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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Jennings. They met a t one of the garden concerts in the courtyard of the old and famous castle. Here was a splendid setting to which the youth of the day migrated from all parts of the world. This mecca of literary lore and scientific emanation still was laden with the same free air that Goethe breathed. Castle courtyards were resonant to the presence of the greatest scholars and scientists of the golden age of Germany. Completing his studies in Germany, Jennings was presently in London, and one day, as he ascended the steps of the Bodlein Library, whom should he meet coming down but Leonard P. Kinnicutt, famous for his studies in municipal sanitation, and then director of the Department of Chemistry a t Worcester Tech. Said Kinnicutt, “What are you doing?” Said Jennings, “I have just finished my work in Germany, and am going back to the United States to look for a job.” Said Kinnicutt, “My professor of organic chemistry, George D. Moore, is just now resigning. How would you like to take his place?” “ I t sounds good!” said Jennings. Thus a bargain was struck which has endured to date since 1893. Following the death of Doctor Kinnicutt, Professor Jennings succeeded him as director of the department. Although specialist in a different field of chemistry, Doctor Jennings, like his predecessor, had a taste for administration, We who have worked with him know that he excels in this capacity, a t the same time not letting it interfere, in the slightest degree, with his thoroughness as teacher. He has builded the department to a commanding place as one of the four major departments a t the institute. Many graduates occuying positions of usefulness anti leadership in chemical industry owe their professional bearing and scientific method to days spent in the lecture rooms, and meticulous laboratories, under exacting but kindly leadership. The department now embraces, in addition to a complete curriculum of chemistry courses, a chemical engineering division which adds engineering poignancy to the earlier semesters of industrial chemistry. That select circle in Worcester known as “The Bohemians” establishes for each member a beautiful, painted plaque in the nature of a coat of arms. The heraldic shield of our subject bears a tennis net taut against a background of cerulean blue. Pedaling across the top of the net, on a winged unicycle, is a stately professorial figure, with head in the form of an alembic. The tennis racket in hand provides a nice balance. The subject of this rare illustration is probably entitled to be ranked as the dean of American tennis tournament players. He has been playing hard tennis for forty-five years, ever since he was a freshman a t Harvard. There is every reason to believe that again he will give several good men a hard battle in the tournament of 1931. In younger days he could be found a t Center
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Harbor, N. H., where then the best players gathered each summer; also a t Longwood, and in the national championships a t Newport. He has won many times, and is still winning. He is one of those very rare men who play their top game with a minimum of dashing around the court. Foot work is of the highest class. To Worcester folk Doctor Jennings’ tennis is inseparable from his bicycle. There you can still observe a white-haired gentleman pedaling leisurely from his home to the tennis club, his racket before him, clamped to the bicycle handle. Professor Jennings has, of course, all the usual affiliations. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of innumerable learned societies. For many years he has been chairman, or member, of the Worcester Medical Milk Commission. He has been chairman of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society; many times a councillor. His fraternal affiliations include the Bohemian, Cosmopolitan, Worcester Tennis, and Worcester Harvard clubs, also the Sigma Xi fraternity. During the war the Institute laboratories constituted one of the field stations in which research on government problems of chemical warfare was conducted. The most important contribution of Doctor Jennings was the preparation of cyanogen chloride by an improved method which he developed. I n association with W. B. Scott, his report of this work appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1919. The statement, “Published by permission of the Director of Chemical Warfare Service,” is but one clue t o the intensive organic research which kept the “home fires” burning in Salisbury Laboratories, a t any hour that you might choose to look. It is the aim of the American Contemporaries series to sketch with fewest strokes, a series of human-interest pictures. Thus, even the younger men may see in more complete perspective a fellow-worker, whom their elders have been able to evaluate more gradually. hlajor characteristics indicate the mold and character; innumerable details reflect the personality, and give to the picture its distinctive name. Above all, Doctor Jennings is a teacher. His best achievement is multiplied in the work of other men whom he has led. His students know that they will never meet one more sternly methodical, more penetrating, or more intolerant of evasion. One too will go far to meet a man who is more thoroughly the gentleman, more genuinely affable and entertaining. Even when a disciple of Professor Jennings attempts biography he must take care that the analysis is carried to complete qualitative and quantitative conclusion; also that the interpretation of results is correct. Yet here I pause, confident that, while corroborative analyses will be made, they will surely check with the present determination. LEONV. QUIGLEY
BOOK REVIEWS Bibliography of Organic Sulfur Compounds (1871-1929). BY P. BORGSTROM, R. W. BOST,AND D. F. BROWN. 187 pages. American Petroleum Institute, 250 Park Ave., New York, 1930. Price, $4.00. This is a bibliography of organic sulfur compounds covering those “which may occur in petroleum products as well as their properties, uses, and methods of removal from petroleum products.” It comprises 130 double-columned pages of references to the literature, and 30 double-columned pages of patent references. The literature references have been classified in 34 groups; some of these are rather short, some very long. I n a few cases it is doubtful whether these group classifications are significant. For instance, it seems questionable to consider mercaptides separately from mercaptans, particularly since the former are covered by a few citations.
