Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-02
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

LIE fftFrRESS bF Inv ENllttN IN THE NINE
TENTH CENTURY. BY Edward w. Byrn,
AN. New York: Mum < Co.
Mr. Byrn has devoted his life to a study
of inventions. having been for years con-
nected with the Mum bureau in this city
He is eminently qualified to discuss the
history of the mechanical advance, there
fore. and enjoys the honor of having been
awarded first prize for brief essay de-
scriptive of that advance offered by the
Scientific American on the occasion of the
issue of its recent birthday souvenir edi-
ton. Mr.. Byrn's chief difficulty in prepar-
ing such a work as the present has been
that of condensation, his space limitations
being altogether out of proportion to the
possibilities of his subject. for invention has
marked the closing century beyond prece-
dent in all the course of the years. The
revolution in the mechanical arts has stupe-
fled even the most aggressive brains of the
era, when the aggregate is considered.
Virtually nothing remains today in the
sphere of applied physics in the stage at
which that science rested when the century
opened The extraordinary development OF
electricity and its applications to almost
every branch of human endeavor are the
type and the marvel of the times. 1t is a
great task to cOllate the facts of this
progress and to offer the result in a proper
blending of plain and technical terms. Mr..
Byrn has admirably acquitted himself OF
this task and his book is a worthy record
of the century. The treatment is necessa-
rily topical and this permits a distinct View
of each branch of scientific advance, show
ing the Inarvels of discovery and invention
in the best known mechanical appliances of
today. such as the electric motor, wireless
biography, the telephone and telegra phi.
the steam engine, the printing press. the
typewriter, the sewing machine, the reaper
the bicycle and automobile. the monograph
the A-ray apparatus, textile machines, the
implements Of warfare, ice machines and
the production and applications of liquid
air. The author allows himself at the close
OF his work to peer forward with the aid
OF the light of the past and he asks:
VIII not the chemist learn how to pro-
duce electricity direct from coal or solve
the problem of the synthesis of food? VIII
not the American continent be parted by an
interoceanic canal, or the rough waters of
the English channel be avoided with sub
marine tunnel? May not a ship canal
through France to the Mediterranean give
to that country the connected enjoyment
of riparian rights, without passing the
froWning battlements of Gibraltar, or might
not tunnel under the Straits of Gibraltar
put Europe and Africa in direct railway
communication? The relation Of electricity
to life is full of pregnant possibilities, ana
may we not also learn to swap the surplus
heat of summer for the winters cold ana
by an equaliZati ton of the two extremes
bring eternal spring and joy to the ami
mated world? Shall We not yet stand on
the north pole, or, looking away into space,
may we not extend neighborly welcome to
our brothers in Mars, if any there be? 1t
IS permitted to dream in this field. for it IS
TINS reaching out into the unknown that
pIats the boundaries of an extended world
and adds to the possessions of man"
Ups AND DOWNS OF AN ARMY OFFICER Hv
Col George A. Armes L. $. A. Washingt on:
Published by the author
The personal equation to be applied to
this work is so pronounced that it is prac-
tically impossible to consider the work
from literary standpoint. Major Armes
as he is better known in Washington, has
figured extensively, even conspicuously in
public for number of years His achieve
ments and difficulties have been more or
less widely published and there is in this
work little that is new save as his own
point of view regarding the episodes in
Which he has figured may be a revelation
to the reader. Despite the entire lack of
conventional literary form and the intru-
sion of space-consuming documents and
fac-similes, the work has a certain interest
especially to a reader who already knows
something of the authors experiences
There are passages relating to the war
work of the soldier which are in a high
key. The illustrations are numerous and
in the main well drawn. The book is pre-
pared almost wholly in the form of a
diary.
Il
THE POTOMAC; Including that of the Army of
Hssinin roPs e and also the History Of the
first lieutenant 9th Cavalry. Kansas Civ:
Hudson X imberly Publishing Company.
Lieutenant Rhodes. who is one of the
many washington boys" now in the mill
tary service of the government, has told
an interesting story in this little volume.
Some Of the most important episodes of the
If no ahal
of the cavalry, and the Army of the Poto-
OF Its mounted troops. The story of their
achievements Is told tersely, with a strict
devotion to the single principle of estab-
fishing a permanent record Of events and
organizations heretofore only slightly con-
sidered in the aggregate. The book there
fore becomes of historical value and ought
later to develop into a more pretentious
volume.
TOMMY AND GRIzEL- By James NJ Barrie New
Brentano's
Sentimental Tommy was a marked IA
vorite long he remained in his orig
inal proportions. But when he developed
his adult ways he did not altogether please
his former admirers as fully as might have
been expected from his favorable start
Tommy and Grizel' is an instance Of a
sequel that has failed to sustain the SYM
pathetic interest created by the initial
work. There are passages which admirers
Of the first book deeply regret, and even
the ultimate tragedy, which is doubtless
the only way out for Tommy, seems pity
for which Mr.. Barrie's friends will be long
in forgiyfng him.
THE WORLD OF THE GREAT FOREST; How
Animals, Birds. Reptiles, Insects Talk, Think
Work and Live. BY Paul Du Chaillu. Illus
trated. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
Washington: Brentano's.
W.
indefatigable explorers and writer's on nat
ural history Of the time. He has penetrated
many dark places and encountered many
dangers. His present work tells of the
creatures Of the great central African for
est. where. until q few years ago, the
strangest Of beasts lived beyond the knowl-
edge of science. He imparts q personal as
n his nf he 20