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INDUSTRIAL AND EIZ'GINEERI~'GCHEMISTRY
thetic fibers rivaling silk, most of which are comprised under the name of "rayon." Within about ten years the textile industry, which is one of the oldest known t o man, has been revolutionized by synthetic chemistry in producing a form of fiber made from wood pulp which is rivaling the ancient materials-wool, silk, and cottonout of which the clothing of the human race has been woven for the last ten thousand years. EDWINE. SLOSSON Blacks and Pitches. BY H. M. LANGTON. Oil and Color Chemistry Monograph. 179 pages. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1925. Price, $4.50. The scope of the book is not adequately covered by its title. It includes the organic black pigments, except dyestuffs, with the emphasis on bone black, carbon black, and lampblack. Graphite is given about equal consideration. Under Pitches the author describes bituminous materials in general, such as natural asphalts, asphaltites, and petroleum asphalts, as well as the real pitches from coal tars of various types, from the wood tars, and from fatty acid residues. There are also several chapters on the uses of blacks in paint, ink, and rubber, and the use of bitumens in roofing, waterproofing, paving, and paints. The book is rather unusual in that, written by a British author, it recognizes so fully the work done in the United States. The subject is a very broad one-too broad, in fact, t o be more than outlined in a book of some 173 pages. The author has merely assembled in readable form a bibliography of the most recent developments in the various fields, and the volume will prove useful t o the reader who wants t o get a very sketchy picture of the subjects treated, with the necessity of referring back t o the cited literature t o obtain any details a t all. As a bibliography the book is by no means complete. This is not a fault, as rather complete bibliographical references are available elsewhere for most of the matters treated, and t o have attempted a complete treatment of the individual subjects would have made each chapter a volume. The book is well indexed a s to subjects. The placing of literature references at the end of each chapter is, however, inconvenient, especially where a duplicated reference in a later chapter is found a t the end of a previous one. It would have been better had all references been collected a; one point. The book will be of value t o those in the paint, varnish, ink, and rubber industries as giving a general picture of some of the materials they use, but is not detailed enough t o interest the producing industries t o any great extent. J. M. WEISS First Report of the Pabrics CoBrdinating Research Committee. Made t o the Advisory Council of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1925. Price, 1 s. 9 d. net. This report covers a period of about three years from the time of the appointment of the committee in 1921 t o July, 1924. The significance of this report t o chemists does not lie in the light t h a t has been thrown on the problems involving textile chemistry, but rather as an example of the recognition of the value of industrial research and the need of cooperative effort embracing a wide field of related endeavor, and the necessity of covering the related fields with completeness and at the same time with a minimum of overlapping and otherwise wasted endeavor. The committee is essentially a government service committee for coordinating the research work on fabrics used in the government service, and is composed of two members from the War Office, two members from the Air Ministry, one member from the Admiralty, and one each from the British Research Associations for Cotton, for Woolen and Worsted, for Linen, and for Rubber and Tyre Manufacture, and one from the National Physical Laboratory; and in the subcommittees are members from the Rothamsted Experimental Station, the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Testing House, the Bradford Conditioning and Testing House, and other members of special knowledge as consulting members. The titles of the Special Reports, covering about fifty pages, indicate the kind of researches which the committee has attempted t o coordinate through these various agencies. These reports are given as appendixes numbered as follows: (1) Deterioration of Fabrics by Light; (2) Deterioration of Fabrics by Microarganisms; (3) Mechanical Testing of Fabrics ; (4) Fire
Vol. 18, No. 1
Proofingof Fabrics;and ( 5 ) Summary of Report of the War Office Committee on Tentage and Textiles on Specially Treated Linen and Cotton Duck Exposed under Different Climatic Conditions. The textile interests in this country would do well to give this example careful study as a n illustration of the possibility of coardinating all the research work in the various textile branches by having a directing body of competent men with expert knowledge, and also t o discover whether the textile interests in this country can afford t o drift along as individuals while other countries forge ahead by developing the cooperative spirit and mass action.
W. F. E. Autoclaves and High Pressure Work. BY HAROLD GOODWIN. Chemical Engineering Library. Second Series. 166 pages. 27 illustrations. 5 X 7.5 inches. Ernest Benn, Ltd., London. Price, 6 s. net. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1925. Price, $2.00. This is a practical book for the chemical engineer and has real values for any one not fully familiar with autoclave work. Indeed, many of us who have had much experience in such work can no doubt derive worthwhile hints from its pages. The book treats of autoclaves, from those of laboratory size up through the semi-works scale t o the large ones needed for tonnage manufacture. The feature of the book consists of the detailed directions for the design of autoclaves and their accessories, as well as how to carry on autoclave reactions. For example, the necessity of having a carefully designed furnace for the autoclave, as well as proper emergency and working tanks, is emphasized. Besides listing t h e details of the engineering connected with autoclaves, the economic task of getting t h e most production out of a dollar invested in plant is recognized and emphasized. A better index, referring in much more detail to both the mechanical and chemical subjects treated, would have made the book more usable. R. NORRISSHREVE Bacteria in Relation to Soil Fertility. BY JOSEPH E. AND ETHELYN 0. GREAVES. xviii 239 pages. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1925. Price, $2.50.
