NEW BOOKS Physical Constants of Hydrocarbons. By GUSTAV EGLFF. 9 x 6 in.; 403 pp. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1939. Price: $9.00. The author has set an ambitious goal for himself in undertaking to assemble the physical constants of all hydrocarbons. As he himself remarks, this field has been developed a t such a rapid pace in recent years that the older reference works have not only become entirely inadequate for our present-day needs but also do not summarize a large volume of information available in the more recent literature. This first volume covers the paraffins, olefins, acetylenes, and other aliphatic hydrocarbons. Two other volumes which are to follow will contain the physical constants of all the remaining classes of pure hydrocarbons, and the fourth volume will bring out existing interrelationships in the form of an analysis designed to disclose possible errors in experimental values for individual compounds and t o permit the prediction of the physical properties of hydrocarbons which are as yet unknown or not investigated. The present series gives (1) melting points, ( 8 ) boiling points, (3) specific gravities, and ( 4 ) refractive indices. Additional studies are under way, aiming toward subsequent compilations of data on the following: critical pressures, temperatures, and volumes; viscosities, surface tensions, and specific heats; heats of formation, of vaporization, and of fusion; free energies, entropies, parachor values, and octane numbers. The author has made use of all available sources of information and thinks that he has succeeded in incorporating all data available to November, 1938. However, those who will be using this book for reference purposes will appreciate how nearly impossible i t is to incorporate everything in such a survey, and, rather than be overcritical in regard to any omissions that they may find, they should gladly c e p e r a t e with Dr. Egloff in his appeal for communications in regard to missing data. The author has undoubtedly done the right thing in adopting the Geneva system of nomenclature. However, readers who have not been brought up on this system will have no difficulty in orienting themselves, for the corresponding structural formulas are given in all case8. That the Geneva system is not always so clear and simple as i t was designed to be, is brought out by Dr. Patterson’s interpretation of it, as quoted verbatim by the author. Thus, the illustration given to bring out the meaning of rule 6 is obviously a violation of the subsequent rule 7. In his interpretation of the Geneva system, Dr. Patterson doubts that the replacement of “ethylene’’ by “ethene” will ever become general and considers i t unlikely that the timehonored “acetylene” will be replaced by “ethyne.” Dr. Egloff has solved this difficulty by going halfway in that, for some unknown reason, he has rejected our old friend “ethylene” but has retained “acetylene.” The author’s review of the methods employed in the critical evaluation of the data and in the calculation of the most probable values s e e m very convincing and should be satisfactory for most purposes. By such a systematic study and recalculation of available results, i t has been possible for him to give us comparable values for the various hydrocarbons on which sufficient data are available. The data that are considered most reliable are shown in boldface print. In some instances, i t haa undoubtedly been difficult t o select the most reliable data. Thus, in the case of 953
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butadiene-l,3, the author had to choose between Kistiakowsky’s boiling poinb ef -4.51’C. a t 757 mm., as determined in 1938, and that of -2.6’C. a t 780 mm., aa determined by Grosse in 1937, and so he has preferred to omit the boldface. There is a natural tendency to examine a volume of this kind with a rather critical mind, and the present reviewer is no exception in this respect. However, if the work has any shortcomings, these are not a t all obvious. On the contrary, university workers and industrial people alike-who are in any way concerned with the properties of hydrocarbons-will find this compilation most useful as a reference work, and they should be thankful to the author for having made available to them the sources of information a t his disposal. Any errors that may have crept in during the assembling and transcription of data cannot be detected in a preliminary review. It remains for the users of this reference work to express an opinion on that point. In the meantime, the reviewer notes with satisfaction that Dr. Egloff has a t least done away with certain frequently quoted erroneous data, such as some of the values which have appeared for the melting point of butadiene and for the boiling point of pentene-1.
PERK. FROLICH. Proceedings of the Sixth Summer Conference on Spectroscopy and its Application. 6 x 9 in. ; 5 figures; vii 172 pp. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1938. Price: $3.00. The Technology Press has published in the present volume in somewhat condensed form the thirty-one papers presented a t the Sixth Summer Conference on Spectroscopy held a t the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in July, 1938. The applications to varied fields are well represented, as well as the theoretical aspects. The discussions are not reproduced. 5. C. LIND.
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The Principles of Electrochemistry. By DUNCAN A. MACINNEB. 478 pp.; 150 illustrations. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1939. Price: $6.00. In the preface the author emphasizes that the “subject of electrochemistry has become so extended” that i t ww necessary to “severely limit the range of topics considered.” Accordingly, the author has confined himself to the principles of electrochemistry of aqueous solutions,-in particular, very dilute solutions. His treatment of these has been most thorough and is based on many years of careful application to the subject. In the twenty-four chapters the following topics, among others, are considered: the laws of Faraday, electrolytic conductance, electrolytic transference, the principles of thermodynamics, the Debye-Huckel theory, concentration cells, standard electrode potentials, determination of pH, electrometric titrations, the dielectric constants of liquids, electrokinetic phenomena, and pasbivity and overvoltage. Most of the experimental data referred to in the book are of relatively recent origin, having been obtained during the last ten or fifteen years. To all interested in the physical chemistry of solutions this book is highly recommended. COLING . FINK.
