564 



NA TURE 



[October 3, 1907 



OVR BOOK SHELF. 

 Machine Design. By Prof. Charles H. Benjamin. 



Pp. vii + 202. (London : Archibald Constable and 



Co., Ltd., 1907.) Price 8s. net. 

 Few men are more qualified to speak with 

 authority upon the experimental side of machine 

 dfsifjn than the author of this little book. Indeed, 

 we are inclined to the opinion that it mij^ht well have 

 bfcn entitled "Experimental Machine Desiffn," since 

 it deals almost exclusively with Prof. Benjamin's 

 classical experiments upon the behaviour of certain 

 machine parts when tested to destruction. Our 

 general opinion of the book can be summed up in a 

 ver\- few words — "excellent as a sample." We 

 trust, however, that it is but a sample of what the 

 author intends to give to the engineering world in 

 the near future. 



Regarded, however, as a general treatise on 

 machine design, we are bound to confess that it is 

 somewhat disaupointing, since such a very small 

 portion of the book is devoted to the correct propor- 

 tioning of even the commonest constituent parts of 

 machinery. The faults of the book are faults of 

 omission rather than of commission ; to a large 

 extent the matter given is original and cannot fail to 

 be of great value to designers of machinerv. The 

 analytical treatment of some of the problems dealt 

 with is both new and ingenious. 



We have noticed a few slips, but thev are mostlv 

 unimoorlant. On p. 6 the modulus of elasticity for 

 crucible or tool steel is given as 40.000,000 lb', per 

 sauare inch. We have tested a great many specimens 

 of such steel, but have never obtained a value of 

 more than ^2,000,000 lb. On pp. 11 and 74 the torsion 

 modulus of a square shaft is given as rfV4'24. but 

 .iccordine to .St. Venant. Lord Kelvin and others, 

 this should be d'l^Si. The value given for the ellip- 

 tical section is also in error; it should be fea^/51. 



The experimental investigations of Prof. Benjamin 

 on the bursting strength of cast-iron cvlinders, the 

 strength of flat plates, gearing, flv-wheels, and 

 pulleys are of the greatest interest. If onlv 

 designers of machinery would take to heart some of 

 the lessons tausrht bv these exoeriments. we should 

 less frequently hear of the disastrous failures of flv- 

 wheels. &c. We trust that he will continue his 

 researches in many directions and incorporate them 

 in a future edition. 



On the whole, the illustrations are good. They 

 are clear without giving too much detail, which is so 

 often a fault in many books of this r\pe ; but in 

 some instances the diagrams are crude, and are, in- 

 deed, incorrect. For example, the stuffmg-box shown 

 m Fig. 36 is not such as one would expect to find in 

 a treatise on machine design. 



.Some of the friction experiments quoted were 

 carried out in a very crude fashion, and the results 

 nre liable to be very misleading. For an example of 

 this see p. 107. Except for the minor faults that we 

 have pointed out, we can heartilv recommend the 

 book to students and draughtsmen generallv. 

 Flowers and Trees of Palestine. Bv Miss .\. .\. 



Temple. Pp. xii+172. (London: 'Elliot Stock, 



r907.) Price 6s. net. 

 Arising out of a tour in Palestine, Miss Temple has 

 compiled for the benefit of other travellers a list of 

 the principal plants of the countrx". The list, which is 

 arranged alphabetically, furnishes the popular and 

 scientific names, also the localities; certain features 

 of some of the genera and species are added, but they 

 are of little determinative value. Preceding the list 

 are four chapters containing an account of the char- 

 acteristic flowers, thorny, " tropical, and subalpine 

 plants, and of the trees. A number of good illus- 

 \0. 1979, ^'OL 76] 



trations are pro\ided which are taken from the 

 author's photographs. 



.Miss Temple discusses the interpretation of the 

 Biblical names, following as her guides in this matter 1 

 Canon Tristram and Dr. Post. The interpretations 

 are obscure, although there is unanimity in most i 

 cases. The identification of " the lilies " has given 

 rise to controversy. The author favours the view 

 that the flower signified especially as the " lilies of 

 the field," is.'liicmodc coronaria ; Dr. Post for another 

 reference inclines to the gladiolus ; these flowers are 

 more probably signified than Lilium chalcedonicum 

 and Lilium candiduni, which are found, although 

 rarely. It seems unnecessary to introduce .\canthus 

 for any reference to "nettles," and Jew's mallow 

 is generally understood to be Corchoriis oliloritts 

 or capsularis, not Corchoriis trilociilaris. Other- 

 wise, except for one or two obvious mistakes, the 

 identifications are acceptable. .Although the inform- 

 ation in the descriptive chapters is slight and l?cks 

 continuity, the render can, with the help of the illus- 

 trations and the list of plants, obtain a fair idea of 

 the brilliant nature of the flora, and the traveller should 

 be able to identify the more conspicuous plants. 



Familiar Indian Birds. By Gordon Dalgliesh. Pp. 



viii+71 ; illustrated. (London : West, Newman and 



Co., 1907.) Price 2S. 6d. net. 

 That many persons in India, especially new arrivals, 

 feel the want of an easy means of identifving the 

 commoner birds of the country is indisputable, and 

 this want the author of the booklet before us has 

 endeavoured to supplv — largely in the form of reprints 

 from notes in scientific and other journals. In the 

 main, the notices are interesting and to the point; but 

 there appears a lack of judgment in regard to the 

 species selected for mention. The omission of the 

 adjutant stork is a glaring instance of this; while in 

 the section on herons it is obvious that the egret or 

 " paddy-bird " should have figured as the main head- 

 ing, in place of the ordinarv British heron. Then, 

 again, it is a mistake to have selected such birds as 

 the heron, moorhen, and barn-owl as the subjects for 

 pictorial illustralir>n. when so few characteristic Indian 

 species are depicted. Neither can much be said in 

 pra'ise of the illustrations them-elves, that of the 

 myna being specially poor. Bv the time the book 

 reaches a second edition, it may also be hoped that 

 the author will have learnt to write sentences of a 

 more grammatical type than the one standing second 

 in the account of the jungle-babbler, or the third and 

 fourth (taken together) on the seventh page. R. L. 

 Progresstis Rei Botanicae. Vol. i., part iii. Die Fort- 



schritte der Immunitats- und .Spezifizitiitslehre seit 



1S70. By R. P. van Calcar. Pp. 1 10 (-,t,t, to 642). 



(Jena : Gustav Fischer, 1007.) 

 The third and final part of the first volume of this 

 publication, issued under the auspices of the Inter- 

 national .Association of Botanists, is assigned to a 

 survey of the study of immunity, compiled bv Dr. 

 R. P. van Calcar. Due credit is given to botanists 

 for the early conceptions of the theor)-, and the gradual 

 evolution of the subject by pathologists is traced up. 

 The author presents an explicit and critical account 

 of the experiments and views elaborated bv 

 MetschnitofT, Ehrlich, and Pfeiffer; he describes the 

 phenomena of agglutination, and discusses the argu- 

 ments in connection with toxins and antitoxins, the 

 taxonomy of the tubercle bacillus and the role of 

 ferments. .Although the field has been explored chiefly 

 from a medical point of view, a knowledge of the 

 general theories regarding the action and nature of 

 bacteria is also required by plant pathologists, and the 

 summary is eminently suitable to a botanical public- 

 ation. 