The basis for selection of articles has evidently been a broad one, and this is to be praised, since we have a t present scant means of predicting what sulfur compounds may or may not occur in petroleum. While the work is strong from the academic side, it appears a trifle weak in covering the references to the more strictly technical and industrial studies. The section on the solvent action of liquid sulfur dioxide appears incomplete; there is no section on the doctor reaction, which has the beginnings of a respectable literature of its own; the papers of Wood, Lowy, and Faragher, and of Wendt and Diggs, which in 1924 first elucidated the chemistry of the doctor test, have apparently been omitted. The reviewer has noted in a brief search occasional other omissions of papers believed to be of marked interest to petroleum chemists. The impression is easily gained that the recent literature has been much better covered than that of earlier years; this is undoubtedly attributable to the change in the completeness of the abstract literature.
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The classifying of papers in the different groups might occasionally be criticized. The group on mercaptans contains a fair amount of material which seems to belong in the general group. The cross references a t the ends of the groups do not remedy this situation entirely. It is questionable whether space should have been devoted to laboratory directions for preparing compounds, as is done in some cases. The reader would almost certainly wish to look up an abstract or the original before undertaking a preparation. The above criticisms are, after all, very minor ones; the reviewer feels that this bibliography will be of great value and that the compilers have performed an admirable service, not only for petroleum chemists, but for all organic chemists as well.-W. A. GRUSE
Vol. 23, KO.2
cable, brasses and bronzes, solder metal, white metal-bearing alloys, copper and brass plates and tubes. Methods are also included for Brinell hardness tests, metallographic testing, preparation of micrographs for metals and alloys, and a recommended practice for radiographic testing of metal castings. Definitions of terms relating to wrought iron, to methods of testing, to metallography, and to specific gravity are also included. New standard specifications have been adopted this year for steel tie plates, iron and steel chain, gray-iron castings for valves, seamless copper tubing, and bronze and hard-drawn copper trolley wire, and several for galvanized wire and wire products and for zinc (hot-galvanized) coatings on structural steel shapes and plates. In addition to these specifications, there are new standard methods of sampling rolled and forged steel products for check analysis, test methods for galvanized wire and wire products, and a test for the Industrial Microbiology. BY HENRYFIELD SMYTH AND WALTER change of resistance with temperature of electrical heating materials. Standard specifications for open-hearth steel rails, conLORD OBOLD. 1st edition. 313 pages. The Williams & crete reenforcement bars, steel pipe and boiler tubes, hot-rolled Wilkins Company, Baltimore, Md., 1930. bar steels and cold-finished shafting, malleable castings and wrought iron bars, plates and pipe, that were revised during The authors stress the need for guide to teachers and beginners the year, have also been included. in the investigation of microbiological processes applied to inThe 251 standards in Part I1 cover the following miscellaneous dustry. For this purpose discussion of specific microorganisms groups of nonmetallic materials and products: cement; lime; and their application to a representative series of industrial prob- gypsum; concrete and concrete aggregates; brick and refractories; lems has been brought together from the experience of the senior pipe and drain tile; hollow building tile; paints; pigments; shellacs; author’s industrial practice and their joint graduate teaching. varnishes; petroleum products and lubricants; bituminous and The reader is carefully warned that some of the applications of nonbituminous road materials; coal and coke; timber and timber microbiology as described are protected by patents although their preservatives; waterproofing and roofing materials; insulating practices are already well known. materials and rubber products; textile materials; and thermomeThe material is arranged in 12 sections with chapters numbered ters for general use. 1-37. The section topics are as follows: I-General IntroducIncluded in this volume are new standards adopted this year tion; 11-The Production of Carboxylic Acids, Production of comprising specifications for paving and building brick; sandAlcohols and Ketones (alcohols, glycerine, and acetone) ; IIIlime brick; wall, floor, and partition hollow clay tile; Keene’s The Complex Nitrogenous Materials (glue, gelatine, leather, and cement and gypsum plasters; gravel for bituminous concrete; tanning) ; IV-The Carbohydrate