MARCH. 1951
175
diammine complex ion from freezing point measurements and of the rate of saponification of an ester by the conductance method. On the other hand, the inclusion of experiments on "Surface Active Substances," "Interfacial Tension," and activity coefficients, is to be commended. An introduction of 19 pages deals with errors, significant figures, graphical rrepresentsi tion of data, and the use of thermometers, manometers, and certain other apparatus. The book is compact and of neat format. The cover design is unusual-the reproduction of a photograph of part of a distillation system-which same might consider inappropriate on the jacket of a physical chemistry manual. The authors are to he commended for the careful preparation of what seems to the reviewer to he an excellent manual. H ~ v m a ~ o nCo~moe o HAYERPORD. PENNBYLV~A~A
0
informtttion relating to this plastic has been made available in the technical literature. The author of this volume exhibits thorough familiarity with both British and American processes and applications. His illustrations and references are drawn about equally from the two sides of the Atlantic. He has brought together a great amount of uaeful information, with an extensive hihliogmphy, covering all aspects of cellulose acetate as a plastic. These include its manufscture, the production of film, sheet and molding powder, its fabrication and hishine. and the soecifio a ~ ~ l i c a t i o nofs its
WILLIAM B. MELDRUM
CHPMIA. VOLUME 3
Editor-in-cbief: Henry M. Leicester. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1950, ix 251 pp. 72 figs. 16 X 24 Em. $4.50.
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THEinternational character of this hiatnriwl annual i~ evident from thc fact that Volume 3 cormins nrticlcr it) four lxnyuap(rs -Eneli~h. - . Fnnch. German, mrl Spanish. This in itnclf makca it almost unique imong &erican~publications. Appropriately enough, the first article, by Henry M. Leicester and Herbert S. Klickstein, deals with the work of the late Tenney L. Davis, the first editor of "Chymia!' It includes a complete bibliography of his contribution to the history of chemistry, which would please Dr. Davis, who insisted upon this feature an a n accompaniment of every good biography. The other outstanding articles deal with: The beginning of chemical instruction in America. This is redly an account of chemistry teaching a t Harvard before 1800, by Bernard Cohen. Lavoisier's experimental apparatus (in French), by Maurice Daumas. Some early American chemical societies. The story of two chemical societies which held sway for a few years in Philadelphia a t the beginning of the nineteenth century is told by Wyndham X,Glnr A.A..ba.
Robert Boyle and Pierre Bayle. George Sarton deals with the lives of these two under the respective subheadings, "Sceptical Chemist" and "Sceptical Historian!' Henri Sainte-Claire Deville. The works of a neglected but brilliant F ~ n e hchemist are recorded by Ralph E. Oesper and Pierre Lemay. Bunsen's "lecture" on general experimental chemistry (in German), by Heinrieh Rheinboldt. T h i ~ was in reality s. course of about 100 loctures which Bunsen nave a t Heidelberg for a d vhis methods and oeliad of 74 consecutive semesters. ~ ~ s t u of hi8 ingenuity in overcoming difficulties will be well rewarding t o present-day teachers of this subject. NORRIS W. RAKESTRAW SC~~P INBTITDT~ON PS OP OOB*NO'~R*PHT LA SOLLA.CAIAFORN~A
0
While the commercial manufacture of acetate rayon began in 1919, the utiliaation of cellulose acetate as a plastic did not lind success until about 10 vears l a t e r a f t e r the development of suitable plttsticizers for it: In the succeeding 20 yea& a wealth of
CELLULOSE ACETATE PLASTICS
Vivian Stannett Temple Press, Ltd., B.owling Grsen Lane. London, E.C.I., 1950. rdv 325 pp. 197 figs. 57 tables. 14.5 X 22 cm. 30/-.
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THIS appears to he the first book devoted entirely to cellulose acetate plastics which, the author states, are the most vorsstile of all plastic materials in methods of application. Cellulose acetate plastics reached in 1946 a peak production in the U. S. A. of 103 million pounds, of which more than 80 per cent was used for molding and extrusion.
properties of cellulose acetate plastics particularly interesting and valuable. This book is written in a clear, intelligible style and the printing, including the many illustrations, is excellent. It can be recommended as a. thorough and authoritative treatment of the subject from the industrial viewpoint. HARVEY A. NEVILLE Lenroa Uxrvsnsrm PENN',YLV*N.*
B.TAL.EEY.
THE CHEMISTRY OF THE ACETYLENIC COMPOUNDS VOLUME II: THE ACETYLENIC ACIDS
0
A. W. Johnson. Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1950. xmii 328 pp. 15 X 22 om. $10.
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Tnrs is the second of a projected series of three volumes reviewing completely the chemistry of acetylenic compounds, presumably exclusive of the acetylenie hydrocsrbans as such. Volume 111is to cover the acetylenie ertrbonyl compounds and miscellrtoeous acetylenic compounds. Volume I: "The Acetylenie Alcohols" was reviewed in THIS JOURNAL, 25, 407 (1948). The comments made there in general apply also to Volume 11. Volume 11, like Volume I, is clearly written, well indexed, thoroughly documented, and minute, and often critical, in its coverage of the literature. The main text surveys the literature through 1948, and an appendix covers most, a t least, of the publications of 1949. This series should he useful both to specialists and to those who desire general information. LAWRENCE H. AMUNDSEN U~rvanarmOP COANBETICDT S ~ o n a sC , omsc~rcm
0
ORGANIC SYNTHESES. VOLUME 30
Editor-in-Chief: Arthur C. Cope, Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. John Wiley and Som, Inc., New 115 pp. 4 figs. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $2.50. York, 1950. vi
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VOLCDII. 30, the I ~ t w in the Wiky Organic S \ ~ ~ t h c sSeries, es was publish~din Septr.ml~:r. Tllv bwk ~ i v e tsl w murt convcniem labor.~rnrymethods for preparing vnrious orga~oicchemical reagents in one-half-pound to five-pound lots, each method being adaptable to large-scale development. This volume, like previ& ones, givesthe equations for the reactions, procedures for production with accompanying notes, and other methods of orenarstion for 39 different oreanic comoounds. The directions have been contributed by 57 dyfferentcoilahoraton in addition to members of the Editorial Board. The suggested directions have heenfurthercheckedorverifiedbycompetentreferenccs. Preparations are listed alphsbetically under common name and Chemical Abstracts indexing names. The subject index comprises material from this volume only, since all previous preparations are listed in Collective Volumes I and 11, or Volume 29.
