc or the oxyhydrogen blow- 

 pipe. Pattern making is altogether ignored. It is 

 true that it is a distinct trade involving the skill of 

 the joiner and the turner. A practical founder 

 should nevertheless have a general knowledge of 

 the construction of foundry patterns ; and the 

 elaborate patterns, sharply chased in a tin-lead alloy, 

 used for ornamental castings present many features 

 of interest to the foundry managers and foremen for 

 whom the work is primarily intended. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Eversley Ciardens and Others. By Miss R. G, 



Kingsley. Pp. x + 280. (London : George Allen, 



1907.) Price 6s. net. 

 1 1 is always stimulating to meet with enthusiasm, and 

 .Miss Kingsley is not only an enthusiast with regard to 

 individual plants, but possesses a keen eye for their 

 artistic setting and arrangement. Kversley is situated 

 on the Bagshot beds in a part of Hampshire that has 

 received the sohriijiiet of " the rubbish-heap of the 

 world "; and as much of Miss Kingsley's experience 

 was gained in laying out and cultivating the garden 

 of Keys House, in Eversley, her success may serve as 

 a help to other amateurs whose energies are also con- 

 centrated on poor soil. 



It would appe.ir that roses have been Miss Kingsley's 

 chief delight, especially the teas, hybrid teas, and 

 climbers. .She prc'sents a lengthy choice, arranged in 

 colour groups, containing besides such universal 

 favourites as G. Narbonnand, Frau Karl Druschki, 

 and Caroline Teslout, others less generally known, as 

 Madame Ravary, Coquette de Lyon, and Monsieur 

 Trillier. The list of rhododendrons, a plant that finds 

 a congenial home on the Bagshot soil, is especially 

 noteworthy, and the plan of growing bulbs in peat 

 fibre in bowls is recommendeti as a clean and rapid 

 method for producing fine flowers. While it is prob- 

 able that most gardeners will find many hints and 

 references to species unknown to them, it is certain 

 that all can learn much from the artistic combinations 

 described by the author, some produced in her own 

 garden, others in her friends' gardens. 



The Friendly Stiirs. By Martha Evans Martin. With 



introductory note by Prof. Harold Jacoby. Pp. 



ix + 253; illustrated. (London and New York: 



Harper and Brothers, 1907.) Price 5s. net. 



Evidently written by one who for years has been in 



the habit of looking upon the stars as companions, 



rather than as conglomerations of known and 



unknown elements, this volume will appeal to the 



