sulfide and convert it t o a sulfate and cannot he considered tests in the usual sense of the word. This may be more or less confusing until the student becomes adjusted to it. The anions are separated into four groups using the reagents calcium nitrate, barium nitrate, zinc nitrate, and silver nitrate. The soluble anions and nitrates are treated separately. The scheme for these, according to the authors, is taken essentially from that given in the J O ~ N AOF L CHEMICAL EDUCATION, 12, 586 (1935). Each p u p separation is followed by a report sheet and a question and answer sheet, both of which are arranged for making a carbon copy. Part I11 gives a systematic outline for both the cations and anions and is provided with flow sheets to guide the student through the intricacies of the procedure. Even in these comprehensive tables several tests are generally given for each ion. I t would seem better to designate the test considered the best and list the remainder as alternatives, as is done in some cases. Organic reagents are frequently used in the confirmatory tests and cvanides find several aoolications. The wisdom of addine KCN to 3Ci
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INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL RHEOWGY. G e q e W. Smlt Blair. P. Blakiston's Son & Co.. Inc., Philadelphia, Penna., 1938. 12 X 18.5 cm. $2.25. This small book, six by five inches, is the smallest treatise on this suhject. Mr. Scott Blair has had practical experience with the different subjects of which he treats. I t is not a t all obvious that water, the mud used in drilling, asphaltic products, all follow independent laws. That Mr. Scott Blair can make this camplicated subject clear in one hundred forty pages of so small a format is a distinct advantage t o the technical reader because the whole subject is reduced to a small compass in fairly easy reading.
GENERAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. Frederick C. Imin, B.S., Professor of Chemistry, and G. Ray S h e m o d , Ph.D.. Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Wayne University. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., Inc., Philadelphia, Penna., 1939. x 582 pp. 95 figs. 14 X 21 em. 63.50. A preliminary edition of this hook in lithoprinted form was reviewed in the JOURNAL oa CHEMICAL EDUCATION, 15, 348 (July, 1938). Thechapter headingsof the present printed edition are identical with those of the earlier edition as listed in that review. This fact along with such statements as "the production of this plant is being increased this year (1937)" (page 111) leads the reviewer t o believe that this is not a revised edition. There are few typographical errors. One on page 31 might he confusing to beginning students, "Potassium nitrate plus heating gives potassium nitrate plus oxygen." I t seems unnecessary to have a spectra plate in black and white (page 366) when there is one in colors (facing page 358). A few of the diagrams are poor, although in general they are adequate. The treatment of most of the topics is brief but fulfils the pur-
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pose of the authors to supply "the necessary material for a year of college chemistry." GEORGE A. SCHERER E A ~ L ~CA ow N~ o e INDIAN*
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PRACTICAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY.Frederick George Mann, Sc.D. (Cantah.), DSc. (Lond.), F.I.C., and Bernard Chnrles Saunders, M.A., Ph.D. (Cantah.), B.Sc. (Lond.). Second Edition. Longmans, Green and Co., New York City, 1939. xiii 418 pp. 14 X 22 cm. $2.75. This laboratory manual of organic chemistry is the second edition of a book which appeared in London first in 1936, and in its second edition in 1938. It was "compiled primarily to cover the work required for Part I of the Natural Sciences Tripos a t Cambridge University, the General B.Sc. course a t London Uuiversity, and the Pass Degree courses a t other Universities." The book is divided into five sections, and each will he considered in turn. Part I (thirty-six pages) deals in an elementary way aith the more w m n m n mcthodr :and mmipulations of the organic inhor~torv 'l'hi.; swtion is nrither trtenjivc cnough nor detnilcd rnough to make i t uccful in other thjn a n elementary course. Part I1 (one hundred sixty-four pages) consists of directions for the preparation of a number of typical organic compounds. These preparations have been so selected that they furnish the student with a good general picture of the preparative side of organic chemistry. Discussion of the generality of the process tinder consideration and of other methods of accomplishing the same end are to be found accompanying many of the preparations. The preparations have been chosen with an eye to keepins the cost of startinr " materials at a minimum. Part I11 (seventy-nine pages) is entitled "Reactions and Identification of Organic Compounds." I n this section is found a discussion of the reactions of the more common classes of organic compounds, and a scheme for identifying the members of a very limited list of substances. This section does not pretend to offer a complete course in qualitative organic analysis, hut rather t o present material which should serve as an excellent preparation for a more extended course later on. Part IV (seventy-seven pages) is devoted to "Quantitative Analysis." Here are described, in the order in which they would be applied to a newly discovered substance, the quantitative determinations common to the organic laboratory. In addition to the usual descriptions of quantitative procedures for elementary analysis, and for molecular weight determination, a number of other methods are discussed, e. g., the estimation of amino acids. of cane sugar. of urea. of formaldehvde, - . of elucose. . . of acetvl groups, and so forth. This section of the book is particulariy well done. Part V (twenty pages) describes "Simple Enzyme Reactions." This section is of particular importance to premedical students and to those who intend to follow biochemistry. Catalysis by enzymes is illustrated by simple experiments dealing with a lipase, diastase, ptyalin, sucrose, emulsin, zymase, trypsin, urease, a dehydrogenase, a peroxidase, and carbonic anhydrase. Experiments of this kind are given briefest mention in most laboratory manuals. W e are inclined t o think that this innovation is worth-while; if it does nothing else, it should impress upon the student the fact that an organic reaction can be promoted in other ways than by the heat of a burner. The balance of the book is taken up by directions for the preparation of reagents, for first-aid treatment and by the customary tables, which include a four-place table of logarithms. If one desires a laboratory manual containing the unique combination of er~erimentalwork described above. this book can be highly recornmendcd. Dirrrtiuns are clcar, thr experiments are well r l w c n from the standpom of diverXmtiun xnd rcunumy, and there i i a n dcquatc dwussicln of thc gcnr.mlity uf the ,,rocesses studied
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