APRIL 26, 1901.] 
prehend them; and the details of bird life are so 
told that the reader cannot fail to gain an idea 
of what things the experienced naturalist looks 
for, and what he sees. 
‘The Bird Book’ is divided into four parts. 
A dozen or so descriptive sketches under the 
title ‘ Water-birds in their Homes,’ are fol- 
lowed by explanations of such matters as the 
structure, mechanism and use of birds’ feet, 
wings and bills, and the adaptation of their dif- 
ferent forms to habits. Then other, more 
philosophical subjects are unfolded, and made 
surprisingly plain, such as the principles of 
classification, the conditions of the struggle for 
existence, distribution and migration ; and the 
concluding chapters are devoted to detailed ac- 
counts of some habits of birds, as ‘How the 
Hawk Hats his Food,’ ‘The Cave Swallow’s 
Changes in Nest-building,’ ‘How the Shrike 
Hunts.’ 
‘The Woodpeckers’ is, in form, more a pop- 
ular monograph of that group of birds. After 
several chapters on the habits of woodpeckers 
in general, five widely distributed and repre- 
sentative North American species are taken up 
in turn, and the characteristics of each dis- 
cussed. Following this, the peculiarities and 
uses of the woodpecker’s bill, foot, tail and 
tongue are studied, and then attention is drawn 
to the modifications of these organs in different 
genera and to their remarkable adaptation to 
the specialized habits of each. The volume is 
concluded by a key for the identification of all 
the North American woodpeckers. 
The books are well written. The style is 
mever dull, and often brilliant. They are 
abundantly and, on the whole, well, illustrated; 
and ‘The Woodpeckers,’ in addition to various 
figures in the text, contains five colored plates. 
It should be added that throughout both 
volumes the author is remarkably successful in 
carrying out their evident underlying purpose 
—not merely to convey information and in- 
spire interest, but to cultivate in the beginner, 
by example rather than precept, a truly scien- 
tific spirit, both in his observations and in his 
deductions. C. F. B. 
Engineering Chemistry, a Manual of Quantitative 
Chemical Analysis for the Use of Students, Chem- 
SCIENCE. 
659 
ists and Engineers. By THOMAS B. STILLMAN, ’ 
Second edition. Easton, Pa., The Chemical 
Publishing Co. Pp. 22+ 503. Price, $4.50. 
The first edition of this book appeared in 
1897. Its usefulness is indicated by the fact 
that a second edition is required so soon. The 
work seems to be designed to serve several pur- 
poses. The first portion, especially, appears 
to be intended for the use of students beginning 
the subject of quantitative analysis. The ex- 
ercises selected in this portion are satisfactory, 
but the directions lack that careful detail in 
regard to methods of “manipulation and in re- 
gard to the properties of the compounds used 
in analysis, which are so necessary for the 
student who is to acquire any adequate knowl- 
edge of the subject. It may be objected, of 
course, that room could not be found in this 
book for such details. It would seem, how- 
ever, that these exercises at the beginning 
should have been omitted altogether or they 
should have been properly given. 
The chemist or student who has already ac- 
quired a knowledge of analytical methods will 
find very much throughout the book that will 
prove very useful. The subjects discussed 
cover a wide range, the more important being 
the analysis and filtration of water, the analysis 
of coal, gas and other fuels, calorimetry, iron — 
and steel analysis, blast furnace charges, analy- 
sis and tests of cements, analysis of clay, alloys, 
paper, soap, oils, paints and asphalt, pyrome- 
try, electrical units and energy equivalents. 
The writer is well aware of the large amount 
of labor which an author must give to the study 
of the literature of each topic in writing a book 
of this kind, in order to determine what is the 
best present analytical practice, and some mis- 
takes are to be expected. In several cases, 
however, it would seem that better methods or 
more accurate directions might have been easily 
found. Thus, under coal analysis, in giving 
Eschka’s method for sulphur, nothing is said 
about the danger of absorption of sulphur from 
an ordinary gas flame; for phosphorus in steel 
the method of Dudley and Pease is given, al- 
though that method has since been modified in 
several important particulars, and made more 
accurate without increasing the time required 
for its execution ; for total carbon in iron, solu- 
