OCTOBER, 1953 0
537
THE COMPOSITION AM) ASSAYING OF MINERALS
John Stewart-Remington and Wilfrid Francis. William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., London; Philosophid Library, Inc., New York, 1953. viii 127 pp. 14.5 X 22.5 cm. $5.50.
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THIS thin volume "relates primarily to the chemical composition of minerals, with the object of providing a handy guide to their qualitative and quantitative examination that is suitable for use by mineralogists, metallurgists, geologists, chemists in mine laboratories, and students in 8chools, technical colleges, and universities." The book is divided into five parts: I, Qualitative Examination, 9 pages; 11, Metallic Minerals, 89 pages; 111, Typical Assays of Ores, 9 pages; IV, Non-Metallic Minerals, 11 pages; V, General Chemied and Mathemsticel Data, 9 pages. I t also contains a folded table of a general qualitative analysis scheme for metals. There is no index. The emphasis is on the metals and for each is given short deecriptions of some of the minerals, several qualitative tests, and one or more prooedures for quantitative assay. Most of the analyses are b y wet assay methods, although a few dry assays are described. Spot tests and spectrographic methods are not described. Chemical equations for the reactions involved in analyses are given. The treatment of minerals is of uneven quality and contains a number ol mistakes. Microdine, KAISi8Os is referred to as a "tricsleium potash felspsr" (page 110). Perhaps they meant tricliuic. Amethyst is erroneously =signed to corundum on page 51 and correctly to quartz on page 108. Rhodonite is listed as a mangmess mineral and rhodoehrosite is not listed. Most of the mineral localities are British, as ia proper for a British book, but soverd of those given for the United States are rela-
of silicate minerals in the ite (page 112). The &ositi'&s table an pages 113, 114 are too much simplified. The chief value of the book lies in the compact and clear statement of procedures and analytical schemes.
the element and its oompounds, but the Gmelin is s. far better and more definitive reference book. Barksdale has numerous references to the literature thst %re conveniently oollected in an appendix and is supplied with a helpful index. The Gmelin has even more numerous references, but they are interposed into the sentences themselves, which makes for harder reading, and is supplied with only a table of contents in lieu of an index. It may be harder to dig information out of the Gmelin, but it contains more. For example, barium titanate is now recognized arr a useful piezoelectric material. Gmelin has devoted 20 pages of fine print to the compound and its behavior in five crystalline modifications, of which about two pages are concerned with its piezoelectric behavior. Barksdale has about five pages on this compound, scattered throughout the book, and does not mention the piezoelectric phenomenon. The situation is similar with other somewhat less familiar, albeit simple titanium compounds, such as the monoxide (TiO) and the nitride (TiN). On the subject of cutting tools and other products based upon alloys of titanium carbide (Tic), on titanium dioxide (TiOz) pigment, and on other products which have important commercial applications, on the other hand, Barksdale has excellent chapters. These comparisons are not intenderi t o be disparaging, but to emphasize the demands made upon an author who is putting outs. book that must be a commercial success, in comparison with those placed upon an institute committee to publishing all the known information about one of the elements and its compounds. This emphasizes the need in the United States for an institute (passibly the National Science Foundation?) which can sponsor handbooks eompactble to Gmelin and Beilstein. The excellence of this volume on titanium is in keeping with the high standards set by the Gmelin Institute. Every phase of titanium chemistry and technology is considered, with the usual prolific references to the literature. Obsolete information has been weeded out and the literature has been carefully reviewed through 1949. It is obviously an essential addition to any library which purports to cover the field of chemistry. LAURENCE 5. FOSTER B E ~ M O NM*SB*CRUBETTB T.
.4LONZO W. QUINN RROWNUNLVERBITT
Pnovroeme. RHODEIBLAND
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GMELINS HANDBUCH DER ANORGANISCHEN CHEMIE. SYSTEM 41: TlTAN Edited by Eric Pietsch. Eighth edition. Verlag Chemie, GMBH, 481 pp. 100 figs. 17.5 X Weinheim, Germany, 1951. xxii 25.5 cm. $27.20. (Available through Walter I. Johnson, Inc., 125 E. 23rd St., New York 10, N. Y.)
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IT IS inevitable t h s t the new issue of Gmelins Handbuch on titanium should be compared with Jelks Barksdale's "Titanium"' whioh appeared two years ago. In the period between these two publications, titanium as a metal hs9 come of age. While the basic technology for the production of titanium had been worked out, oommercial production had hardly begun when Barbdale completed his manuscript. The Gmelin treatise, s book as one of its zeneral references. has whirh ~ m Barksdale'~
reflect entirely different concepts of techniesl hook production. One is a commercial venture supported b y the author, who has put countless hours into the preparation of the manuscript, and b y thepuhlisher, who hasgambled a.considerable sum of money t o put it on the market. The other is a typical German handbook, compiled by a competent staff which works for a salary, supported by the chemical industry both here and abroad, and sponsored by a. famous institute. The Barksdale book (besides being in English) is a readable, informative, and competent treatment of I Reviewed in rnrs JouaNA', 27, 290 (1949).
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY. VOLUME X: PENTACENE TO POLYMETHINE DYES
Edited by Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer, Professors and Heads, Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, respedively, at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. Assistant Editors, J a n e t D.Scottand Anthony Standen. The Interscience ,976 pp. 19 X 27 Encyclopedia, Inc., New York. 1953. xvi cm. $25.
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IN1947 Volume I of E.C.T. appeared with the promise thet two volumes would be published s n n u d y until the set of ten volumes was complete. The editors have laborcd nobly to try to maintain this publication sehodule, hut the amount of excellent material just could not be condensed to ten volumes. Fortunately, they believed it better to increase the number of volumes than to condense and eliminate the encyclopedia material. This policy has extended the time necessary for completion of the set, but has increased appreciably the value of E.C.T. Not since the letter "C" has so much appeared under one letter heading. The P's carry a wealth of industrial chemical items running from perfumes (33 pages) to polymers (15 pages). Between these two entries are found sections on petroleum (I39 pages), phenolic resins and plrtstics (35), phosgene and derivatives ( l l ) , phosphoric acids and phosphate3 (10), phosphorus and alloys (20), pigments (83), plasticizers (32), plastics (21), plywood ( l l ) , economic poisons (7), polishing mater~als(15), polyamides (22), and polyethylene (19). I t might appear that the sections on plastics (21) and polymers (15) arc rather brief for these important subjects. "Plastics" covers briefly the entire field and gives cross references to the particular items which deal specifically with special item, as phenolic resins and plastics (35). "Polymers"' covers the theory and
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