Recent Books Chemistry for Secondan Schools. Gnmsr L. D~NSLIORB, Boys' High School, Brooklyn. N. Y. F . M. Ambrose Co., Boston, 1925. VIII 574 pp. $1.68. Forty interesting chapters; 545 pages of text; 207 illustrations, about half line drawings: 10 useful tables in the appendix; 16 pages of index. Printed on good paper, in dear type, and well bound.
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This hrad-new text is one which every teacher of chemist^ in the preparatory schools should ~ertainlylook over very carefully: it will repap such inrpeetbn. Many stmng points are to be noted. The book is copiously illustrated with repmduetions of well-chosen photosraphs and with about ss many clean cut line drawings of apparatus, much of which is that used by the author. These drawings are especially noteworthy. Labelled arrows pointing t o the different parts of the apparatus pictured. or t o the materials used, make i t apparently impo~sihlefor the dullest pupil to fail t o get the correct idea of how the process described is carried out. The book is rhorouphly up-tn-ddtr s shown by rdferenccq hrrr and thcrr t o rtcms which have hecome cunmt onlv nithm a rom~arafivclrahort time. For example: the ure of chlorine i n the treatment of cold?: the transmutation of mercury into gold as indicated by the work of Miethe; the preparation of war and industrial chemicals a t MurcleShoal~and Edgewoad Arrenal: t h use ~ of duraluminum in the framework of the Shenandoah: a simple but adequate presentation of the electron theory and its applieatioo t o valence. I know of only one other recent hook mbich gives so satisfactorT a treatment of the electron from the high-school viewpoint. Definitions of chemical terms are inserted in italics in connection with the term when it is erst u3ed. Where necessary, cautions to the student are given in italics, to guard against danger in experimentation. While the m a t recent applieatiann of chemistry are discussed ss indicated above, the author has not neglected t o emphnrize fundamental prioeiplcr. This is a strong point. For example, the preparnfion of acids in preceded by the statement of the general method; so with the preparation of ammonia; other instances might be cited. The theoretical chapters begin t o appear quite early. The Gas Laws are introduced in Chap. IV. Multiple Proportions in Chap. V, GsyLurrac's and Avogadro's Laws in Chap. XII. Determination of Molecular Weights, including the use of 22.4 liters, in Chap. XIV. One is sorry, however, t o see the electromotive series
deferred until quite late in the book. The order of the descriptive chapters in about the same ss in the average text, thegases being first taken up and then the metal.. Qualitative Analysis is, happily, not included. The treatment of Organic Chemistry is limited to one ehapter following those on Carbon; there is also one chapter on Foods. The descriptive matter in general is couched in language which the student can easily understand. The explanation of hydrolysis is an exampie of this: it is very weii done. In a first edition one may often expect to find a good many errors. So far a? 1 have obrerved only two such have been found; an unnecessary coefficient on page 1Q2;also one error of statement on page 174; cuprie sul6de is stated to be formed when capper and sulfur are heated together; it should read cuprous sulfide. One regrets, also, that the old form of proportion, abandoned by the mathematies teacherr, is retained for the solution of staiehiometric pmblems; but the author is in good company here since many recent terth still make use of the older farm. e e r s i o n s l crass-references suggest t o the student other paragraphs hearing upon the topics treated in the paragraph just studied. Brief summaries follow each ehapter. Ererekes follow the summaries and are designrd to te.t the student's ability t o reand to apply the knowledge previouely acquired. Ten useful tables in the amendia indude: lists of names, common and chemical, of every~
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. . cral tables of tests for positive and negative ions. Tsken as a whole, the book is certainly a s t m n g ehndidate fop popular favor and can unhesitatingly be recommended to teachers who arc contemplating a change of text. C ~ R L BH. S STON?$ Chemical Encyclopaedia. C. T. Kmozarr. D. Van Nostrand Company, New York. 1924. v ~ n 606 pp. 15 x 22 a *d. price 88.00.
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A very useful hook is this third edition of the Chemical Encyrlopaedia. I t states the present knowledge on perhaps two thousand chemical subjeetr, in precise and condensed but, withal, aaurate and conservative fashion. In useful information, it covers ahout what might he found in several separate work. on inorgaoie, orgnnic, elementary, physical snd industrial chemistry.
