ject, covering such varied and interdependent phenomena, is a very difficult matter, but one feels that Dr. Cartledge has gone far in the right direction. ~h~ re+wer musttake issue the followingitems. The treatment of special ionic and practical appliations by themselves in part IV seems unwise, ~h~ interest be more sustained were parts they hserted with the they intended to illustrate. ~t seems that an umecesssry amount of space is devoted to the analytical method for de. termining atomic weights, interesting though i t may be. one has the feeling that the chapter on chemical campmuds (dealing largely with atomic structure) is treated far too fully by comparison with treatment the very brief and accorded such important subjects as catalysis, heterogeneous equilibrium and even the elements of thermodynamics. T ~ C relations between physical properties and "hemica1 constitution are not discussed, Such important subjects as optical rotatory power and absorption spectra should be accorded a little space. ' M~~~ would seem desirable. There is no great wealth of literawre references or suggested supple. mentary reading. One may also the possibiljty of c]osely to the outline of this text if laboratory work is to run in close conjunction with the lectures. The parts on atomic theory, etc., must, in the reviewerss opinion, he left until a more convenient season. I n conclusion, it is the reviewer's helief that this book will prove excellent for students of junior grade or lower, hut that seniors and graduate students will, in general, require additional food. moLaa M. H1lRmo UNWBRSITY OP MARYLANO COLLHDB PARK.MD.
American Soap Makers Guide.
I. V.
STANLEYSTANISLAUS,Associate Professor, Brooklyn College of Pharmacy, and P. B. Meerbott, Soap and Chemical Manufacturer and Chemist. 3rd edition. Henry Carey Baird 8r Co.. Inc.,
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New York, 1928. xi 105 pp., illus. 15 X 23.5 cm. $10.00. The authors have recognized a long-felt need for a comprehensive work on this combining in one volume the modern developments in both the manufacture of soap and the chemical theories involved. They rightly stress the desirability of having such a treatise in English, written from the viewpoint of American practice, and it is their aim t o present "the most complete and exhaustive hook in the English language." Unfortunately, the American viiwpoint is not emphasized, and small-sale European practice is often more in evidence than is American. For example, the impression is created that while steam heating is desirable, heating with direct iires is still a common practice. While the chapter headings indicate an orderly arrangement. the teat much confused. The treatment of builders is wholly inadequate; neither their importance nor their usefulness is given sufficient space; trisodium phosphate is but casually mentioned; sodium silicate is tre$ted as a stoichiometric chemical comp a n d without reference t o the NarO SiOz ratio. The critical spirit is not in evidence. Thus the chapter on "Modem Views on Soap" gives a haphazard eonglomeration of quotations from numerous writers, often wntradidory, often out-ofdate. and even when modem work is referred to, the treatment is so abbreviated as t o he of little value. Some degree of superfidality is, perhaps, t o be expeded, but why have a chapter on "Candles." for example, if it mu* be condensed t o ten pages. It is possible that the book may prove of value t o the small-scale soap-maker who ladles his soap into barrels and crutches by -hand. It can be of little help t o others, hut after all, may not the blame lie with the soap manufacturers themselves who keep their own advances secret? The book cannot be recornmended as throwing light upon the theoretical chemistry of the soap industry, and i t i s not reliable in its descriptions of mod-
ern plant practice. The text abounds in errors which must be attributed to the original manuscript rather than to inadequate proofreading. I n English composition it is very poor. W A L ~C. R PRESTON THEPROCTEP. & GAUQI.H CO. IVORIDALH, OQlO
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Textbook of Organic Chemistry. ]OSEPH S. CHAMBERLAIN, Ph.D., Professor of Organic Chemistry, Ivhssachusetts Agricultural College. Second edition revised. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 1012 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pema., 1928. axx 901 pp. 22 X 1 5 m . $4.00.
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The first edition of this book appeared in 1921. I n the present edition there are two new features: "A list of study questions and problems a t the end of each chapter, and references to laboratory preparations cited in Appendix 11, p. 847," for substances described in the text. The book is an excellent one for the beginner, as the author has been lavish in the use of graphical formulas and tables, and the explanations are in general good. The table of contents gives a real picture of the material covered in the book, taking up as it does some thirty pages. There is considerable evidence of re-writing and revision throughout, and nearly all for the better. The list of references for the laboratory has been verified and represents a good selection of laboratory experiments. The study questions are well chosen and free from ambiguity; they will serve as an excellent means of verifying the student's mastery of the subject matter. Some teachers of organic chemistry may not approve of the order in which the various groups are taken up, the alcohols being considered only after the amines, phosphines, arsines, nitrites, nitro compounds, and metallic derivatives. The reviewer does not feel that this order is a particularly desirable one. The chapters on proteins and carbohydrates are well presented and interesting. Es-
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pecially commendable is the chapter an diazo compounds. Some of the omissions and m n , on the other hand, are rather surprising There is no particular advantage evident in the mention of certain clinical laboratory tests in a b w k of this kind especially when the methods given are rather out of date. This applies in particular t o the old Folin-Shaffer method for uric acid (page 420), and the Doremus method for urea (both page 408). Neither of these methods is in wide use a t present, the methods of Benedict and Franks, or Folin and Wu for uric acid and the various modificationsor the urease method for urea having been in use for some years. The Hapkins-Cole reaction does not "show the presence of protein" (page 397), but only those proteins which contain the tryptophane group. I t would have been better to discuss the lactamlactim forms of uric acid with the main discussion of that substance (page 416), instead of leaving this important phenomepon until the end of the book (page 819). The boofhas no formal presentation of the history of organic chemism but there is plenty of information of this kind dispersed throughout the text with the discussion of historically interesting compounds, and the great names in the development of organic chemistry have not been neglected. No mention is made of the Cannizarro reaction by name, and the reaction is shown only for benzaldehyde. I n the discussion of the aldol reaction no explanation of the mechanism is given, no mention of labile hydrogen which is decidedly helpful t o the student in understanding the large number of reactions that can be treated in the same category. It is stated (page 609) that "benzaldehyde in its general reactions is like all aldehydes." I t is, accordingly, no wonder- that students are surprised to find that benzaldehyde does not reduce Fehling's solution. I n the opinion of the reviewer, the subject of stereochrmistry is given inadequate treatment.
