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BOOK REVIEWS Cane Sugar. By NOBL DEERR. 2nd revised and enlarged edition. viii 644 pp. Norman Rodger, 2 St. Dunstan’s Hill, London, E. C. 3, England, 1921. Price 42s. net.
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In the reviewer’s opinion this is in many respects a very remarkable book, one of the best of the type of which we have too few examples, combining scholarship, technical knowledge, and readability to a n unusual degree. It is so great an improvement over the already excellent first edition and contains so much new material that it should be in the hands of all men interested in sugar technology. The section dealing with the origin and development of the sugar cane shows an enormous amount of patient research. The rather vague statements found in existing literature and the difficulty of sifting out the truth from a mass of hearsay evidence made the task hard, but it has been admirably accomplished. I n the sections on agricultural and on mechanical engineering, both the methods and the machinery described conform thoroughly to present-day standards. This also may be said of the section on chemical engineering and sugarhouse practice wherein both the chemical and the engineering features are properly blended, making the treatment exceedingly clear and easily understood both by chemists and engineers. The strictly chemical side of the book is, in the main, analytical, and has been brought thoroughly up-to-date. The final chapter on fermentation, although brief, is satisfactory. Among the noteworthy features of the book are the historical developments given of the various machines and the careful treatment from the mathematical side of what is known as chem: ical cQntrol. This latter is too often done in a rule-or-thumb fashion. Deerr’s logical and sound methods should be studied by all chemists interested in sugarhouse practice. The book, of course, in no wise replaces some of the standard books in sugar literature such as Browne, Spensor, and PrinsonGeerligs. It gives few analytical tables, and the description and criticism of methods are meant for the chemist rather than for the beginner, and for the engineer rather than for themechanic. Sometimes, perhaps, this tendency is carried too far. Under the head of polariscopes, for instance, Deerr discusses only principles and deliberately leaves out specific instances. I n the writer’s judgment the description of principles here ‘is too brief for the average chemist to make much use of and the section could have been improved by the description of a modern polariscope. This is a matter of opinion, and Deerr has deliberately left this field to such books as those of Browne and of Landolt. These points, however, are of minor consequence. The book as it stands meets admirably a piessing demand, is well printed on good paper, and is a valuable contribution to chemical technology. C. E. COATES Bleaching. By S . H. HIGGINS, M.Sc., Head of Research Department, Bleachers’ Association, Ltd. Economic Series, No. XVI. Publications of the University of Manchester. vii .f 137 pp. Longmans, Green & Co., New York; University Press, 12 Lime Grove, Manchester, England, 1921. Price, $3.75. We have known S. H. Higgins for many years as a writer on bleaching and allied textile subjects, and consequently welcome this latest publication. As stated in the preface, “The idea of this volume is not to give an account of the subject of bleaching, but to act more as a supplement to other published works, dealing with this branch of chemical industry. It is not meant for those
who have no other books on bleaching. The principal intention of the author has been to discuss the important researches which have been published during the period 1908-20, bearing on the bleaching industry, and to present a record of work as a basis for the extension of research in the industry.” The book is divided into sixteen chapters in which the subject is subdivided and arranged in logical sequence. After the introduction follows a chapter on the constituents of vegetable fibers, which includes the waxes, proteins, mineral, pectic, and coloring matters which are incorporated with the cellulose. The formation and characteristics of these constituents during the growth and maturity of the fiber are discussed as far as our present knowledge permits. In the several chapters which follow, on the elimination or separation of the noncellulose constituents from the parent fiber, many valuable data and many abstracts are given which embody the underlying principles of scouring and bleaching upon which our modern practice is based. In the chapters on the reactions of cellulose with water, acids, alkalies, and oxidizing agents, the discussion develops the conditions under which these agents are safely employed, as well as the conditions under which costly faults and destruction of the fiber result. Several chapters on fermentation, bleaching processes, faults, etc., complete the scope of the book. We consider the book a valuable addition t o the present literature relative to the subject of bleaching. The bleacher’s chemist will find in it many facts which confirm his experience and many others which are full of suggestions for improvements in present methods. FREDH. WEBSTER Technology of Cellulose Esters. By EDWARD CHAUNCEY WORDEN, Ph.C., B.S., M.A., F.C.S. Volume I, in 5 parts. 664 pp.; Part 2-cxvii 902 pp.; Part 3Part l-cxxv cxvii 810 pp.; Part 4-cxvii 710 pp.; Part 5-623 pp.; 296 illustrations. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1921. Price, $40.00.