VOL 2, No. 6
RECENTBOOKS
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smce emphasis is placed upon the induetrid X-Rays and Crystal Structure Electricity and Matter. aspects of the elements and compaunde, one looks with interest, for anounts of very recent developAtoms and Isotopes. ments in chemical industry. The result is gratifyVerification of the Theory of Relativity The Interior of a Star. ing. There are described, for erample. the syothesip of methyl almhol fmm the carbon monoxide The origins of wire1er.. Thermianic Valuer. and hydrogen d ordinary water gas, the producThe Origin of Spectra. tion of camphor fmm turpentine, the use of inHelium Gas and I t s Uses. sulin as an cffeefive treatment for diabetes, and the improved =dine containing tetra-ethyl The F'rincipler of Pine Measurement. The Circulation of the Atmomhere. lead to eliminate knocking. o n the other hand, there seems t o be no reference, under "alumioum The Water in the Atmasphere. Weather Foreasting. rulfate," to its use in water pvrification or in Atmospheric Electricity. sizing paper. Again, there is inadequate treatThe origin of Mao. ment of automobile lacquer, an industry of eonThe Circulation of the Blood. riderable proportions today. The Biological Action of Light. That so few minor revsions might he made, is Muscular work. noteworthy, particularly in view of the author's Insect Mimicry and the Darwinian Theory of adherence, in the thousands of paragraphs, t o Natural Selection. snedfic facts rather than hdulaence in elitterina The Origin of the Seed Plants generalities. While the Encyclopaedia is chiefly of interest as M. M. H*RZND a reference work on industrial chemistry, ss an Report of the Division of Chemistry and Sanitaaid in answering a thousand and one questions tion of the New Hampshire State Board of on applied chemistry, there are many excellent Health; Part 111, Roods and Drugs. CHARLES section. on theoretical topies also. Reading of D. HOWARD.State Chemist. Published by such articles as those on the atmosphere, the structure of the atom., isotooes. . . and ~ s o i r a t i o n State Board of Health, Concord, N. H., 1925. 14 X 23 cm. 78 PP. Probably free to interwith its statement, for example. of the average ested persons. daily amount of carbon burned and oxygen eombined in the human b d y , rhouid add alike to Though this pamphlet is far fmm a textbook in the interest of presentation in the daosroom, and to the richness of the teacher's knowledge. Thealphabeticalarrangement of the subjects is . . convenient. The language is well chosen. Alincluding in many caoes the trade names and the together the b w k is north having. eompositian of the articles. Special attention has been given t o pmhiemo of food sanitation. ROBERTCALVERT inspection of soda fountains and of madeide reHandbook to the Exhibition of Pure Science freshment stands and articles sold by them, and Arranged by the Royal Society. British problems of water supply and of sewage and Empire Exhibition 1924. The Macmillan garbage disposal of summer camps for boys and Company, New York City. 228 pages. pirl9. F'r1ce a.90. Articles moat frequently examined were water, sewage, milk. non-alcoholic beverages, clltraets, The titie of this booklet is apt t o sound forbiderenm, icc-cream, butter, toilet prepamtirms, ding to thecasual reader. To all such, a series of washing and deaming powders, and stove delightful surprises will appear when the contents polishes. Attendant court rases and their disare investigated. I n addition t o the uouai dcposition are frequently mentioned. seriptive cdmiogue of exhibits-in itself furnishOther substances examined indude: bread, ing most intereqting and iostrvetive r e a d i n k candy, cocoa, cheese, eggs. Boor, honey, maple the whole first part consistn of a series of excellent products, milk products, olive oil, vineger, ieepep= on prerent-day subjects of the greatest imcream thickeners, miscellaneous foods, pharmaportance. Such a fund of accurate information cevtica1 pmparatioos, proprietary rcmedier, has seldom beem compre.3ed within such a small liquid soaps, metal polishes, coal, enameled cookpublication I t is manifertly unwise to attempt ing ware, intoxicating liquors, and b t h v m i r to eritieise a b w k covering such a varied field. eellaneour articles. , The fact that every paper is written by a n acknowledged world leader in his field of endeavor W. SSBEBRBLON guarantees its emelienee. This Handbook furThe Science of Everyday Life. Eoona P. Van nisher mmt enjoyable, helpful and authoritative BOJECmK A N D E ~ m aLILLIAN S M ~ R Re. . reading. No teacher of chemistry or of any other vised Edition. Cloth XIV 498 pages. science can afford to be without it. Pollowi~gare the titles of the papers. 13 X 19 em. 240 illustrations. $1 60 The Genesis of the Roynl saeiety. Postp~id. Bwghton Miflin Compaoy. New Y0rk The Electron.
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