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The aim of this most interesting book on soil bacteriology can best be stated by a quotation from t h e preface. This little book is an effort to present in nontechnical language the fascinating story of the class of micro8rganisms which inhabit the soil. It is hoped that it will prove valuable not only to the high-school student but also to the general reader, and especially to the agriculturist. If to these it furnishes a faint glimpse into this wonderful realm and creates interest for knowledge in this vital subject, the authors will feel that their labors have not been in vain.
As one reads the book he feels t h a t these aims will be fully attained. The first eight chapters, or 70 pages, are devoted t o general bacteriology and the remaining thirteen chapters, or 157 pages, t o soil bacteriology, with a n index of 11 pages. By reading i t t h e layman, young student, or intelligent farmer can get a very excellent conception of the meaning and methods of bacteriology and t h e contribution this science has made t o human welfare. The book is just as interesting as a novel and much more instructive. It would be fortunate if all our sciences were written up in a similar way and the books were put into the hands of laymen generally. Such books would go far toward accomplishing the much needed education of t h e public on the significance and methods of science. Although the book is elementary, it contains an enormous amount of exact information. This is made possible by its simple, direct style. Many of the technical terms of the science are also introduced and accurately defined, but this is done in a way to make them an essential part of t h e interesting story. The book is full of human touches that will increase its interest to the casual reader, of which the following quotation is an illustration: PIGMENTS-All have heard of the miracle of the bleeding host. The consecrated bread left overnight in the moist bacteria-laden air of the chapel appears on the morrow besprinkled with bright red drops. What could it be? Blood! From whence did it come and what did it indicate? Various were the interpretations placed upon it, and numerous the lives and homes which were sacrificed through this delusion. The mystery, romance, and tragedy disappear when one sees a tiny organism, Bacillus prodigiosus, in the laboratory growing in tubes of starchy food and producing a blood-red pigment.
January, 1926
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERISG CHE-MISTRY
In stating a science in such general terms one must, of necessity, violate the accuracy of detail t o a degree. This book shows surprisingly little of such violations. The reviewer feels that the authors have done an excellent piece of work in making a scientific book for the audience they had in mind. WILLIAMCROCKER Industrie des Cyanures. BY P. BRUN. 447 pages with 44 figures. Published under direction of Dr. Toulouse by Gaston Doin, Paris, 1925. Price, 20 francs. This is a handy reference book on cyanogen compounds. Fifty-four pages are devoted to a very brief review of the important characteristics of well-known cyanogen compounds; 285 pages are devoted to their industrial production. The information has been gleaned from patent literature and is not complete. The reader or student is given little assistance in distinguishing hetween processes of importance and mere proposals that have possessed no merit or have a t best only historical interest. As is t o be expected when patents are relied upon for information, the unimportant is frequently found when one seeks in vain for that which is of value. I n no instance is the treatment of subjects exhaustive; in most of them the facts are few and discussion is lacking. Ninety-nine pages are devoted to the use and methods of chemical analyses of cyanogen compounds. Those who have a special interest in the manufacture and use of these compounds will find some value in this reference book; other persons will find in it little that is of special interest. M. J. BROWN BY E. J. WALL. 747 pages. American Photographic Publishing Co., Boston, 1925. Price, $15.00.
History of Three-Color Photography.
