points hitherto obscure and that more reliable_equations have been worked out for the calculation of distilling apparatus. Part one considers theory, and part two deals with the applications to mixtures of two substances, as ethyl alcohol and water, methyl alcohol and water, acetic acid and water, ammonia and water, acetone and water, nitrogen and oxygen. Part three consists of 47 tables with accompanying charts.

12. *Hoffman, E. J. The nitration of toluene.

32 p.

1916. paper 146.)

8°.

Washington:

(United States Mines Bureau. Technical

VHCA

The Bureau of Mines has conducted some interesting and valuable experiments to determine the adaptability of water gas toluene to the manufacture of trinitrotoluene, there being a prevalent view that this grade of toluene contains aliphatic hydrocarbons which are not affected by the usual method of purification. Investigation showed that the sample used for the experiment contained only a negligible quantity of these hydrocarbons. The work, therefore, became more general in scope, "embracing the nitration of any good grade of toluene, and it was continued with a view not only of ascertaining the conditions under which the best yield of toluene could be obtained from the sample in hand, but also of developing a method that might be capable of satisfactory industrial application to the nitration of any toluene of approximately the same degree of purity."

There is an excellent bibliography of 62 titles.

32 p.

13. *Hunt, George M. The preservative treatment of farm timbers. Washington: 1916. illus. 8°. (United States Agriculture Dept., Farmers' bulletin 744, revised 1915.)

Economics Div.

The author of this 32-page pamphlet, a chemist in the laboratory of the Government Forest Service, states that the wood which is exposed to decay in fence posts, building foundations, windmill frames, shingles, telephone poles, silos, etc., undoubtedly amounts to several billion feet. He tells how fungi cause this decay and how the ravages may be avoided, both with and without the use of preservatives. The comparative value of the different preservatives is briefly considered and the methods of application are described. The operation of a central plant, either by an individual or by the community is advised.

150 p.

14. Martin, Geoffrey, and others. Industrial gases, including the liquefaction of gases and the manufacture of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia, producer gas, illuminating gas, acetylene, ozone, etc... London: Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1916. illus. 8°. VOL Large industries based upon new developments in the technology of gases - surprisingly large to the layman to whom these developments are new- - have come into being during the past few years. Gaseous oxygen and nitrogen have created the industry of cyanamide, so widely used as a fertilizer and as the basis of many other nitrogen compounds. Hydrogen has acquired importance in the hardening of fats and in aeronautics. The manufacture of synthetic ammonia from the atmosphere is commercially successful, and although the secrets of actual methods are carefully guarded, there is described in this book whatever has been made public.

This work, the seventh of an important series on chemical technology, gives in concise form and from many scattered sources the present state of the art of each of the subjects cited in the sub-title. It is clearly illustrated and the reference list on patent literature is stated to be as complete as possible. Reviewed in Chemical trades journal, Oct. 14, 1916.

2

15. *Mitchell, Charles Ainsworth, and T. C. HEPWORTH. Inks, their composition and manufacture, including methods of examination and a full list of English patents. Second edition, thoroughly revised, re-set. London: C. Griffin & Co., Ltd., 1916.

266 p.

illus.

12°.

VOP Inasmuch as this comprehensive little treatise traces the history of writing and printing inks, and has something to say about the fading of manuscripts, the detection of forged documents, with information concerning safety and sympathetic inks, it should prove of interest not only to the student and manufacturer, but to the general reader as well.

16. *Mitchell, Charles Ainsworth, 1867-. manufacture and examination...

Ltd., 1916.

201 p.,

illus. 8°.

Vinegar: its

London: C. Griffin & Co.,

VTS

Deals with English practice and "endeavors to make clear the scientific principles underlying each stage of the manufacture, and to indicate the lines upon which the development of the industry is possible." Chapter 1 tells in an interesting way about the history of the art. For an understanding of the chapter on methods of examination a general knowledge of analytical chemistry is presupposed.

17. *Taylor, Guy B., and W. C. COPE. Sensitiveness to detonation of trinitrotoluene and tetranitromethylanilin. Washington: 1916. 8°. (United States Mines Bureau. Technical paper 145.)

11 p.

VHCA

"TNT (trinitrotoluene) is much less sensitive to detonation than tetryl (trinitromethylnitramine, or tetranitromethylanalin. The sensitiveness of the former is increased by admixture of the latter. These two compounds, varying widely in sensitiveness, are suitable substances on which to test the efficiency of initial priming compositons... On account of the present high price of mercury used in the manufacture of mercury fulminate, detonators have greatly advanced in price. Manufacturers are seeking a substitute to partly replace the fulminate. By use of a suitable base charge and of a fulminatechlorate mixture as a primer in the reinforced detonator, about one half as much fulminate is required for a cap of given strength. Commercial blasting caps have been manufactured containing both TNT and tetryl as a base charge." 18. *Thompson, H. C., and H. S. BAILEY. Peanut oil. Washington: 1916. 16 p. 8°. (United States Agriculture Dept., Farmers' bulletin 751.) Economics Div.

