VOL.7, No. 4
RECENT BOOKS
plied microscopy, and, of especial interest t o teachers, a synopsis of laboratory practices in the introductory course in chemical microscopy a t Cornell University, together with a key to materials provided for laboratory work. The authors have drawn, not only from their own rich experience gained in years of teaching, research, and forensic work in this particular field, but from every source in the literature, producing a remarkably comprehensive survey of theory and practice in a very concise form. I n addition t o critical comments in the text, there are copious footnotes giving bibliographic references, and many wcllchosen figures, most of them line drawings with a welcome absence of unnecessary detail. The book presents a method of attack on problems of chemical analysis that is comparatively new to most chemists, but deserving of careful study on their pa*. The microscope has been considered as almost entirely the property of the biological laboratory. Even a cursory examination of the present volume should convince the most skeptical that here is a piece of apparatus that should he given a t least as prominent a place in the chemical laboratory as the polariscope, and that students should be as carefully trained in its structure, care, and use as they are in the manipulation of an assay balance. I t is hoped that the second volume will be forthcoming very shortly, as the completed publication will fill a unique and helpful position in the rapidly increasing literature of analytical chemistry. V. A. PEASE BVEBAV 08 CAZMISTRY A N D SOXIS
WASRINGTON, D.C.
Elementary Quantitative Analysis. , Professor C A J.~ E ~ c s ~ o E nPh.D., of Analytical Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh. John Wiley and Sons. 254 Inc., New York City, 1929. xii pp. 8 figures, 16 tables. 15 X 23 cm. $2.75. This hook is a companion volume t o the author's Elementary Qualitative Analy-
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sis. [Compare THIS JOURNAL, 5, 903-4 (July, 1928).] It is written in such a manner as to indicate dearly a wide teaching experience in connection with the subject. It conveys the impression that a course in elementary quantitative analysis might be presented using this text with a minimum of effort on the part of the instructor in charge. Such might well he the case, however, with considerable undesirable influence upon a prospective student of advanced quantitative analysis with leanings toward research in the field. The author has been successful in his formulated intentions "in bringing together in one volume the theor?, the laboratory practice and the calculations of quantitative analysis." "Classroom, laboratory, and self-instruction have been provided for by a careful selection of Procedures. Problems, and Review Questions. These, together with the theory, have been woven into a fabric of the text and closely correlated." In this estimate the term "elementary" should be stressed. The text is divided into three parts. Part I. Fundamental Principles. Part 11. ' Gravimetric Analysis. Part 111. Volumetric* Analysis. There are provided 8 laboratory determinations of gravimetric analysis in Part 11,including a gas evolution analysis of a carbonate and the electrodeposition of copper. Part 111,dealing with volumetric methods, is subdivided into four parts in order: Precipitation Reactions, Acidimetry, Onidation and Reduction Methods, and Iodimetry. There are 8 laboratory determinations involved in Part II, distributed in the sections in the order given as follows: 1, 2, 3, and 2 each. The appendix contains the usual tables of reagents, supplies, and equipment, sample record pages, tables of density, periodic and atomic weight tables and a table of four-place logarithms. The most striking characteristic of this text consists in the fact that one-fourth of the total content deals with the calculations, either explanatory or problem enercises. Another unusual feature is that
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thcre is not a single reference to the literature of quantitative analysis with the exception of that t o two textbooks at the beginning of Chapter IV. Both of these facts lend substantiation to the reviewer's comments in paragraph one above. An elementary text in quantitative analysis fails greatly in its proper scope if the effortstoward brevity are obtained a t the sacrifice of a complete treatment relative t o common sources of error together with means for their prevention or eradication. This holds in case of a failure to stress modifications in procedure t o include determinations of a related nature. The author's failure t o consider these facts may be illustrated in connection with the first gravimetric exercise given, the determination of sulfates. Common interfering substances such as nitrates, ferric salts, and alkali metal salts are not discussed. While similar procedures such as the determination of barium and lead as well as calcium and strontium are mentioned, the student might feel that s u l f u ~ present in the form of sulfate only can be determined by the method given. In this procedure the term colloid is applied t o a finely divided barium sulfate precipitate and a reference t o the discussion of the point of distinction given in the earlier portion of the text only fails t o clear up the matter. The impression is left with the students that impurities in a barium sulfate precipitate (which may be the result of occlusion) are t o be avoided because they are difficult t o wash out of the precipitate (whereas it is impossible t o do so). I t is all very well that the theoretical points such as common ion effectbe well applied to this determination but it is equally important that the practical di&culties and extended applications be equally emphasized. The problem lists are in some cases incompletely covered by illustrative examples in the preliminary discussion. For example, the problems listed on page 51 give trouble because of the use of cases
