ably great usefulness can he attached to "Guide to Chemistry" by many teachers. and by all pupils if they could be induced to follow it. J. HOWARD GRAHAM
A Laboratory Book of Elementary Organic Chemistry. ALEXANDER bwY, Ph.D., professor- of Organic Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, and WILMERE. BALDWIN,M.S., Imtmctor in Organic Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1926. x 182 pp., with 77 figures. 21 X 28 cm. Cloth, net, $3.00.
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This book is arranged to accompany "The Introduction to Organic Chemistry" by Lowy and Harrow and is intended for use in courses in organic chemistry taken by premedical, predental, engineering, and mining students, as well as by chemistry students. The purpose of the book, according to the authors, is "to acquaint the student with the important types of reactions, properties, and relationships of the various classes of compounds." The directions for the various experiments are clear and well written and the drawings of apparatus to be used are unusually attractive. The general make-up of the book is excellent and few errors were noted. The list of experiments is essentially that found in the current laboratory manuals The of elementary organic chemi&. reviewer noted nothing especially new in the types of experiments-chosen or the methods described. On the whole the purpose as stated in the preface is well fulfilled. A number of special features of the book may be noted. The pages are unusually large. Following each experiment is a page of questions so spaced that the answers may be written in. This leaf is perforated and is to be separated from the book and handed to the instructor for correction. At the same time space is left in the body of the directions of the different experiments for recording the student's experimental results. This leaf is not perforated. I t would seem that
this arrangement of two systems of keeping the notes is a clumsy one. Another feature of the book is the large number of illustrations of apparatus which are induded. These are taken from dealers' catalogs of chemical glassware and apparatus. Thus on page 21 are pictured the various types of distilling flasks and fractionating columns and on page 22 we find thirteen condensers of both the laboratory and the industrial types. There is, however, no discussion accompanying them, although some attempt is made to cover this point by means of questions. It seems to the reviewer that these illustrations can be of little value to the student without some discussion of the various types of apparatus and their uses. I n many cases the laboratory apparatus pictured is now considered obsolete in most laboratories and one wonders if this is not true also of some of the industrial types illustrated. Several schematic diagrams of industrial processes are shown as, for example, the refining of petroleum, p. 15, and the manufacture of ethylene, p. 34. The reviewer confesses that he finds difficulty in visualizing industrial processes from diagrams such as these and wonders if they will have any meaning for the student. The large number of illustrations included and the unusual size of the pages are responsible for the relatively high cost of the hook. $3.00. The reviewer does not feel that these special features are of sufficient value to justify the cost. FRED W. UPSON Chemistry. W. H. BARRETT,M.A., Oxford University Press, American Branch, New York, 1927. viii 148 pp. 21 figures. 12 X 18 cm. $1.75.
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"The main ideas behind the 'General Science' movement in schools are the broadening of the basis of school science and the bringing of i t into a closer relation with the facts of everyday life." With this in mind the author has presented some of the more important facts of cbemistry in a manner that should be readily
VOL.4, No. 11
RECENTBOOKS
understood by the general reader. It is in no sense a technical book, though i t describes a number of chemical processes and discusses some of the more important theories and laws. Beginning with a brief account of the scope of chemistry and its historical development. including the phlogiston theory and Lavoisier's experiments on combustion, the author continues through a total of thirteen chapters in which are discussed such subjects as oxygen, water, acids, bases and salts, lime, carbon, fuels, nitrogen, nitric acid, sulfur, and salt. Among the principles and laws are included the laws of constant composition and multiple proportions, the atomic and ionic theories, the Brownian movement, the existence of molecules, the Periodic Law and atomic structure. The book is well and entertainingly written. The discussions of the existence of molecules, the calculation of atomic weights, and the structure of the atom are especially clear and easy to follow. Taken as a whole the book shows the importance of chemistry to everyday life in the contacts that it makes and should be of especial value to general science teachers. GEO.W. S E ~ S
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pretation of these requirements, and the list, therefore, is not t o be regarded as a selective one. Only those government institutions are included wbich administer private funds. Organizations directly controlled by universities or colleges have been omitted because it is expected that they will be covered by the forthcoming publication 'American Universities and Colleges,' to be issued by the American Council on Education."
Industrial Research Laboratories of the United States Including Consulting Research Laboratories. Bullelin of the National Research Council, No. 60. Compiled by CLARENCE J. WEST AND E R .,I RISHER. ~ Third edition, revised and enlarged. National Research Council, Washington. D. C., 1927. 153 pp. 17 X 24.5 cm. Paper, $1.00. "The continued demand for information regarding industrial research lahorstaries has made it seem advisable to issue a second revision of the list originally published in Number 2 and revised in Number 16 of the Bulletin of the National Research Council. The original publication, compiled in 1920 hy Mr. Alfred D. Flinn. Secretary of the Engineering Foundation, listed about 300 industrial laboratories. Handbook of Scientific and Technical The first revision prepared in August, Societies and Institutions of the United 1921, by Miss Ruth Cobb of the Research States and Canada. Bulletin of the Information Service, listed 526 laboraN a f i a d Research Council, No. 58. tories. The present revision contains data American section compiled by CLAR- for 1000 laboratories. "As in the earlier lists, all information ENCE J. WEST AND CALLIB HULL. Canadian section compiled by Na- given in this publication has been obtional Research Council of Canada. tained directly by correspondence and First edition. National Research statements are based uoon information Council, Washington, D. C., 1927. supplied by the laboratories. An en304 pp. 17 X 24.5 cm. Paper, $3.00; deavor has been made to follow the phraseology of the laboratories wherever posCloth, $3.50. sible; the names are given in the style "The purpose of this publication is to used by the company with regard for present a ready guide to those scientific spelling and abbreviations. No investiand technical societies, associations, and gation has been made to ascertain the institutions of the United States and character of any laboratory listed, nor the Canada which contribute to knowledge quality of the work done." or further research through their activities, publications or funds. The tend- Laboratory Layouts for the High-School Sciences. Bureau of Education B d e ency has been towards a broad inter-