Peanut oil, one of the most important of food oils, has not been manufactured to any considerable extent in the United States, owing to the fact that oil manufacturers could not meet the high price of peanuts. At present, however, scarcity of cotton seed has caused several mills to experiment with the_new product. The above pamphlet tells about the state of the industry in Europe and its possibilities in the United States.

340 p.

19. *Vevey, Emanuel de. Manuel d'industrie laitière... Lausanne: Librairie des Semailles S. A., 1916. 2. éd.

8°.

illus. VPQ

A practical up-to-date treatise on dairy work with especial reference to conditions in Switzerland. Part one concerns the production and properties of milk, its degeneration and adulteration. Part two tells of buildings and machinery, and part three has to do with the various products, notably the Gruyère cheese.

20. Agg, Tansy Radford. The construction of roads and pavements. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1916.

vii, VDG

"This new highway book brings with it the atmosphere of the typical middle western state college or university. The outstanding characteristic is an endeavor to present information in a way that makes it of practical benefit to people who are actually doing things. The author states that the book is primarily intended as a text in a college course on roads and pavements. It will be found valuable by highway engineers, both as a book of reference and as a handbook, as it contains numerous tables and diagrams. It is largely a compilation, the sources of information being current periodical literature and other treatises on highway construction, but in the main the material has been well selected. Especially valuable are the examples of good practice following the discussions on the various types of roadways. They present in brief form the specifications actually in use in localities that have secured satisfactory results with the types in question... There is a real need for this up-to-the-minute book on highway construction.”—Canadian engineer, Sept. 28, 1916.

Also reviewed in Good roads, Oct. 7, 1916; Engineering record, Sept. 30, 1916. Engineering news, Oct. 19, 1916; in Municipal journal, Oct. 12, 1916.

21. Flinn, Alfred Douglas, and others, compilers. Waterworks hand book, compiled by Alfred Douglas Flinn... Robert Spurr Weston...and Clinton Lathrop Bogert... New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1916. 824 p., 1 table. illus.

8°.

VDL

A treatise of over 800 pages on the sources of water, its collection, transportation, delivery, distribution, and treatment.

"This book gives a usable compilation of information, old and new, for the waterworks engineer and superintendent, the designer, constructor, operator and inspector. The materials have been accumulated by the compilers in the course of their practice in various branches of waterworks engineering. The user is assumed to have some familiarity with mathematics, hydraulics, the natural sciences and waterworks construction, operation and maintenance, and to possess ordinary mathematical tables."-Preface.

1916.

Reviewed in Canadian engineer, Aug. 31, 1916; Municipal journal, Aug. 24,

22. Goethals, George Washington, editor. The Panama canal, an engineering treatise; a series of papers covering in full detail the technical problems involved in the construction of the Panama canal...prepared by engineers and other specialists in charge of the various branches of the work and presented at the International Engineering Congress, San Francisco, California, 1915... New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1916. 2 v. illus. 8°.

TSB

The name of the editor is sufficient to reflect the merit of these twentyfive authoritative monographs. Gen. Goethals himself has written an excellent historical introduction, also a chapter on the dry excavation of the canal. Professor Emory R. Johnson's paper covers the commercial and trade aspects; and Mr. Donald MacDonald outlines the geological features. There are four papers relating to sanitation, municipal engineering, water supply, climatology and hydrology, and two chapters on the working force and the purchase of supplies. The remainder, and greater part of the work, has to do with the actual engineering operations, including the reconstruction of the Panama Railroad, with

chapters on shops, terminals, drydocks, coaling plants, and aids to navigation. Provided with a map, over fifty plates of details, and several tables. A complete and noteworthy book which should prove of interest not only to the engineer but in many ways to the general reader as well.

Reviewed in Engineering news, Aug. 17, 1916, p. 309; Engineer, Sept. 8, 1916.

23. Jeffery, Joseph Alexander, 1859- Text-book of land drainage, by Joseph A. Jeffery... New York: The Macmillan Co., 1916. 256 p. illus. tables. 12°. (The rural text

book series.)

