The History of Wool and Woolcombing. By James Burnley. (Sampson
Low and Co.)—An ancient trade like wool is sure to have romance in some of its stages of growth, and Mr. Burnley has made the most of the inventors and the inventions which com- bine to build up the story of a great trade. What we really have to thank the writer for, is the clear exposition of the successive inventions and patents. They are technical enough for the mechanical mind, and are not past comprehending by the ordinarily intelligent reader. The rival claims of inventors, though they must be a great temptation to an enthusiast, have not led Mr. Burnley too far astray. He gives us a decidedly fair summary of such cases as the Hellmann and Dorinthorpe-Lister patents. It is a thoroughly satisfactory work, well written and well arranged, and is, in addition, a handsome volume, with its engraved portraits, its good diagrams, and large, clear type. It is an interesting history of wool, and not unworthy of that ancient and national trade.
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