• A new edition of First Aid for Lifeboat Crews has been compiled by the RNLI Medical and Survival Committee and will be issued this summer by authority of the Committee of Management to all lifeboat stations.

This book does not cover the whole field of first aid but only deals with subjects which, for lifeboat purposes, are not described in sufficient detail in the St John First Aid Manual. There are chapters on hypothermia, handling and transport of injured persons, and the use of morphia in the relief of pain.

Because of the importance of resuscitation the whole chapter on this subject in the St John Manual has been reproduced and is followed by another chapter covering the special aspects of resuscitation on lifeboats.

A short chapter on personal health is also included in order to help crew members maintain their alertness and physical efficiency in the tough conditions sometimes encountered at sea.— G.H.

• In preparing Life-boat Design and Development (David and Charles, £5.50), Eric C. Fry has obviously spent a great deal of time on his researches. The result of this arduous task is a most absorbing account of a very complicated subject, excellently presented.

The accounts of the early efforts prior to the formation of the Institution, and during the first years of its life, are very informative and emphasize the amount of thought and effort that was expended in the endeavour to provide the lifeboat crews with the best craft available.

The illustrations show an excellent cross section of the many and varied types of craft which have formed the Institution's fleet throughout the 150 years of its life. Details are given of the early pulling boats and their development into the pulling and sailing boats of which the large fleet mainly consisted for so many years. Next comes the first application of power, with the introduction of steam lifeboats in the late 19th century, and thence to the early experiments with the internal combustion engine in the early part of this 20th century. The development of the full powered single screw to the twin screw boats of the various types is shown in detail, and continues through to the high powered fast boats of today—a most comprehensive review of the design changes that have occured in over 400 boats since the introduction of engines.

A comparison of the Rhyl tubular lifeboat entry for the Duke of Northumberland's prize in 1851 and the modern inshore lifeboat makes an interesting exercise.

On page 28 Mr Fry states that when J. R. Barnett retired in 1947 he was succeeded as consultant naval architect to the RNLI by me. In fact Mr. Barnett was succeeded in the post by his partner in G. L. Watson and Co., W. Smart, who continued in that capacity until he retired in 1962, followed for a few years by H. A. Lyndsay.

The description of the double diagonal system of planking is correct, with the exception that no glue was used between the skins, just calico and three coats of white lead. On one Rother class boat at present building the cold moulded system is being employed; three skins are being used, with the usual method of glue. The first three Arun class lifeboats are of three-skin cold moulded construction.

The drawings of the numerous types of boats, covering the 150 year period, have been prepared specifically for this publication. Much care has been taken to show the varying features of each design and the draughtmanship could not be of a higher standard.

A mass of information is given in a very readable form, and the author must be congratulated on producing such an excellent publication.—R. A. OAKLEY, naval architect to RNLI until 1966 and subsequently consultant until 1968.

• Shipwrecks off the Yorkshire Coast by Arthur Godfrey and Peter J. Lassey (Dalesman Books, £1.75 paperback) tells the long, bitter story of the incredible losses of ships and seamen on 110 miles of splendid but rocky shores and sandy beaches. Of the many lifeboats involved in rescue attempts and their hardy, courageous crews there can be nothing less than unstinted admiration. The need for the big concentration of rescue craft on the north-east coast is made abundantly clear. In a distance of little more than 50 miles between the Tees and BridlingtonBridlington there are eight lifeboat stations and with the many fishing communities working their craft in all weathers there can be no doubt about the need for their services.

The stories of so many disasters tend to numb the mind into a sense of unreality, but anyone familiar with the scenes of the wrecks will not question the stern reality of the events. Not all the episodes are tragic and sometimes the local inhabitants benefited from the misfortunes of others. As, for instance, when the steamer Kaiser, carrying strawberries and other fruit, ran ashore in Robin Hood's Bay. It is recorded that for days afterwards there was a fragrant aroma of jam-making for miles around.

Smugglers were as susceptible to the dangers of wind and weather as other seamen and usually had to depend on their own kind for rescue if they got into trouble. Contraband goods were removed from one cutter which went ashore off Redcar by another smuggler, to the intense indignation of the local newspaper which accused the revenue officers of inattention to duty.

Wartime casualties add to the melancholy but gripping tales of heroism and hardihood in the face of disaster and there are a number of excellent illustrations to make this little volume very good value.—E.W.M.