Materials (cellulose, wood, several specifications for tar cements for road application; tolertextile fibers, ensilage, xylose, and sucrose) ; V-The Fats and ances for cord tire fabrics and fabrics other than tire cord; Oils; VI-Miscellaneous (fertllizers, garbage, gas production, methods of testing concrete aggregates; gypsum and gypsum sewage, etc.) ; VII-Microbial Thermogenesis; VIII-Microbial products; analysis for color of paints; tests for sulfur in gasoline; Food Preparation (vitamins, beverages, milk and cheese, meat, melting point of petrolatum; test for autogenous ignition temeggs, and refrigeration) ; IX-The Hydrocarbons (coal, petroleum, peratures of petroleum products; mechanical analysis of coal; phenols, and rubber latex) ; X-Commercial Enzyme Production; and test methods for electrical porcelain. The specifications for XI-Biological Processes in Industry with Special Reference to Portland cement, revised to include higher tensile strength rethe Application of Patent Laws; XII-Bacteriological Survey quirements and the methods of testing cement changed by the (tabulation of the names of organisms and the processes in which inclusion of tolerances on weights and dimensions of apparatus, they are utilized). are also included. Of particular interest are the revised standard The discussions of many of the topics are very brief, some of specifications for structural wood, joists and planks, beams and them giving the barest outline of present information and little stringers, posts and timbers.-R. E. HESS guidance for further work. I n the main, the purpose of guiding the student to the present literature and suggesting intelligent lines for further development is carried out. The bibliography The United Kingdom. An Industrial, Commercial and Financial of each topic is found at the end of the chapter and arranged in Handbook. BY HUGH BUTLER, American Trade Comnumerical order to text references. This is very convenient submissioner, and Officers of the Department of Commerce and ject by subject, but failure to index these references by authors makes the references to particular workers inaccessible unless the States. 953 pages. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Comsubject matter is remembered. merce, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C., To one familiar with only a few of the industrial projects which 1930. Price, $1.75. involve microorganisms, the wide range of topics included will open a surprising series of developments and possibilities. The The chemical manufacturer, importer, and exporter should find book will therefore be useful to the teacher who wishes to cover this book of great interest and aid in the understanding of their more and more of the field, and serve as a reference book to pres- competitors or markets. This publication is the first complete ent information and to the literature for the student who desires official analysis in one volume of the economic position of Engto go further in the fermentation field.-CHARLES THOM land, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. According to the handbook, the United Kingdom is the second largest market for American chemicals, although it is also the A. S. T. M. Standards (Issued Triennially), 1930. Part Ithird largest chemical producer. The chemical industry is well Metals. 1000 pages. Part 11-Non-Metallic Materials. organized, in both the manufacturing and trading branches, 1214 pages. American Society for Testing Materials, Phila- through financial amalgamations and by means of associations, delphia, Pa., 1930. Parts I and 11, each, cloth, $7.50; half- trade conventions, etc. Hundreds of separate manufacturing leather, $9.00; both parts, cloth, $14.00; half-leather, $17.00. firms are included in the industry as a whole, but a large proportion of these firms have been amalgamated in a few large groups, Of the 179 standards on metals published in Part I, 105 cover the outstanding one of which is Imperial Chemical Industries, the ferrous metals, steel, cast iron, wrought iron, alloy steel, and which controls the major part of the British production of alkalies, ferro-alloys, and 67 relate to the nonferrous metals, nickel, explosives, and heavy chemicals generally, has a leading share of copper, aluminum, etc., and many alloys, while 7 are of general the production of dyestuffs and nonferrous metals, and has many ramifications in other branches of the chemical and allied indusinterest. The standards in Part I, assembled in a sequence determined by tries in Great Britain and throughout the world. Another large the specific materials or products to which they apply, cover amalgamation is Lever Bros. (Ltd.), which controls most of the steel rails and accessories; wheels and tires; structural and boiler British production of soaps and glycerol and has a large interest steels; steel for welding; concrete reenforcement steel; bar steels; in vegetable oils and oil products. Practically all branches of the chemical industries