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“The aim of this work is to present the entire subject of the combinations of normal and modified cellulose with the acidyl and alkyl radicals in such completeness, clarity, accuracy and detail, that inability to locate the information desired in the collective indices will be trustworthy evidence that the matter sought was either ephemeral, irrelevant, inaccurate, nonexistent, or valueless.” The above excerpt from the preface of Volume I here under review is explanatory of the scope of the contemplated ten volumes, of which Volume VI11 on the “Carbohydrate Carboxylates” (cellulose acetate) was published in 1916. The general schematic arrangement of Volume I is excellent, but the subtopics are not always so well arranged. Many grammatical errors are apparent, and in several places for many consecutive pages, the manifold references obliterate all but a single line of the text. Considerable matter seems irrelevant, but since the author recognizes that such may appear to be the case and expressly requests that criticism on this score be withheld until the entire work is completed, it is quite proper to accede to this request. An excellent feature worthy of mention is each individual part (exclusive of the index) of the complete table of contents of the entire volume. While Volume I, consisting of five books, is more or less comprehensive in itself, i t is in a sense introductory to the nine
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volumes which are to follow (Volume VI11 already issued) and which are to deal in more elaborate detail with the industrial applications of cellulose compounds and esters. Of Volume I, Part 1 covers in four chapters the subjects of cellulose, starch, cotton, and the preparation of cotton for esterification. There is much theoretical and much practical information on these topics, with ample bibliography to satisfy the most inquisitive. Part 2 deals in four chapters with nitric acid, sulfuric acid, mixed acids, and acid tables. It goes exhaustively into the raw materials, manufacture, properties, analyses, handling, etc., of these nitrating acids, brings the data fairly well up to date, and by itself is a useful book, although naturally of more value t o the cellulose nitrate producer. Part 3 covers in three chapters nitrocellulose theory, nitration of cellulose, and analytical determination of the cellulose nitrates. The first chapter is much more inclusive than its title indicates, for it outlines the history of cellulose nitrate, imparts some information on various nitrated carbohydrates and resins, and gives in considerable detail the layout and construction of a modern guncotton plant. This last perhaps might more appropriately have been included in the chapter on the nitration of cellulose, in which chapter we are pleased to note the author departs a t times from the bibliographic style and imparts some of the useful technical information apparently acquired from his extended experience in the cellulose ester field. The last chapter on analysis and specifications is comprehensive. Part 4, on the historical development of the cellulose esters, discusses solvents, camphor and its substitutes, and the various industrial applications of cellulose esters with some amplification along pertinent and correlated subjects. It is in reality an elaborated synopsis of what is to follow in more detail in the succeeding volumes. Part 5 is the index to the other four books. It includes a complete index of patents, as well as an index t o subjects and an index to authors. The fact that it comprises 623 pages speaks for itself as to its thoroughness and painstaking and arduous preparation. When we consider that the field of cellulose chemistry has probably been only scratched, that no one has really collected heretofore, in a work of any magnitude, the large mass of detached data which have been published on the subject in its present state of development, the value of Dr. Worden’s contribution easily becomes apparent. The task he has set for himself is a life work. Few would have courage to undertake it. 13. S. MORK
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differs from the first in some rearrangement of chapters and rewriting of paragraphs, with the addition of a few data on new apparatus and procedures. The book contains much useful information as to microscopes, accessories, and laboratory equipment. Methods of measurement under the microscope are described in detail, with special reference to practical applications. Quantitative analysis by the microscope is shown to be possible in various fields. The value of refractive index data for identification of substances is well emphasized. Lists of immersion liquids are given; although the usefulness of oils of the type of “liquid petrolatum” in making them up is not mentioned. The lists of indices of crystalline compounds also seem susceptible to improvement. More than a third of the book is given over to the methods of microchemistry in the usual sense-operations with minute quantities of materials and qualitative analysis by obtaining characteristic crystalline compounds. It would appear that no wide-awake chemist could afford to be without access to Chamot’s “Chemical Microscopy.”
