268 
[April, 
[ Notices of Books . 
Science Classes of the Department of Science and Art, who 
wish to submit to the Government examinations, to pass with 
credit. The present volume treats more especially of the phy- 
sicr.l characters of minerals generally, eighteen of the twenty- 
seven chapters being devoted to a description of Miller’s system 
of crystallography, all mathematical formulae being avoided. 
The other physical properties of minerals — such as cleavage, 
structure, magnetism, optical properties, &c. — are also well 
described ; the analysis of minerals by the blowpipe is, however, 
dismissed in ten pages. There are but few elementary manuals 
of chemistry in which any space is given to blowpipe analysis. 
It seems a pity, therefore, that the opportunity was lost of giving 
a more detailed account of a subject of such vital importance to 
the working mineralogist. The use of the spectroscope in the 
qualitative analysis of minerals is hurried through a dozen lines. 
We fear that the system of publishing books in series of volumes, 
each containing an exact number of sheets, is a mischievous 
one, for in too many instances it compels authors to restridt cer- 
tain portions of their work within inconvenient limits. The 
work is illustrated by nearly six hundred diagrams. The second 
volume, which will shortly be published, will treat of descriptive 
mineralogy. 
Building Construction , showing the Employment of Timber , 
Lead , and Iron Work , &*c. By R. Scott Burn. Vol. I., 
Text; Vol. II., Plates. London and Glasgow: W. Collins, 
Sons, and Co. 1878. 
The fame which Mr. R. Scott Burn has gained for his numerous 
works on the constructive arts renders it almost unnecessary to 
say very much about the latest production of his pen and pencil. 
We need only open it at any page to see that it is written by a 
thoroughly practical man, possessed of the power of explaining 
his meaning in clear homely language. The text is illustrated 
by nearly five hundred woodcuts, besides which there is a quarto 
volume of plates, containing thirty pages of plans, working 
drawings, and diagrams, illustrative of the text. Amongst them 
are also a number of plates containing examples explanatory 
of the excellent instructions for mechanical and free-hand 
drawing. 
We cordially recommend these volumes to all who are con- 
nected with the constructive arts. The work forms part 
of Collins’s Advanced Science Series. 