cooperate spring steel and springs; steel castings, chain, forgings, and axles; steel tubes and pipe; tool steel, steel for high-temperature closely through associations. The leading manufacturers’ orservice; zinc-coated wire and wire products; wrought-iron bars, ganization is the Association of British Chemical Manufacturers, castings, plates, and pipe; pig iron; cast iron and finished cast- affiliated with which are about a dozen smaller associations. Close relations are also maintained with other technical and ings; malleable castings ; and ferro-alloys. The specifications in the nonferrous group cover ingot copper, commercial organizations. Price-fixing associations are common. zinc, lead, nickel, aluminum and aluminum alloys, copper wire and Employees are well organized through trade unions and there are
February, 1931
I;\;DC’STRIAL A N D ENGINEERIIYG CHEMISTRY
in most branches corresponding employers federations to deal with questions of wages and employment. Great Britain is a net exporter of chemical products, total exports in 1928 showing an increase of 24 per cent in the favorable balance of trade as compared with 1927 and 45 per cent as compared with 1913. British imports of chemical manufacturers in 1928 were about 15 per cent in value above those immediately before the war. Considerable amounts of imported chemicals are reexported. The chapter on chemicals and allied products forms only a small portion of this tome but other chemical data are given in other chapters, especially that on Coal? Coke, and Petroleum. The Microbiology of Starch and Sugars. BY 4. C. ’rHtYSEN AND L. D. GALLOWAY. 336 pages. Oxford University Press, London, 1930. Price, $8.50. In the preface the authors state, “The volume has been written from the point of view of the research worker, and in addition to compiling existing knowledge it endeavors to point out paths which might be followed by workers who desire to extend their knowledge of the action of microorganisms on starch and sugar.” The book is divided into five parts dealing, respectively, with starch, glycogen, inulin, tetra-, tri-, and di-saccharides and glucosides, monoses, synthetic activities of microorganisms, the microbiology of cereals and cereal products, and the microbiology of the sugar industry. The parts are subdivided into appropriate chapters. Author and subject indexes are appended and literature citations are grouped a t the end of each chapter. The bibliography is quite representative and fairly extensive. The field laid out by the authors is wide and diversified and anyone acquainted with the subject realizes the tremendous amount of work involved in attempting to review the literature which has accumulated within the past quarter-century. The authors state that more than three thousand original papers were examined, and the thorough manner in which most of the subject matter is discussed testifies to their industry. The omissions noted were, for the most part, of minor importance. This volume is quite timely, appearing as i t does a t a period when there is a widespread renewal of interest in fermentation processes from both the theoretical and practical viewpoints. I t offers a summary of the evidence a t hand concerning the mechanisms of various fermentations and points out the problems yet to be solved. It should prove to be one of the most valuable monographs available in English to the research worker entering the field of fermentation c:hemistry and a useful addition to the library of anyone interested in the activities of microorganisms.0. E. MAY
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manufacture and uses, in 91 pages; then in chapter 11 is a discussion of graphite covering 100 pages. It was rather astonishing to the reviewer to find a volume entitled “Applied Electrochemistry” giving a treatment of the elementary principles of thermochemistry, slags, and charge calculations, with the second part dealing entirely with the study of carbon as related to electric furnaces, not only as a tool but as a product. However, the reviewer believes from reading the advertising notes, and from the title of this volume that other volumes dealing with the remaining phases of electrochemistry and furnaces are to follow. Hence the peculiar combination of information included in the volume. The work is very readable and the problems which are noted are well explained and discussed. Much information has been collected in the pages on carbon and graphite electrodes, and it has been well organized. I t is a larger and more technical treatment of the subject than is given in Mantell’s “Industrial Carbon.” But one must remember that these two volumes are not meant for the same group of readers and so should not cover the same ground in the same manner.-C. J. BROCKMAN Die Industrie des Kalziumkarbides-Monographien iiber angewandte Elektrochemie-Band LI. BY RUDOLFTAUSSIG. 519 pages. 194 illustrations-22 plates. Wilhelm Knapp, Halle, 1930. Price, paper, 60 marks; bound, 64 marks.
