i88o.] 
653 
Analyses of Books. 
Thomas Wills, however, was by no means exclusively a che- 
mist or a physicist. He was passionately fond of music, and 
even took pleasure in listening to speeches in the House of 
Commons. He was as adfive in connexion with Sunday-schools 
and Young Men’s Christian Associations as with the Society of 
Arts, the Royal Institution, or the British Association. 
We think that had he survived his influence would have done 
much to allay that feeling of uneasiness, if not of adlual hos- 
tility, with which the advances of Science are viewed by the 
religious world. He felt deeply that men of Science are doing 
God’s work in every investigation and every discovery. We 
honour this spirit, and regret that it is not more general and 
better recognised where it does exist. 
For the student the brief career of Thomas Wills is rich in 
useful lessons. May they be appreciated as they deserve ! 
Journal of the Society of Telegraph Engineers. Edited by W. 
E. Ayrton. London : E. and F. N. Spon. 
This issue contains a goodly assortment of interesting commu- 
nications. Among these particular attention is due to a paper 
entitled “ A Decade in the History of English Telegraphy,” by 
Mr. E. Graves ; and one on “ The Behaviour and Decay of 
Insulating Compounds used for Dielearic Purposes, by the Pre- 
sident of the Society, Mr. W. H. Preece. This memoir includes 
a history of gutta-percha, with a notice of the causes which lead 
to its destruaion. A minute insea, Tetnpletonia crystallina , 
gnaws into it, and aaually seems capable of thriving upon a 
substance which to us seems the very type of indigestibility. 
In some localities the mycelium of a fungus has been supposed 
to be an aaive agent in the decay of the gutta-percha coating of 
underground telegraph wires, but on insufficient evidence. It 
seems that oxicfation is the main cause of decay, and that it 
takes place wherever gutta-percha is exposed to air, or alternately 
to air and moisture. The outer layer of the substance becomes 
dry and brittle, and changes into a resin, soluble in alcohol. 
This fadl alone explains the reason why gutta-percha has fallen 
into disuse as a material for jugs, funnels, measures for liquids, 
&c. 