VDP

Excessive water in the fields at some time during the year is stated to be a common but little mentioned cause of crop decrease. This book, while in-· tended primarily as a text-book for students is so simply written that the farmer may learn a great deal concerning soils and the relation of water to them, with practical information about reclamation, tiling, leveling, laying out, drainage of ground water supplies, relation of climate and drainage, and drainage laws, with an appendix describing interesting experiments for the laboratory. Author was formerly professor of soils in the Michigan Agricultural College.

24. Lewis, Nelson P. The planning of the modern city, a review of the principles governing city planning. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1916.

423 p.

illus. 4°.

SER

"In this volume...we have the first really American book on city planning written by an engineer for engineers. This does not mean that the volume will not be eminently useful to the architects and landscape architects from whose ranks most of the other books on city planning have come. It will be decidedly useful to them. It will also appeal to laymen who, though deeply interested in city planning, feel that most of the architects and landscape architects are carried away by their devotion to the aesthetic side of the subject. As Mr. Lewis well says in his introduction, 'the fundamental problems of city planning are, and from their very nature must be, engineering problems'... The author describes the aim and method of his book as an attempt 'to show by a few concrete examples what has already been accomplished, rather than to indicate just how the several problems should be attacked or solved.' These examples are too modestly characterized as 'few.'"-Engineering news, Sept. 21, 1916.

Also reviewed in Municipal engineers' journal, Sept., 1916; in New York Times book review, Nov. 5, 1916; in Canadian engineer, Aug. 31, 1916, in Engineering record, Oct. 14, 1916.

326 p.

25. *Travis, Charles, and others. Practical railway working London: Boswell Printing & Pub. Co., 1915. 12°.

illus.

TPCM

This concise treatment of several large subjects in a small volume of 326 pages originally appeared in the Railway news. It "is intended as a handbook not only for railway students, but for all those whose business is connected with railway working, and whose experience may not cover the whole of the departments concerned with traffic manipulation.' Represents English practice of maintenance of way and renewal, station design and layout, operating of different classes of trains, arrangement of train service and control of locomotive and train running, traffic administration, dock administration, and railway organization. Of especial note is the chapter entitled: Distribution of freight rolling stock.

Reviewed at length in Railway gazette, April 28, 1916.

26. Waddell, John Alexander Low, 1854. Bridge engineering New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1916. 2 v. 2177 P.

illus.

8°.

VEK Over 2000 pages (79 chapters) of information covering every branch of bridge engineering and garnered from a notable experience of 40 years. Of especial value are the diagrams of metal weights, quantities of masonry, cost of construction, and economic functions. There are over 250 pages of specifications, and a remarkably complete glossary of terms (223 pages). Preface states that the book should prove "useful to all engineers who are engaged directly or indirectly in the designing and building of bridges, and especially to the younger ones... While...not prepared as a text-book for engineering students, it is well adapted to supplement the standard treatises."

"Engineering books are, as a rule, singularly devoid of any charm of style, being either devoted to the mathematical development of theory for text-book use or dryly descriptive. The present work is neither. It is the interesting personal, almost autobiographical, narrative of a notable professional career. It holds the reader, not solely because of the value of the subject matter, but because it is a very readable book, full of personal, often humorous, incidents and touches."-From a review by Professor F. H. Constant in Engineering record, Sept. 30, 1916.

Also reviewed in Canadian engineer, Sept. 28, 1916.

Civil Engineering

27. *Wig, R. J., and others. Strength and other properties of concretes as effected by materials and methods of preparation. Washington: 1916. illus. 8°. (United States Standards Bureau. Technologic paper, no. 58, June 20, 1916.)

172 p.

VBDA

"This paper includes the results of about 20,000 tests. Compressive and tensile tests were made upon mortars at different ages, including about 240 different sands and stone screenings, and compressive tests were made on concretes composed of 60 aggregates, including limestones, gravels, granites, cinders, and trap rock, as well as tests of physical properties of the sands, stone screenings, and coarse aggregates... The results included in this paper would indicate that the compressive strength of most concretes, as commonly made, can be increased 25 to 100 per cent or more by employing rigid inspection which will insure proper methods of fabrication of the materials."

Electrical Engineering

28. *Ahlborn, G. H. Data on electric railway track leakage. Washington: 1916. 8°. (United States Standards Bureau. Technologic paper, no. 75, Aug. 22, 1916.)

22 p.

VBDA

These investigations on three short trolley lines having different physical characteristics as to roadbed and soil, show the amounts of current that leak away from the track with load concentrated at the end of the line. From these figures may be derived the constants of the track and road-bed — which constants may then be used in the equations given in Technologic paper no. 63 which have for their aim the further analysis of electrolytic conditions.

-