EDGAR T . WHERRY Laboratories: Their Planning and Fittings. By ALAN E. MUNBY,M.A., F.R.I. 220 pp. 165 figures. 8vo. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1921. Price, $6.00.
The author has added a well worth while volume to this too little discussed subject. While the requirements of chemistry, physics, biology, and geology are all considered, the major part is concerned primarily with the needs of chemical laboratories devoted to teaching. No attention is given to the peculiar needs of industrial chemical or other laboratories. One welcomes with much interest the numerous floor plans of laboratory buildings, floor plans of 19 English and 8 foreign laboratories being figured. Because Mr. Munby is English, the book necessarily is largely a description of British school and university laboratories. The author apparently has not had available for close study the new extensive and modern laboratories built in Holland, Germany, and America. To one familiar with the advances in kboratory construction in America, it comes as a shock to have advocated the putting of the hoods (“fume cupboards”) in the windows, benches instead of tablet arm chairs in class and lecture rooms, and waste pipes in troughs in the floor, but in spite of these and a few other similar statements the reviewer wishep to express his appreciation of the sane, clear, and valuable discussions of many problems of laboratory design and equipment and to urge all Elementary Chemical Microscopy. By EMILEM. CHAMOT, those having the planning of laboratories to read the volume Professor of Chemical Microscopy and Sanitary Chemistry, with care. RALPHH. MCKEE Cornel1 University. xv 479 pp. 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Kew York, 1921. Price, $4.25.
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The first edition of this work was published in 1915. While intended primarily as a textbook, it collected in one place data on microscope apparatus, optical-crystallographic methods, and characteristic reactions of the common elements in such a useful form that no reference library directed toward solving chemical problems could be considered complete without it. The preface to the second edition points out the increased recognition of the usefulness of the microscope in the chemical laboratory, brought about especially by the scientific activities connected with the prosecution of the recent war. Since, however, the progress has been not so much in the development of new methods as of new applications of old ones, the plan of the first edition has been retained. Illustrations of crystals obtained in the various tests, and other data appropriate to a reference manual, are accordingly still omitted, although the welcome news is given that the author has a handbook in preparation in which such matter will be included. The second edition
Bleaching and Related Processes. By J. MERRIWMATTHEW, PxD. 676 pp. 300 illustrations. The Chemical Catalog Co., Inc., New York, 1921. Price $8.00 net. Because of his extensive experience as a textile chemist, and particularly because he has specialized t o a considerable extent as regards cotton bleaching, the author is especially well equipped to write an authoritative book upon this subject. Combining his own first-hand knowledge of the subject with the most reliable information and data to be obtained from the general literature, he has succeeded in bringing together in one volume the most comprehensive and exhaustive treatise upon this branch of textile chemistry that has thus far appeared in English if not in any other language. The arrangement of trie text is such that one may find a continuous and complete discussion of the preliminary treatment and bleaching of the common textile fibers. As would naturally
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be expected from the relative importance of cotton bleaching, by far the larger portion of the book is devoted to this fiber. The last one hundred pages are devoted to the testing of the various chemicals and materials used in the processes described and will prove a valuable reference guide to chemists engaged in bleaching, scouring, and finishing plants. The subject matter is excellently ilhistrated, and while the writer specifically states in the preface that he has purposely omitted the dry details of mechanical description in regard to these illustrations, there are instances where a little more detail would have undoubtedly been of interest to seriously minded readers and students. A t the end there will be found an excellent bibliography and a comprehensive index. The volume should form a valuable addition to the working library of every textile chemist and bleacher. LOUIS A. OLNEY
Metallurgy of Zinc and Cadmium. By H. 0. HOFFMAN. 341 pp. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1922. Price, $4.00. Professor Hoffman’s famous books on the metallurgy of lead, copper, and general metallurgy naturally pave the way for the keenest interest in his latest treatise, and the very great need of the zinc industry for an up-to-date treatise could not have been filled better than by this illustrious author. The first few chapters of the book are given over to the physical and chemical properties of zinc; as a metal in commerce, including its impurities and their effects; as used industrially for alloys and protective coatings; as zinc compounds and their industrial use. The very thorough manner in which Professor Hoffman has described the properties of zinc, supplemented by a complete reference to original articles, will make this section of his book a most valuable reference to that host of chemists and