• The Manchester and Salford branch have produced an interesting booklet, well supported by advertisements, to mark 'The Year of the Lifeboat', which they are selling for 20p. It summarizes the history of Manchester's long association with the RNLI, pointing out that the first street collection in aid of the Institution was held in Manchester and Salford in 1891. It also lists the many lifeboats produced by Manchester and District. These include William Gammon —Manchester and District XXX, which replaced the lifeboat lost in the Mumbles disaster in 1947; she was given the name of the coxswain who gave his life on that occasion.—P.M.

• To the majority of seafarers the Eddystone is a friendly lighthouse; a fine mark for vessels proceeding up and down channel and a welcome signal for those bound for Plymouth. Perhaps all lighthouses should be considered friendly, for their wheeling beams not only warn but reassure the mariner and happily confirm his position.

The Red Rocks of Eddystone, by Fred Majdalany (White Lion Publishers, £2.50) tells the fascinating story of the four lighthouses which have been built by men of vision and determination on the dangerous reef which had long claimed many ships and lives.

The first was Winstanley's pagodalike wooden structure, swept away in a gale of unprecedented violence in 1703,carrying its designer and builder to his death. The fourth was the present structure, built by James Douglass and completed in 1882. Throughout the years the Eddystone saga tells movingly of the courage, skill and endurance of the men who fought to gain a foothold on the reef.

Neither Winstanley, who built the first tower, nor Rudyerd, who built the second, were engineers or architects, which makes their achievement all the more remarkable. Rudyerd built his lighthouse like a ship and almost entirely of wood. It lasted 47 years until destroyed by fire.

James Smeaton undertook the third Eddystone lighthouse and this splendid engineer built for the rest of time. But the sea does not give in easily and it slowly and relentlessly undermined part of the reef below the foundations, so a fourth tower was planned. This, the present structure, was built on another part of the reef by James Douglass, Engineer-in-Chief of Trinity House, who could count the Bishop Rock, Smalls and Wolf Rock lighthouses among his previous successes. The fourth Eddystone was brilliantly conceived and executed and set the seal on a distinguished career.

Here is a book for seamen and all those who constantly explore the lovehate relationship between man and the sea. It will almost certainly leave every reader with a renewed faith in the future of mankind.—E.W.M.

• The Story of Lowestoft Lifeboats, Part 1 1801-1876, by Jack Mitchley (Lowestoft Libraries, 40p) contains much fascinating information about the early Lowestoft lifeboats. There is, for instance, an account of the demonstration of the first Lowestoft lifeboat carried out under the supervision of an elder brother of Trinity House in 1801.

The account reads: 'Twenty-four men jumped into her and when she first mounted the waves, the spectators with one voice expressed their astonishment.' Unfortunately the crew with one voice expressed their disapproval of the boat, an opinion which was shared when she was moved to Gorleston.

The second Lowestoft lifeboat, Frances Ann, was by contrast a marked success. Mr Mitchley states that she was probably the first sailing lifeboat in the world, and it was largely because Lionel Lukin and his family decided to spend a holiday in Lowestoft that she came to be built.

It is to be hoped that the second part of Mr Mitchley's book will follow.— P.H.

% Fishing, whether it be in a quiet country stream or the cold, grey waters round Bear Island, seems to exercise some extraordinary fascination on many men. It cannot be just the money that induces men to work up to their waists in icy water or handle frozen gear on wildly heaving decks. The money helps, of course, but it is the great element of luck, the possibility of all or nothing and the elation of a good haul, together with the endless but uncomplicated struggle with the elements that binds the fisherman to his calling.

In his book Yorkshire Fishing Fleets (Dalesman Books, 65p paperback) Arthur Godfrey tells the story of Yorkshire's oldest and most dangerous industry from the earliest days to the present time. One learns that even in the 12th century the Icelanders complained that the English were spoiling their fishing! The development of the various types of craft, from open boats through paddle steamers to the present day trawlers, emphasizes the conservative attitude of the fisherman. Slow to change he may have been, but once convinced of the capabilities of a new type of vessel he was not slow to make good use of it. The cost of some of the early boats seems absurdly low today, but then so was the price of fish. The cost in men's lives does not seem to have made much impact.

There are some interesting illustrations from splendid old photographs and a detailed index of fishing boat losses.—E.W.M..