In an industry which has developed as rapidly as carbide, the specialist has a wonderful field for presenting to the public an interesting picture, and Doctor Taussig certainly has made excellent use of such opportunity. His history of carbide production, while referring to the early American attempts and illustrating, by Patent Office drawings, certain of the peculiar early American furnaces, deals essentially with the early European developments. The author has made wide search of technical literature on the theory of carbide production and the physical and chemical properties of the product, and has assembled in convenient and concise form practically all of the important literature. That portion of the treatise devoted to the electric furnace is richly illustrated and admirably written, dealing only with the more modern and largest of the European carbide plants and their details. It is possible, through the photographs and dimensioned drawings, for the reader to familiarize himself thoroughly with the latest European practice in single-phase and multi-phase carbide furnaces. The latest development in carbide production abroad, the single-phase X g u e t furnace, is treated a t considerable length and with numerous excellent illustrations of the largest installation in Europe and some records of performance. Manufacturers of auxiliary equipment, electrodes, regulators, and insulating material have been drawn upon freely for comThe Engineer’s Vest Pocket Book. BY W. A. THOMAS.First plete data on their products, many of which are arranged in tabular edition. 151 pages. W. A. Thomas Co., 4554 Broadway, form for easy comparison. An extensive chapter on the preparation of raw materials deChicago, Ill., 1930. Price, $3.00. scribes European equipment and goes into considerable detail on This little book contains a wide variety of formulas, tables, and the behavior of the several materials available for carbide manucurves in compact form suitable for use as a finger-tip reference facture. The dust problem is touched upon, but some of the for the busy engineer. Data on the following divisions of engi- apparatus described has not been entirely successful in certain Eurgpean installations, an experience which seems to have been neering are included : mathematics, statics and dynamics, strength of materials, building construction, mechanical design, omitted when discussing the equipment. A very complete chapter on the chemical control of the carheat hydraulics, chemistry and physics, electrics, transportation, bide plant, both as to raw materials and finished products, desurveying, costs, and general information A classified directory of the manufacturers, concerns, and individuals serving the scribes not only the apparatus of the laboratory but the standard methods of analysis. From the technical standpoint the author engineering trade is appended. devotes attention to the utilization of carbide and of acetylene. The author has gone extensively into the commercial and Electrothermie appliqude. I-Les calculs dlectrothermiqueseconomical side of the industry, an unusual procedure in a work of this nature. The development of the industry itself internally les pertes de chaleur dans les fours-le carbone en dlectrothermie-les dlectrodes en charbon et en graphite. BYGEORCES as to efficiencies and outputs, and externally as to marketing and earning capacity, is touched upon. The decreasing power conFLUSIN.Published as a part of Encyclopgdie de chimie In- sumption per unit of product and the more efficient utilization of dustrielle, edited by hl. Matignon. 380 pages. J. B. Bail- raw materials and electrodes over the years are strikingly brought out in a number of tables. IiZre et Fils, Paris, 1930. Price, bound, 85 fr.; paper, ‘70 fr. The final chapter introduces the difficulties which the carbide This volume is a very peculiar arrangement of facts. The first industry experienced in its early days from overproduction and chapter deals with the calculation and uses of heat values such as excessive price cutting, and the various attempts to build up a specific heat, heat of fusion, vaporization, transformation, forma- carbide syndicate in Europe which could exercise some control tion, combination, reaction, etc. Chapter 2 takes up the forma- over the industry. The carbide developments of the various tion of slags giving some phase diagrams and thermal values. countries, with statistics of production, import, and export, have Chapter 3 discusses the calculation of the charges for operation been assembled in concise form. Unfortunately very little space with or without slag formation; chapter 4, the input and output is given to American and Canadian developments in comparison of an electric furnace expressed in energy terms; and chapter 5, with their importance, and Doctor Taussig has not taken the heat losses in an electric furnace. In the second part of the vol- pains to check the accuracy of this American information. ume, from page 135, there is a discussion of the forms of carbon The volume closes with a detailed history of the European both native and synthetic in four chapters covering 38 pages. carbide syndicates, the specifications of the German Acetylene Chapter 10 is given to a discussion of carbon electrodes, their Union for carbide, a bibliography of the German patents, and a
