5 MARCH 1881, Page 22

A Treatise on Fuel. By Robert Galloway. (Triihner.)—A page or

two of index would have made this little book more useful for reference. But it will doubtless prove serviceable to many persons to whom larger and more comprehensive treatises would be burdensome. The greater part of the 136 sparsely-covered pages here before us are devoted to the discussion of coal, its nature and its products. Methods of determining its calorific power are given, with some details concerning the technical and chemical examivation of

different varieties of fuel. Ono chapter is assigned to Siemens' regenerative gas furnace. The book is incomplete and unmethodical, yet, after all, it contains clear statements of many facts about fuel, as well as tables, figures, and exercises, which may be profitably studied by laboratory pupils desiring to obtain some practical insight into the technology of the subject.