A Romance of Industrial Engineering. By James A. Morris, (Glenfield
and Kennedy. 15s. 6d.) INnusTatAL firms of long standing that publish accounts of their origin and development are to be encouraged, for such books are among the raw materials of economic history. Mr. Morris, the chairman of Glenfield and Kennedy, Limited, of Kilmarnock, and also a well-known Scottish archaeologist, has taken great pains with his history of the undertaking which he has served for half a century. Kennedy's patent of 1852 for a water-meter was the starting-point. The Glenfield foinulry established in 1865 by Kennedy and his associates to make castings for the machines was amalgamated with the older company in 1899. From the students' standpoint it may be objected that Mr. Morris is mainly interested In Kilmarnock and in the men who contributed most to the growth of the firm, rather than in its technical or economic aspects. We only get vague hints as to the nature of the company's pro- ducts. Still, even if Mr. Morris stresses the human factor, his extracts from the company's books are not without value.
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