Wonderful Inventions : from the Mariner's Compass to the Electric
Telegraph Cable. By John Timbs. (Routledge.)—Another of Mr. Timbs's industrious and useful compilations. We have in it the history of the mariner's compass, the lighthouse, the barometer and thermometer, the art of printing, the telescope and microscope, and several other kindred instruments which we need not enumerate. There is more apparent originality in the book than in others by the same author, the narrative is more connected and flowing than is usual with him, and the facts seem to be parts of a whole rather than detached extracts from many writers. But when we read at p. 305 that the longest line of railway in the world is the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, and at p. 314 that the longest railway in the world is the Illinois Central, we see that Mr. Timbs relies too much on divers and conflicting authorities. For all that, his book is interesting.
Previous page
