Transcriber's notes:
In the text version, italics are represented by _underscores_, and bold, black letter and spaced text by =equals= symbols.
Superscripts are represented by ^{} and subscripts by _{}
The parallel columns making comparisons between Reis and Bell on p. 171 and p. 176, have, in the text version, been rendered as alternating sections with different indents.
Keys have been used in the large table split across pp.180 and 181 to make it readable within the constraints of a 72 column page.
The html and epub versions contain an auto-generated table of contents and the title page of the work has been used to create a cover image.
Missing or incorrect punctuation has been repaired.
Inconsistent hyphenation, and incorrect spellings in quoted passages e.g. pp.81-85 have been left as printed, as have:--
"Electro-magnet" and "electromagnet",
"Water-Wheels", "Water-wheels" and "Waterwheels" and
"Make-and-brake" and "make-or-break"
In the html and epub versions, dittos are replaced by the text to allow alignement of text for easier reading.
The following queries have been noted in the text but not corrected unless noted in the note:
- p. 3. "Senckenburg" is more commonly (and especially in German documents of the period), written as "Senckenberg".
- p. 6. "Geissen" has been corrected to Giessen.
- p. 29. In the section heading, "B" has been italicised to match all the other letter headings.
- p. 43. Pitch is notated using bars over the note letter. This has been transcribed using tick marks e.g. this page has a c with 3 bars which is transcribed as c'''. In the same way, on p. 58. and p. 98 an f with 2 horizontal lines is transcribed as f'' and on p. 86, there is a c'.
- p. 61. "vol. clxviii.", a space is inserted after vol.
- p. 82. "quiksilver" has been left as written.
- p. 88. "~" has been used in the text version to represent a concave arc.
- p. 121. "diappointment" has been corrected to "disappointment".
- In the Supplement, occasional items are not in the correct alphabetical order.