technician and, on occasion, t o the teacher who wishes for perfect accuracy in his teaching. The terms by which some of the materials are designated are not the usual American ones, but the lanrmam is clear and intellieihle. The book oueht t o be in every hir~.&ol librarv. ~,I t is iuit the book.. too.. t o .out into the hands of an intelligent person who wishes to be informed of the things that are going on in the world about him, or to examine the claim that chemistry is a dominant factor in determining the character of twentieth century civilization. TENNRY I,. DAVIS ~~~
SYNTHETIC INORGANIC &EMISTRY. Arthur A . Blanchad, Ph.D.. Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Joseph W. Phelan, Ph.D., Late Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, and Arlhur R. Davis. Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry, a t the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fifth edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1936. xii 385 pp. 25 figs. 15 X 23 cm. $3.00 net.
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Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry is designed as "a course of laboratory and classroom study for first-year college students." It was first nublished in 1908. As stated in the refa ace t o the MASS*CA"SBTTS INSTITYTZ OF TIIC"NOLO(~Y lifth edit~on.".4 run4rrabl+ portton of the trxt hrs hew wholly CIIQIUDOE.MASSACHUSP.TTS rvwrittc!l, and the e n t m text has Iwcn suhjrcted to revision nrtd rearrangement. Specific new exercises and discussions which LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. have been introduced include such topics as the determinations Arthur K. Anderson, Ph.D.. Professor of Physiological Chem- of vapor density and molecular weight, the standardization of istry, The Pennsylvania State College. John Wiley & Sons, acidsand the titration of acids and bases, Faraday's law, and Inc., New York City. 1936. vii 224 pp. 20 figs. 15 X 23 cm. the use of the pH scale of hydrogen-ion concentration. Several $1.50. new preparations have been introduced, and a few of the old This hook is designed to serve as a laboratory manual to ac- ones have been discontinued. A complete list of apparatus and company the author's Esrentials of Physiological C h d s l r y , chemicals required in the course has beeu added to the appendix." The textbook is used with the large freshman dass a t the published in 1935, and may therefore be assumed t o be designed for the same group of students as the earlier book, i. c., for Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who should have met students with a Limited background of chemistry and biology. an entrance requirement in chemistry. The entire year's work I t is adapted not only t o the needs of students in home eco- for both laboratory and classroom is outlined in the book. Paees 1-3 nive Directions for Work followed bv Dazes . 18 . . denomics whose interest is primarily in human nutrition, but also to the needs of those desiring a more general course in physiologi- voted t o ~ o t e son Laboratory Manipulation. The manual cal chemistry, premedical students, and students in agriculture, contains eleven chapters entitled as follows: I . The Quantitative biology, or bacteriology. The experiments are not designed for, Aspectsaf Chemistry; 11. Water and Solution; 111. The Theory nor are they suitable t o meet the needs of medical students. of Ionization; IV. The Non-Metallic Elements in Binary ComWith the proper selection of material, as indicated by the author, pounds; V. Alkali and Alkaline Earth Metals; VI. Elements the work may be completed in six hours of laboratory work in one of Group 111; VII. Heavy Metals of Groups I and 11; VIII. The Oxy-Acids and Salts of the Non-Metals; IX. Elements of semester. The questions which follow each experiment are well chosen and Group IV; X. Elements of Group V; XI. Heavy Metals of should stimulate reading of the companion text whose use with Groups VI, VII, and VIII. There are 73 preparations in the manual, and the instructions a manual of this type is t o be assumed. The directions are clear and concise. While the reviewer sympathizes with the desire are clear and adequate. There are also many excellent questions of the author t o avoid anticipating the results which the student and problems. The textbook also contains an extenaivc appendix which gives may be expected t o obtain in the laboratory, he feels, nevertheless, that somewhat more detail in explanation of the conduct much valuable information. Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry is a conservative book. The and purpose of the experiments is desirable. Thus, in the experiments concerned with the formation of osazones on page treatment of the theory of ionization (p. 82) is an example. The 62, some mention of the fact that the osazone derivatives of modern definitions of bases and acids are not given. The recertain sugars form rapidly and are sufficiently insoluble t o viewer has not found much to criticize. On page 74 a mold crystallize out in the boiling solution should stimulate the student solution is defined as follows: "A molal solution contains one mole of dissolved substance in 1 liter of solution, e.g., 40 grams t o more careful observation. An excellent feature of the baok is the inclusion, wherever of NaOH or 98 grams of HdO,." This is pretty generally given possible, of quantitative material rather than the older type of as the definition of a molar solution, while a molal solution is defined as one containing 1 mole in 1400 grams of water. On qualitative experiments. I t is the reviewer's experience that students weary of and ultimately perform perfunctorily the long page 354 one finds the following statement: "The nuclei of all series of the older type of qualitative experiments, but carefully elements consist of closely packed aggregates of protons and electrons." I t is now considered likely that nuclei are built of and enthusiastically carry out even the simpler experiments with a quantitative background. Biological chemistry has beeu slow protons and neutrons. The total mass of the nucleus can be to incorporate such material, particularly in the more elementary accounted for by assuming that the nucleus is composed of courses. Professor Anderson, realizing this need, and also the protons and neutrons. Both authors and publishers have .done their part well. limitations in the preparation of the students for whom the book is designed, has included, t o make good this lack of chemical Synthetic Inorganic Chemietry has been ,one of our standard background, a brief but well-selected series gf experiments an manuals for many years. I t is a book designed to lay a solid foundation in chemistry, and its usefulness will nodoubt be much the fuudamentsls of quantitative procedures. Certain procedures which are not usually classed as chemical rnhanced hy the latest revision. are included, notably, the determinations of the white and red blood cell counts. I t would hardly seem important for students in the preliminary non-medical branches to be taught the difficult differential white blood cell count, whose importance and significance can hardly be understood by them. Similar criticism might be made of the inclusion of the determination of the basal ED~~ATIONAI., ?SYCHOLOGICAL, A N D PBKSONALITY TESTS OP metabolic rate in so elementary a course. 1933, 1934, AND 1935. Oscar K . Buros, Rutgers University. The book should be useful to those who must teach students Published by the School of Education, Rutgers University. without detailed preparation in chemistry and may be recom1936. 83 pp. 15 X 23 cm. Paper-bound, $0.50. mended to those who have neither the time nor the inclination to lormulate their own laboratory directions. Descriptive bibliography; 503 titles. The pamphlet includes HOWARD B. I,F_WIS an introduction, key to classification, publishers' directory and IINIYYSSITY OF MICHIUAN index, and author and titlc indices. .\vv Aasoa. M I C H I C . , \
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