APRIL, 1930
in which the common ion effect of added products having more than two ions formed by dissociation are incorporated without explanation being previously given of such an example. To be sure the better students will not be troubled by thii failure. The point that such a situation is out of harmony with the general tenor of the text, however, still is apparent. If the author's two texts, both the Qualitative and Quantitative, are t o be com~anion course texts for successive application a t the same institution there is considerable repetitive material. For example, compare the portions in the qualitative text on page 51 and suhsequent pages on the topic "Balancing Equations of Onidation-Reduction by Balance Changes" and "Balancing Equations of Oxidation-Reduction by Electron Transfers," as well as Tables V and VI, with the same material in the quantitative text page 180 and subsequent pages together with Tables VII and VIII. From the last-named table i t might be inferred that series of oxidizing agents: KCIO, KCIOa, KCIO* and KIOI are of eqral applicability, whereas under the same general conditions KClOl bears no resemblance. An elementary text even should keep well up to date in the case of new apparatus, improved methods, and new reagents. I n this regard developments have been practically ignored by the author, Part IIJ being most deficient. Explanations based upon potentiometric applications should he omitted where no more completely treated than in this text. The section dealing with the electro-deposition of copper should have a more general treatment. The part dealing with iodimetry should emphasize the sources of enor more. I t is strongly recommended that in the use of this text a carefully planned series of lecture discussions and illustrative demonstrations be supplied by the instructor in charge. By this plan only may the student use the material as pre~
VOL.7, NO. 4
RECENT BOOKS
The authors make a distinction between chemical physiology and physiological chemistry, no doubt as a justification for the unusual title, which they later nullify by the assertion that the h w k deals with both fields. G. H. W~OLLETT
sented in a manner to justify the time expended. G. FREDERICK Smrm UNWBRSITY OII ILLINOIS URBAN*, ILLINOIS
The Essentials of Chemical Physiology. W. D. HALLIBURTON. M.D.. LL.D.. F.R.S., J. A. HEwrTT, Ph.D., DSc.. W. ROBSON,Ph.D., DSc. Twelfth edition. Longmans, Green & Co.. 55 Fifth Ave., N. Y., 1929. xii 383 pp. 56 illustrations. 1 colored plate. 14 X 211/n cm. W.00. Like the earlier editions this one consists of two parts, an elementary course in thirteen lessons (277 pages) and an advanced course in seven lessons (74 pages). The book is intended t o serve as a "practical guide." The elementary course is of the combined laboratory manual and textbook types, the first part of each lesson being devoted t o laboratory exercises of which all hut four are qualitative. A very large number of subjects are covered in the text making the discussion of each in so small a volume necessarily very brief. The treatment is inclined t o be dogmatic as is perhaps inevitable with such condensed material. Theoretical discussions and the consideration of controversial mattus have been cut almost t o the vanishing point. Graphic formulas though not numerous are correct in all cases except one, obviously an oversight, in the formula for methyl glucoside on page 62. The formula for kynuruic acid (p. 264) and the reversal of formulas for glucose and glucosides occurring on pages 62 and 63 may be confusing t o the student. The advanced course consists altogether of laboratory work and presents a good assortment of quantitative methods. No attempt is made in this part to give a theoretical background. The hook has been well reworked and brought up t o date although some old material, such as the hypobromite method for urea, which might have been discarded, has been retained.
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UNIVBRS~N OF WSSISIPPI UNIYBBSITY, MiSSrSSzPPI
'
Select Methods of Metallurgical Analysis. WlLLIAM ARCHIBALD NAISH. Ph.D. (Eng.), A.R.S.M., B.Sc., F.I.C., M. 1nst.M.M.. Lecturer in Metallurgy, Chelsea Polytechnic, London, and JOHN EDWARD CLENNELL,RSC. (London), Assoc. Inst. M.M. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1930. rii 495 pp. 24 X 15 cm. Figures 32. 87.50. The object of this book is the compilation of selected methods of analpis of both the ordinary and rarer elements chosen for their suitability and accuracy, useful for professional metallurgists, chemists, and students. The hook is self contained in that its Parts I-VI include sampling, qualitative analysis and general methods of solution opd separation; the analysis and dry assay of the individual elements; commercial metals and alloys; ores, slags, and drosses: refractory materials and the proximate analysis of coal; minerals, electrometric titrations, and spectrographic methods. The system of qualitative analysis is largely in table form and includes the rarer elements. Trouble may be encountered by the inexperienced; for example, "Group I is precipitated hy HCI." The book conforms to the British and Colonial usage of red lead in the fir? assays and the I.M.M. screen standards in sieves. Briefness of description makes many of the quantitative procedures suitable only for the experienced chemist. In the decomposition of white metals with HPSOI, separatrd S is not eliminated previous to the KMnOl titration for Sb. Ni is recommended as a reducing agent in the iodide method for Sn but iron nails with a hydrocarbon blank is still given as an alternative. The
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