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electrons through gases at moderate down to very low pressures. These are by no means the least coy or elusive of the more out-of-the-way data of physics, and their tracing down, even in relatively simple special cases, taxes or overtaxes the resources even of a large library. I n many sections of the subject, sufficiently precise and extended numerical data were practically nonexistent a few years ago, and all workers-even those favored ones who have enjoyed the help of a more experienced hand in the same laboratory-must have felt acutely the need for tables of the kind now under review. The book therefore undoubtedly fills‘a serious gap in the literature. The completeness of the filling can only properly be judged after prolonged use of the book in the laboratory. The less stringent test of a fairly close inspection reveals no serious omissions or errors in the work, which contains not only a comprehensive summary of the relevant properties of atoms, molecules, electrons, ions, and photons, but also the equivalent of “workshop hints” on the materials in common use in discharge tubes, and on high vacuum technique, together with a useful collection of mathematical formula and tables. Some minor criticisms may be offered, mainly on p a t t e r s of form; for instance, the unjustifiable piling up of unsignificant figures on some of the data, and the habit of referring the more inquisitive reader to the Handbuch der Physik or similar works, and not to the original papers. These points do not however affect the general utility of the book. The price is somewhat high, especially in sterling, but the book, with its elaborate tables and large number of specially drawn curves, cannot have been a cheap one to produce. H. R. ROBINSON. Rontgenoskopie und Elektronoskopie von dispersen Systemen, Faden, Filmen, und Grenzschichten. Sonderheft der Kolloid-Zeitschrift, Bd. 69, H. 3. Edited by Wo. Ostwald (12 contributors). 27 x 19.5 cm.; 138 pp. Dresden and Leipeig: Steinkopff, 1935. Price: 9 RM (stiff paper cover). This volume presents the contributions of Ostwald, Schiebold, Brill, Fricke, Halle, Astbury, Hofmann, Saupe, Wever, Rupp, Trillat, and Bruche t o the General Meeting of the Kolloid-Gesellschaft in Hanover in September, 1934. It provides a useful and authoritative general sketch for those wishing to acquire some familiarity with these comparatively new applications of x-ray and electron optics, with some hundreds of references to original papers which will be invaluable to those whose interests are more specialized. H. R. ROBINSON. Dizionario di Chimica generule e industriale. Volume 11. F-2. By MICHELEGIUA AND CLARA GIUALOLLINI. 29 x 20 cm.; iii, 71 1137 pp. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1934. Price : 175 lire. This second, and final, volume of the Dictionary of Chemistry, containing 54 more pages of text than the first volume, covers the headings F-Z. Thus it is evident that, even when allowance has been made for the difference in the Italian alphabet, the matter i n this volume has been more condensed than in the previous one. The second volume contains 23 full page plates and 521 illustrations in the text, as against 28, and 565, respectively, in the first. I n addition, the second volume includes 71 pages of comprehensive index t o the whole, 2 pages of corrections, and a list of journals with their quoted abbreviated titles. The dictionary is comprehensive, dealing not only with pure chemistry, but also
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its application and connection with agriculture, biology, medicine, geology, etc. ;i t includes also biography. The biographies number altogether some 722 (living chemists have not been included); in many cases these are very brief, e.g., only 4 lines are devoted to Volta and rather more to Faraday, although fairly full references are appended to each from which fuller information may be sought. Further, in the case of the former, more information is found in the text under such headings as galvanic pile, electrochemistry, methane, and eudiometry, the cross references to which are not quoted in the biography. Among the biographies one notices names like Marsh, Kipp, and Selmi, but the absence of others, e.@;.,Hooke, Mayow, Watson, Hales, Rayleigh, and LeChatelier. A special feature has been made of phaae rule diagrams, especially in the case of metals; this is to be expected as the authors had previously published a book on chemical combination among metals, which was translated into English by Robinson in 1918. Branches of chemistry especially important to Italy are detailed with much valuable information, e.g., vegetable and essential oils, mercury and its medicinal preparations, marbles etc. The high standard of production of the previous volume has been fully maintained in the present one, and the whole constitutes a mine of interesting and accurate information. W. H. PATTERSON. Arsenical and Argentiferous Copper. By J. L. GREGIG, with a foreword by H. Foster Bain. American Chemical Society Monograph. 189 pp. New York: The Chemical Catalog Co., Inc., 1934. Price: $4.00. This monograph was prepared a t the Battelle Memorial Institute under the sponsorship of the Calumet and Hecla Consolidated Copper Co. The author has made a thorough survey of the existing literature on the properties of arsenic- and silver-bearing copper and copper alloys, and in this monograph gives a detailed and critical discussion of the literature. He has not been satisfied with simply quoting the literature; he discusses i t a t length and attempts to explain the discrepancies and to bring out the correct facts and figures. I n this he was considerably aided by use of hitherto unpublished data of research work done a t Battelle and a t the laboratories of the Calumet and Hecla company. Not only has the author made a n admirable review and summary of the literature, but he has added to i t valuable new material. It is unfortunate that some of the curves have been reduced too much in printing, making i t rather difficult to read them correctly. The reviewer is in agreement with the foreword that “The monograph constitutes one of the most authentic and complete, as it is certainly themost up-to-date, of compendiums on the properties and uses of the metals. Nowhere else will so much modern knowledge of this ancient metal be found in so few pages.” S. SKROWRONSKI. DEFAY. xi f 372 Etude thermodynamique de la tension super$cielle. By RAYMOND pp. Paris: Gauthier-Villars & Cie., 1934. This book offers a detailed study of the thermodynamic treatment of capillary phenomena and of adsorption, applied not only to systems in equilibrium but also t o irreversible transformations. Reaction velocity, catalysis, and velocity of adsorption are included in the topics treated by the author. The thermodynalnic methods of Th. de Donder furnish a basis for much of the discussion. This book can be commended to the attention of all serious students of the matters treated by the author. F. H. RIACDOUCALL.
