NA TURE 



151 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, igog. 



^\HA^ THE ELECTRICIAN ll'.liYTS. 

 Moilcrn Electric Practic'\ Edited by Prof. Magnus 

 Maclean. New edition. In six volumes. Vol. i., 

 pp. .\ii+302. Vol. ii., pp. vii + 351. Vol. iii., pp. 

 viii + 340. Vol. iv., pp. viiH-314. Vol. v., pp. 

 vi + 293. ^''^'- ^''-1 PP- vii+362. (London : The 

 Gresham Publishing Co., 1909.) Price, the six 

 volumes, 54s. 



A PUBLICATION of so ambitious a character as 

 that which now lies before us courts severe 

 criticism. Six handsomely bound volumes, which 

 would adorn any bookshelf, beautifully printed on ex- 

 cellent paper, and copiously illustrated with still more 

 excellent illustrations, should be, like Caesar's wife, 

 above suspicion. The indolent reviewer may well 

 feel aghast when confronted with " a comprehensive 

 treatise" which " no . single writer could hope to 



issue," and which has consequently been compiled by 

 " the cooperation of contributors, each of whom is an 

 expert in his own department of study and practice "; 

 and the editor may well comfort himself against the 

 possibility of adverse criticism by the reflection that 

 what no one man can write no one man can review 

 — a comforting reflection and a true one ; but therein 

 lies the paramount necessity for being above suspicion ; 

 for, unable to criticise all, the reviewer must perforce 

 base his judgment on selections, and if, perchance, 

 those selections are unfavourable, good work runs the 

 danger of being condemned merely on the strength 

 of its association with bad, and the " experts " as 

 a body stand or fall according as some amongst 

 them have or have not proved worthy of their 

 trust. 



Let us, however, in the first place venture some 

 criticism of the work as a whole. A publication such 

 as this challenges comparison with a number of in- 

 dependent treatises, and in one respect at least it 

 should be superior. Careful editorship should secure, 

 not only no unnecessary overlapping, but also uni- 

 formity of treatment. When reviewing the first three 

 volumes on their original appearance five years ago, 

 the writer pointed out that the statement in the pre- 

 face that the contributors had all been allowed to 

 use their own units amounted simply to an admission 

 of slipshod editing. We regret to find that statement 

 still standing. But in our former review we directed 

 attention to a more serious error, namely, that at 

 different places different values were given to the 

 same quantities. We have turned again to the two 

 tables to which we referred, and find them unchanged, 

 the editor being still apparently unable to make up 

 his mind whether the conductivity of platinum is 

 greater or less than that of iron. We pity the student 

 or the engineer who consults such data as these for 

 trustworthy information. It is a well-known rule of 

 conduct when a number of people agree to dissem- 

 inate incorrect information that the precise nature of 

 the information is of less importance than that all 

 should be agreed upon it; we think this rule should 

 NO. 2075, VOL. 81] 



be borne in mind when the third edition is issued, if 

 it is not found possible to obtain a correct table of 

 conductivities. 



Discrepancies such as these once discovered, sus- 

 picion is aroused, and one turns to individual articles 

 to consider each on its merits. Here, as is naturally 

 to be expected, one encounters varying degrees of 

 merit. Some of the articles are well written, sound, 

 and comprehensive monographs ; others are exceed- 

 ingly weak. We do not profess to have carefully read 

 all, but can only judge the bulk by the average of 

 those we have studied carefully, and it must be con- 

 fessed the average is low. 



Take, for example, the subject of primary batteries ; 

 the references in the index raised considerable hopes, 

 but after they were traced we came to the reluctant 

 conclusion that the index conveyed almost as much 

 information as the articles. Primary cells are dealt 

 with in section i., part i., chapter viii. Their treat- 

 ment occupies five pages, about one-third beng wood- 

 cuts (Figs. 58 and 59, by the way, being crossed). The 

 particulars given are most meagre; neither the E.M.F. 

 nor the internal resistances are given, and one has 

 no idea whether the Leclanche cell, for example, gives 

 I volt or 100; no particulars of life or output are 

 given, and there is no comparison between the effi- 

 ciency of different types. Dry cells are referred to 

 in half a line, which conveys no impression whatso- 

 ever as to what they are like. Primary batteries are, 

 it is true, again referred to in vol. vi., in the article 

 on electromedical appliances, but only incidentally, and 

 though the E.M.F. 's are mentioned here in one or 

 two cases, this is about the only additional informa- 

 tion given. The most elementary five-shilling text- 

 book with the same ground to cover gives more valu- 

 able information on this subject than this compre- 

 hensive treatise written by experts ; and it cannot be 

 claimed that the primary battery is of no importance, 

 as it is still enormously used for telegraph and tele- 

 phone work, the consumption in England running into 

 several millions a year. 



Or, turn again to wireless telegraphy : this is not 

 quite so easy as it sounds, for the entries under this 

 heading in the index are of no use. There are two, of 

 which one draws a blank, and the other leads to a 

 casual reference to the subject in the article on secon- 

 dary batteries. Under telegraphy we fare no better, 

 but the recollection of the somewhat unfamiliar name 

 of radiotelegraphy eventually leads us on the right 

 track, only to find a bare five and a-half pages allotted 

 to the subject. It is needless to say that no adequate 

 treatment can be given in this space, even though one- 

 half of it is occupied by diagrams. It is difficult to 

 reconcile this with the allocation of four-and-forty 

 pages to the description of electric fittings. 



There is one respect in which a publication such as 

 this is liable to compare unfavourably with the in- 

 dividual treatise — it is more difficult to keep up to 

 date. If one branch of electrical engineering shows 

 specially rapid development, it is easy for a treatise 

 which deals with that branch alone to be revised or re- 

 written ; but a production such as this is not likely 

 to be revised when onlv one or two of its sections call 



