2008
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
One of the most valuable featwes of the hook h the extensive compilation of literature references cited a t the end of each chapter of the hook. These citations are very complete and mast helpful for all future workers. The review as a whole is well written, neatly printed, and should find a place in every library where biachemical research is being promoted. T. B. JOHNSON YILB UNIVERSITY
New H*VBN,CONN.
Chemical Encyclopaedia. C. T. KmcZETT, F.I.C., F.C.S. Fifth edition. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York City, 1014 pp. 15 X 22 cm. 1932. viii $10.00.
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In his endeavor t o keep abreast with the times the author hasexpanded his "Chemical Encyclopiedia" t o include nearly 1200 new words not found in the fourth edition, and has enlarged i t by more than 200 pages. The work contains many rare words not found in the ordinam chemical dictionary such as; nitrozan, necoi plastic wood, kokaseki, nelrtrons, ucuku6a mi, etc., togethe with a number of less common and recently coined trade names such as: "Nitrapo," "Feculose," "Kynazite," "Mianin," "Okmal," "Persil," etc. On the other hand one will look in vain for more common chemical terms, such as; neosalvarsan, atomic hydrogen flame, cementite, pearlite, hydral, Jones redudor, carbamic acid, biwet, phptin, dcuta, cicutoxin, fluosilieic acid, sulfoninm, arsonium, etc. The book contains no illustrations, about 10 tables, large and small, per 100 pages, and almost no graphic formulas. Estimating that the book lists sin thousand words, only four thousand of these are given any definition or description a t the place listed. The remaining two thousand appear in the alphabetical tabulation by name only, together with reference to some other word or periodical under which the word sought will eventually be found if time and patience is avail-
NOVBMBER, 1932
able to read through pages of extraneous matter till the term is encountered. To illustrate: Look up the word Centigrade. Under this word we find: See Heat. On the fifth page under Heat we find the Centigrade scale described. Then again, look for Coal Tar. Under this we find see Coal and Tar. Turn to Coal and read twelve pages before coal tar is incidentally mentioned, after which it becomes necessary to read the article on Tar as well. Following are a few words as listed, but which the reviewer feels should have heen accorded descriptions in the places located: CyandationSee Ores (The Cyanide Process), Gas-See Coke Ovens, G e i s S e e Colloid Chemistty and Gelatin, Carbon B h c k S e e Carbon, Aldhoses ( s i c ) S e e Carbohydrates, HalogensSee Elements, Alkaline Earth MetalsSee Bases, BoraxSee Boron, Ceramics"Pertaining to P o t t e r y S e e paper on Grogg," etc., ChrcoaLuSee M. S. Shah on Comhustion of Charcoal, J. C. S. 1929," Acid EggsSee Data Sheets. Some erroneous or very unusual statements are found in the hook, for example: Kelp, "the ashesof h u n t seaweeds containiy: sodium carbonate," etc. Acidic, "In a modern view of electrons, acids are bodies which can part with a proton t o bases." Water, "According to Armstrong (H. E.) water is a saturated solution of hydrone (OH*) a t all temperatures." Silicic Acid (Si(H0J). The formula is erroneous and meta silicic acid (H.Si03 not given. Hydrodcs, "A termreserved for the compounds containing the group OH, e. g., KHO and AI(OH)a." It is quite comman t o find the hydronyl gmup written HO. What about CIHaOH and CIHEOH? When the salts o f a certain element like sodium are listed under that element, no alphabetical order is foliowed either with respect t o name or formula; for example, sodium sulfocyanide comes before chlorate, and that before silico fluoride, and that before aluminate, etc. The reviewer feels that any work meriting the name Encyclopedia should treat.
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RECENT BOOKS
in an exhaustive manner, a much larger number of topics than are dealt with in this work. Counting the number of words or topics found on 100 pages of the book, chosen a t random, we find a total of 576, hut of these only 15 contain descriptive material amounting to one page or more. For example, the Grignard reagents that have proved so valuable for numerous advancements in organic chemistry, and that merited a Nobel prize, are passed over with but one line of printed' matter. The use of phenylhydrazine, t o bring order out of chaos in the sugar group, as well as Wurtz's reaction for synthesizing hydrocarbons are not even mentioned. Atomic structure is not listed, the Bohr theory given three lines, and the Lewis-Langmuirtheory seven lines under Vakalcncies. I n conclusion the reviewer feels it his duty t o point out another fact concerning this work that might well be a decisive factor for the American chemist, and that is Kingzett's "Chemical Encyclopedia" is about 97% British. By that is meant, the immediate source of information is almost exclusively British periodicals. There are no references t o German, French, Italian, Dutch, or Canadian journals, and scarcely any t o the American journals. As evidence, the following summary of all the references found on 100 pages of the work, chosen a t random, was made:
115 t o 3 . of the Chemical Society Abstracts, abbreviated both B. C. A. and J. C. S. Abs. (British). 96 t o 3 . of the Society of Chem. Industry, abbreviated both Chem. & Ind. and J. S . C. I. (British). 76 t o The Chemical Trade Journal (British). 37 t o The Indwtrial Chemht (British). 29 t o The Journal o f the Chem. Society (British). 25 t o The Analyst (British). 7 t o The ~ourkalif Ind&triel & Engineering C h i s t r y (American). 4 t o The Journal of the American Chnnica2 Society (American).
3 to Nature (British). 3 to The Timer (British). 2 to The Journal of Biological Chemistry (American). 2 t o Transactions of the Faraday Society (British). 1 t o each of ten other British trade journals and papers.
It is not certain if the same ratio holds for all parts of the book, but it cannot be far afield, and if the above facts are of advantage or disadvantage, the reader himself must determine. The print is clear and there are exceedingly few typographical errors. The publishers are t o he congratulated on a.splendid piece of work in both printing and binding. C. A. JACOBSON W ~ S Tvm.aNI* UNrvBnurr
MOIIOINTOWN. W. VA.
Elektrolyte. HANS FALKENEAGEN, Professor a t the University of Cologne. S. Hirzel, Leipzig, 1932. xvi 346 pp. 104 Fig. 17.5 X 22.5 an. Bound Rm. 24.80.
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The purpose of the text is t o treat the developments in the field of solutions from a unified ppint of view and t o show how the consid-tion of interionic forces has led t o a more complete picture of electrolytic solutions. An outline of the contents will indicate the scope of the book. Chapter 1 contains definitions; in Chapter 2 the theory of ideal dilute solutions is developed; Chapter 3 treats of Arrhenius' theory of electrolytic dissociation and its applicability t o solutions of strong and weak electrolytes; Chapter 4 deals with the empirical activity theory of G. N. Lewis. I n Chapter 5 anomalies in the conductance of strong . electrolytes are discussed: in Chapter 6 i t is shown that attempts t o explain these anomalies without consideration of interionic forces must be discarded as unsatisfactory. In Chapters 7 to 10 inclusive the effect of interionic forces is developed. It is shown how considerations of Milner, and particulsrly Debye, made possible the calculation of the be-