metallurgists who each generation attempt to find new methods OF smelting and refining zinc. The next several chapters, preceded by a short description of the character of ores, describe in Professor Hoffman’s wellknown detaiIed style the metallurgical processes and equipment used for the smelting of zinc ores. The basic chemical reactions involved in calcining, roasting, distillation, and refining are explained so clearly that the wobks manager or superintendent will find reference to this book a scientific explanation and guidance t o the solution of those numerous perplexing plant problems so frequently confronting him. Likewise in the description amplified by numerous drawings and photographs, of construction and operation OF the metallurgical equipment, the same thorough attention to basic principles has been given, including in sufficient detail the furnaces and processes of former years both in the United States and Europe, as to trace the evolution of improvement to present-day equipment and practice, and give the reader a thorough understanding of the operations. The short description and references to apparatus and processes, e. g., blast furnace and electric furnace smelting, which have been tried and so far prove a failure commercially, add materially to an understanding of zinc metallurgy. A very complete chapter occupying some fifty pages is given to description of the new process of electrolytic recovery of zinc from ores which has developed from imperfect laboratory experiments to a vast commercial industry in the past ten years. The basic principles of electrolysis of zinc solution, together with the special features of roasting and purifying the leach liquor preparatory to electrolysis, are given in detail. Numerous drawings, photographs, and flow sheets make clear the commercial operations at Great Falls, Montana, and other plants. A short chapter on zinc oxide covers the more essential
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points of its manufacture and marks the progress of development in this branch of the industry. The short period since this branch has expanded has not permitted details of processes and practice to become generally available for the author’s use. The section on cadmium is complete in its description of the properties, uses, and recovery of cadmium as commercially known. The generous references to other authors’ publications giving further detailed description of scientific investigations, plant operations, and commercial aspects of the zinc industry are a further valuable part of this book. It is unfortunate for many of those engaged in the zinc industry that they could not have the benefit of Professor Hoffman’s precise description of the basic principles and processes of manufacture of sulfuric acid and producer gas which are a part of many zinc smelting works; but as a treatise on strictly the metallurgy of zinc and cadmium, all those interested in zinc will find this book profitable to read for a clear and better understanding of zinc industry and a valuable reference for accurate information on zinc metals and compounds. L. E. WEMPLE
Elements of Fractional Distillation. By CLARKSHOVEROBINSON. 205 pp. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1922. Price, $2.50. The author states in this book that the principles of fractional: distillation are explained according to the ideas of physical chemistry and chemical engineering. The book is divided into five parts. The first part deals with fractional distillation from t h e standpoint of the phase rule. The second part discusses some of the quantitative aspects from the standpoint of the chemical engineer. Part three discusses the factors involved in the design of distilling equipment. Part four gives a few examples of modern apparatus, while the last portion includes a number of useful reference tables. As a person reads the book, he is struck by the fact that here is a very able and new presentation of a subject which is vital to many industries to-day. There is no other book, a t least in the English language, which covers the subject in such a thorough manner. The principles involved in fractional distillation, and all the various rules, laws, and equations are mathematically explained and practically illustrated. The various chapters treat of the phase rule, one component systems, two component systems, more complex systems, the gas laws, solutions, concentrated solutions, simple distillation, fractionation, rate of fractionation, discontinuous distillation, design of a discontinuous still, the fractionating column, the condenser, accessories, continuous distillation, ammonia, benzolized wash oil, methanol, ethyl alcohol, and a n appendix of tables. It will be observed that one is led from theory to practice and, in the latter presentation, the author has drawn upon his former experience with the E. B. Badger h Sons Company for practical data. Some published and unpublished data of W. K. Lewis and experimental work of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are also presented. The theoretical side of fractional distillation is well presented, and the laws applied to distilIation problems in a few industries where distillation is on a fairly sound basis. The author states that another book will follow dealing with the general practice of fractional distillation and its application to the several industries. It is to be hoped that one of the industries to be treated will be the petroleum industry. The author writes lucidly, and happily, not only from theoretical knowledge, but apparently also from a considerable practical knowledge of his subje,ct. G. A. BURRELL