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Vol. 23, No. 2
reference list of carbide literature. The pleasant impression of this interesting work, with its beautiful illustrations and drawings, is somewhat offset at the end of the book by almost a full page of typographical corrections to the text. Nothing that has yet appeared on the carbide industry approaches t o any degree the completeness of Doctor Taussig’s work which has brought t o us the practice of a surprisingly late date. Not only is the book recommended to the specialist in carbide, but its treatment of the complicated problems involved in the construction of transformers, connections, and electrodes for carrying very heavy currents should be of interest to everyone in the electric furnace field.-W. S. LANDIS
reports should be.” They differ in details, but their general plan is the same whoever writes them. The interest lies in the details, but no one reader of the present day can claim to be so multiscient that he fully appreciates all of the details of such a n annual report as this “Jahresbericht.” A t most he will be able to realize that it deals with investigations on a variety of subjects, yet the variety is not so great as “chemischtechnisch” might lead him to expect, for 151 pages, or about fiveeighths of the book, are given up to explosives, the combustibility of magnesium alloys, and closely related subjects. These are scattered throughout the book from the first page to the 226th. The 45-page chapter on metal chemistry and metal protection describes the institute’s work on corrosion, methods of testing paints, metallographic investigations, and a few other items. Enzyclopadie der technischen Chemie. BY FRITZULLMANN. This leaves but 34 pages for the discussion of cellulose and nitro2nd revised edition. Band VI-Gold bis Kiihler. 844 pages. cellulose, leather, printing ink for playing cards, miscellaneous Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin, 1930. Price, paper, 45 testing, and participation in the preparation of specifications. On the whole the report is interesting, but from its nature is not marks; bound, 54 marks. readily susceptible of satisfactory condensation.-C. E. WATERS Volume VI of this valuable work is quite up to the standard of the first five volumes, all of which have been briefly reviewed Cherniker-Kalendar, 1931. Ein Hilfsbuch fiir Chemiker, in previous issues [IND.ENG. CHEM.,21, 393 (1929); 21, 89 Physiker, Mineralogen, Industrielle, Pharmazeuten, Hiitten(1929); 22, 200(1930); 22, 1024 (1930)j. The present volume miinner, U.S.W. Founded by RUDOLF BIEDERMANN, continued includes quite valuable and complete treatises in German by well-known authors on such important subjects as wood and its by W. A. ROTH, edited by I. KOPPEL. I n three parts. products, indigo and indigoids, iodine and its compounds, coffee I-Taschenbuch. 11-Dichten, LSslichkeiten, Analyse. IIIand cocoa, potassium and the potash industry, refrigeration, war Theoretischer Teil. Julius Springer, Berlin, 1931. Price, gases, catalysis, rubber (by E. A. Hauser), cobalt and cobalt 20 marks. colors and compounds, carbon in its various forms, coke ovens, reducer gas, crystallization, and condensing apparatus. An inThis well-known reference book is in its fifty-second year. dex to this volume is again inserted separately, together with a The arrangement is much like that of former years: a small table of contents showing the author of each subject treated. The work is a monumental one, well collated and well written, pocket book (Part I) containing a combined calendar and diary, and in the reviewer’s opinion should be on the shelves of all im- a few pages of cross-section paper, and 103 pages of tables useful t o the analytical chemist; and Parts I1 and I11 combined in one portant reference librarieS.