NOVEMBEE 13, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



687 



turer at the Eoyal Naval War College, etc. 



New York, The Macmillan Company. $4.50. 



This work the author terms a complete text- 

 book on the construction and working of 

 marine engines and boilers, from which it is 

 to be assumed it does not apply to the design- 

 ing, as the information on the latter subject is 

 quite limited, whereas that on construction — 

 or what follows the design — together with care 

 and management are very complete. He gives 

 a very full history of the development of the 

 steam engine from Savery in 1698 to the tur- 

 bine and gas producer of to-day. Much in- 

 formation is given to the one wishing to prac- 

 tise the art of designing the different struc- 

 tures, but the most to those desiring to be- 

 come skilled in the construction, operation 

 and care of the marine engine, as the design- 

 ing of such machinery demands a line of 

 study outside of what can be given in a 

 treatise of this kind. 



The articles on Care and Management are 

 particularly valuable, as they are from the 

 author's experience of many years in charge 

 of machinery in warships of many tjrpes in 

 the British Navy. It is, therefore, as he 

 states : " A summary of the best practise of 

 the present day." In support of this let me 

 quote from chapter 32 : 



The main propelling machinery is always erected 

 in the workshops before its final erection in the 

 ship. By this system the alignment and proper 

 fitting of all parts are ascertained and any dis- 

 crepancy remedied while still in the building stage, 

 and usually a water-pressure test is made of cyl- 

 inder jackets and other fittings in the shop. 

 Although this preliminary building-up of the 

 engines, only to be taken down and rebuilt, seems 

 somewhat of a useless undertaking, experience 

 shows that large saving in the cost of labor and 

 better fitting and adjustment are obtained. . . . 

 The successful working of the machinery is largely 

 dependent upon this accuracy. 



The correctness of this view is confirmed by 

 my experience in the same line of work. 

 The double care taken, although seemingly 

 useless and unnecessarily expensive, has been 

 found to be the most economical, also the one 

 from which not only the best results are ob- 

 tained, but is sure to avoid trouble and dis- 



appointment. The amount of care taken is 

 often overdone, but what the author recog- 

 nizes as necessary can not be avoided if superior 

 results are desired. This part of the book has 

 been dwelt upon as it is one so little recognized 

 in works treating on the steam engine, where- 

 as the neglect to properly inspect and install 

 this engine in the vessel has defeated success 

 from a faultless design. The great trouble 

 in the production of the marine engine has 

 been the absence of the same degree of in- 

 telligence in this part of the work, builders 

 and their workmen having too great a tend- 

 ency to rush the erection in the vessel, not- 

 withstanding the fact that the time and care 

 taken, as well as the first expense incurred 

 are returned a hundred-fold before the vessel 

 leaves the builders' hands, not to say anything 

 in reference to a better performance from the 

 beginning of its life. 



Notwithstanding the general excellence of 

 the book, there is one view to which exception 

 must be taken and that is about the com- 

 bustion chamber in the cylindrical boiler. 

 Here the author states it should not be com- 

 mon to all furnaces, but should be as numer- 

 ous as the latter in order to produce better 

 circulation so as to save the tube-sheets. This 

 is not only a fallacy as the trouble is due to 

 unnecessarily heavy tube-sheets, but also an 

 evil, as it prevents proper combustion of the 

 gases and tends to produce smoke to obstruct 

 observation and make the presence of the ship 

 known. 



This single criticism, however, should not 

 take from the value of the work as it abounds 

 in so much that is good and valuable to one 

 seeking information on the subject and desir- 

 ing to be correctly informed as to the marine 

 engine practise of to-day and the lines on 

 which it may be extended in the future. 



The field of observation and subject covered 

 show how great has been the growth in marine 

 engineering in the past fifty years. In this 

 the author has not been content to treat only 

 on what to-day is found in general service, but 

 invades the realm of the experimenter, taking 

 up the combination of the reciprocating en- 

 gine with the turbine, as well as the introduc- 



