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N E W BOOKS
The number of slight slips or misunderstandings which have crept in is, considering the involved subject, remarkably small. R. PEIERLS. Gmelins Handbuch d e r anorganischen Chemie. Herausgegeben von der Deutschen Cheniischen Gesellschaft. System-Summer 36: Gallium. 26 x 18 cm.; pp. xviii 100. Berlin: Verlag Chemie, 1936. Price: 13.87 R l l . Previous t o 1915 gallium was so rare as t o be of little general interest. It was then found t o occur in zinc distillation residues, and more recently i t has been extracted from llansfeld copper residues. XIetallic gallium has been used for thermometer filling, since i t is easily superfused and has a high boiling point. Gallium vapordischarge lamps show some promise, and gallium compounds have been used as catalysts and in medicine. -4 comprehensive survey of the chemistry of gallium from the modern standpoint is provided by the present volume, which deals also with the physics of the metal and its compounds. The doubtful compounds are clearly distinguished from those whose existence is well established, and this critical attitude is one of the most valuable features of the handbook as a whole. J. R. PARTISGTON.
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Ginelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie. Herausgegeben von der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft. System-Kummer 37: Indium. 26 x 18 cm.; pp. xviii 116. Berlin: Verlag Chemie, 1936. Price: 15.75 RXI. The uses of indium so far proposed include alloys with tin and gallium for high temperature thermometers, plating or alloying with silver, dental amalgams, and in the form of compounds for coloring glasses and in medicine. A drawback t o its applications is its great rarity and high price. Indium occurs in most zinc blendes and in some other minerals and in metallurgical products. It is found in marked amount (0.01 per cent) in tin and in some rare tin ores. The present volume deals very comprehensively with the occurrence, extraction, and purification of indium, the various sources being covered exhaustively from the point of view of the literature. The properties of the metal are fully discussed, including the nuclear transformations of the atom and the spectra. The analytical chemistry of indium is dealt with. Indium alloys are described, with phase rule diagrams. The compounds of indium are described. The existence of a gaseous hydride is considered improbable and only the oxides InnO, InO, and In203 are regarded as individuals. The halogen compounds include the three chlorides, InCl, InC12, and I n c h . Other compounds are the sulfides and sulfates and the interesting acetylacetonate, In(CsH?02)3. The volume contains a very thorough review of the literature and some previously unpublished communications. It constitutes a valuable monograph on indium.
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J. R.
PARTINGTON.
Gmelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie. Herausgegeben von der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft. System-Summer 59: Eisen. Teil D. Nagnetische und elektrische Eigenschaften der legierten Werkstoffe. 26 x 18 em.; pp. xviii 466. Berlin: Verlag Chemie, 1936. Price: 57.75 RM. The present volume extends the series already published on iron by a very full and up-to-date account of the magnetic and electrical properties of ferrous alloys, many of which are of great technical importance. It is richly provided with tables and curves. Some sections which may be singled out for special mention are those dealing M ith silicon-iron, silicon-carbon steels, chromium and molybdenum steels, nickel steels (“permalloy”), cobalt steels, and the modern cobalt-nickel steels
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