This is one of those rare books which are quite invaluable in connection with their own field of science. Every new invention or proposal in connection with color photography will be looked up in “Wall” in future before anything else is done with it, and Mr. Wall should save inventors and promoters enormous sums of money. The book consists of a complete study of all the practical branches of color photography, each section being developed systematically and followed by a comprehensive bibliography containing not only references t o the literature but also the patents. In all, specific reference is made t o 9000 articles and 3400 patents. The attitude of the author is distinctly impartial and the only serious criticism which can be offered is that it is too impartial. In some cases the author has been so anxious t o be neutral t h a t he has been a little uncritical where a somewhat more critical attitude would have been an advantage The book exhausts its subject as no other book on photography has yet done, and will prove of very great value as a work of reference for the experimenter and for all who are concerned in any way with the handling of inventions in color photography and cinematography. C. E. K. MEES Tabulae Biologicae. Vol. I-Reine und physiologische Physik, physikalische Chemie und biologische Anwendungen. 522 Edited by C. OPPENHEIMERAND I,. PINCUSSEN. pages. W. Junk, Berlin, 1925. This is the first of four volumes designed, as the editors state, t o provide workers in the entire field of biological and allied sciences with a “Landolt-Bijrnstein.” Figures and data of the most varied character and from widely scattered sources are brought together in tables without any discussion of their meaning; the latter is left to the authors of special papers and treatises. The collection is designed simply to save workers and authors some of the labor involved in the search of such material, often in fields far removed from the one in which the worker is a specialist. Data are given on such subjects as the elasticity of all kinds of animal and plant tissues and the effects of chemical compounds and poisons upon it; specific heats and conductivity; the body temperature of many animals; elaborate data on blood pressure and heart rate; viscosity of blood, etc., and the influence of age and other conditions upon it; physiological optics; amino acids in various proteins; the anesthctic tension of chloroform, ether, etc.; swimming and running records, etc., etc.
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It seems difficult to find any kind of data of this character which are not included, or will not be included in the subsequent volumes. The special value of the work lies in the fact that the data have been collected by some of the leading original workers in the various fields-men who can be trusted to be discriminating in what they collect and who know from personal experience what is needed. REIDHUNT Sermons of a Chemist. BY EDWINE. SLOSSON. 319 f vii pages. Harcourt, Brace & Co., New York, 1925. Price, $2.00. We doubt if any chemist in America is better known to the public than Edwin E. Slosson, the author of “Creative Chemistry’’ and a popular exponent of this science. The public may not be surprised to learn t h a t he is also capable of preaching a sermon, but that accomplishment may come as something of a surprise to his chemist readers. It is not customary for THIS JOURNAL t o review theological works, but in his latest book Dr. Slosson discusses difficult subjects in easily understood ways and brings out the essential factors in scientific fashion, illustrating his points with references t o his daily experience as a chemist. His book should help to illuminate for many intelligent people, who are disturbed by the statements that there is a conflict between science and religion, points which have been the centers of such contention. The author brings common sense t o bear upon religious questions and presents his conviction that the purpose of religion is t o spiritualize daily life. He applies scientific tests to the essentials of basic religion and shows what every scientist knows-that scientific knowledge strengthens and clarifies them. The sermon on “The Chemistry of the Greatest Miracle in t h e Bible” is typical of the book and easily holds the attention. The reader is left with the conviction t h a t if the preachers of the day would qualify themselves t o apply more science in their teaching and draw upon scientific data in illustrating their sermons, it would be a decided advantage in the religious teaching of our time. Since most of the sermons in this volume are the outgrowth of addresses a t chapel exercises and sermons delivered as elder or deacon in Presbyterian or Congregational churches, it is evident t h a t chemistry and the other natural sciences have their place in the pulpit. We heartily commend “Sermons of a Chemist. ” Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis. A Manual of Analytical Methods and General Reference for the Analytical Chemist and for the Advanced Student. Edited by WILFRED W. SCOTT.4th edition, revised and enlarged. 2 volumes. 1729 pages. 6 X g1/4 inches. Cloth. Illustrated. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1925. Price, $12.00; volumes not sold separately. Volume I of the fourth edition of this well-known text contains 50 chapters on the elements, qualitative tests, and various tables. Volume I1 contains 20 chapters on special subjects. Considerable revision has been done throughout, and there have been added new chapters on indium, thallium, and other rare elements, various methods of analysis adopted by the and the American Society for AMERICANCHEMICALSOCIETY Testing Materials, fire assay of gold and silver, sampling, standard apparatus, metallography, determination of poisons, and the testing of petroleum and its products. These volumes contain a great deal of useful information and the methods that are described are, in the main, satisfactory. More careful revision should have been done in justice to some of the authorities t h a t are cited. For example, in Volume I the methods for chromium, vanadium, and nickel that are labeled A. S. T. M. methods are no longer standards of t h a t society. Similarly, the so-called Bureau of Standards methods for carbon, sulfur, and vanadium in iron and steel are out of date. The methods that are given for silicon and for phosphorus are misleading, for never, so far as the reviewer knows, has it been the practice of that bureau to wash silica with hot dilute hydrochloric acid, specific gravity i.1, or t o catch a reduced molybdenum solution in an empty receiver. It should also be noted t h a t while the 1925 Table of Atomic Weights is given, the table of conversion factors and many other data are based on the 1920 weights. The volumes are attractive in appearance and will doubtless continue to have the deserved good sale of the previous editions. G. E. F. LUNDELL