-cHARLES L. PARSONS volume of 1322 pages, which, through the use of thinner paper, is not unduly bulky. Part I has one new table for the reduction of gas volumes to Zement. Technische Fortschrittsberichte, Fortschritte der chemische Technologie in Einzeldarstelungen-Band XXV. normal. Part I1 has new sections on analytical chemistry; ceramics; the manufacture and analysis of glass; fats, waxes, BYI. F. WECKE,translated by B. RASSOW.96 pages. Theodor gums, and bitumens; dyeing and textile finishing; rubber, guttaSteinkopff, Germany, 1930. Price, paper, 4.80 marks; bound, percha, and balata. Part I11 (theoretical) has new sections on parachor ; viscosity; catalysis in organic chemical technology ; 6 marks. band and Raman spectra; the chemical industry of Italy; the This is one of a series of technical reports reviewing the progress chemical industry of Germany in comparison with that of the and more recent developments in the field of applied chemistry. world. The purpose of this particular volume is to outline the evolution I n Part I1 articles on various subjects, such as air, foundations, of cement and the development of the technology of its manu- mortar and cement, explosives, ethereal oils and perfumes, and facture since the beginning of the twentieth century. paper, cellulose, and artificial silk, which appeared in earlier Following a short historical introduction, the general subject editions of this work, are not repeated, reference merely being Portland cement is taken up. Under this subject are discussed made to the earlier edition in which the article appears.-F. C. the raw materials, preparation and calculation of the raw mix- ZEISBERG ture, technology of manufacture, clinker cooling and constitution, admixtures, properties, testing and specifications, and methods of 167 pages. Theostudy of raw materials and cements. The greater portion of the Neuere Torfchemie. BY G. STADNIKOFF. dor Steinkopff, Dresden and Leipzig, 1930. Price, 12 marks. book is occupied with the technology of manufacture of Portland cement and is illustrated with flow sheets, and diagrams and This book, though small, presents practically all of value that photographs of machines, kilns, and instruments necessary in the manufacture of cement. The remainder of the book deals is known about peat today. Its contents are indicated by the of the Moisture in with super cements, slag, alumina, and other special cements following chapter headings: I-Properties which are on the market today. The closing section contains a Peat; 2-The Dehydration of Peat; 3-Properties of the Dry Residues; 4-The Bitumens in Peat; 5-The Huminic Acids in few statistics on production and costs. All sections of the book, except possibly the one treating on the Peat; 6-Peat Tar. While Chapters 3 to 6 present concisely the subject matter to technology of manufacture, are too brief to do justice to the subbe expected under their headings, brought up to date with the jects discussed. Practically all references are to German develop- discrimination of a n experienced student in this field, yet it is ments, and most of the non-German references are to develop- more particularly Chapters 1 and 2, or the first half of the book, ments made prior to the war, so that in this respect the book is that appear to the reviewer to be specially valuable, because they out of date. Very little attention is paid to the progress of the present one of the greatest and most recent industrial triumphs industry in other countries, so that at best one can only hope to of colloid chemistry-the solution of the problem of the ecoobtain an idea of German methods and German theories.-L. T. nomic dehydration of peat. In other words, the first seventy BROWNMILLER pages comprise a clear, comprehensive, modest recital of a great technical triumph destined to play a prominent part in the life of northern Europe.-E. P. SCHOCH Jahresbericht VI11 der chemisch-technischen Reichsanstalt. 236 pages. Verlag Chemie, G. m. b. H., Berlin, 1930. viii Price, paper, 18 marks. Glas-Seine Herstellung und Verwendung. BYF. H. ZSCHACKE. Technische Fortschrittsberichte, Band X X I V . xiv 220 pages, Biologists manifest great interest in the geographical distribu23 figures. 15.5 X 22 cm. Theodor Steinkopff, Dresden and tion of plants and animals, most of which are restricted in their range by the major barriers-terrestrial organisms by the seas Leipzig, 1930. Price, paper, 72 marks; bound, 73.50 marks. and marine forms by the continents. Few are the species of As stated in the introduction by F. Eckert, this is a comland creatures that have even an approximately world-wide distribution. One that has a range limited entirely to civilized prehensive and uncritical summary of the literature appearing countries is Homo director, a being characterized unmistakably during and since the World War, dealing with both the scientific by his confirmed habit of writing annual reports. These, to and the technical aspects of the manufacture and properties of paraphrase Ovid, are “not all alike, nor yet unlike, but as annual ghSS.-GEORGE w. MOREY
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