JOURNAL OF CHEIMICSL EDUCATION
952
APRIL,1930
I t will not only be read with pleasure but used with profit by the constantly growing number of chemists who realize the economy of time and material brouxht about by the use of chemical methods on a microsco~icalscale,augmented by optical measurements on small amounts of material which indicate chemical methods to be used in mass analysis or which corroborate data already obtained by sucb means. Volume I as stated in the preface, has been confined t o a discussion of optical principles, manipulative methods of general application, and the observation of physical and physico-chemicalphenomena. Volume 11, which is in course of preparation, will include chemical reactions as studied under the microscope, with particular reference to inorganic qualitative analyses, and with emphasis upon the time- and labar-saving features of the methods, rather than upon the sensitivity of th2 selected tests. The text is based upon cowses, both elementary and advanced, that have been U K l V B R E l T V OF C l N C r N N I T l given far a number of years, and that CINCINNATI, OHro have been a mecca not only for research s t u k n t s but for practical workers in inHandbook of Chemical Microscopy. Vol- dustrial laboratories. The first two chapume I. Principles and Use of Micro- ters include a thorough discussion of the scopes and Accessories. Physical optical system of the microscope, and deMethods for the Study of Chemical scriptions of special microscopes for differProblems. EMIW MONNIN CHAMOT, ent types of work. Chapters 111 t o VI B.S., Ph.D., Professor of Chemical deal with light sources, the illumination Microscopy and Sanitary Chemistry, of transparent and opaque objects, equipand CLYDE WALTER MASON, A.B., ment and methods for the preparation of Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemical materials for microscopic study, observaMicroscopy, both of Cornell University. tion of physical properties, and interpreJohn Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, tation of appearances. Of especial in1930. xiii 470 pp. 162 figures. terest are Chapters VII t o X, on ultra14.8 X 22.7 an. $4.50. microscopy, photomicrography and microThis is the first volume of a two-volume projection, the study of doubly refracting publication, based on and intended t o materials by means of the polarizing supersede the senior author's "Elementary microscope, and chemical crystallography. Chemical Microscopy," which has been, Chapters X I to XI11 take up microscopic since its publication in 1921, the main measurements, including refractive indeterminations, and dependence of student, teacher, and dices,. particle-size . practical worker in its field. The present the quantitative analysis of heterogeneous includes a list work has been entirely rewritten, greatly mixtures. The appendix ~. of reference books and journals on apexpanded, and brought down t o date.
The material is treated too superficially and it is spread so thin that there is hardly enough substance provided for the layman. The professional chemist, of course, reads much into the limes, but that isn't playing quite fair. The book opens with the Stone Age and really closes with the latest applications of catalysis. The last chapter deals with ~ h ~ m i s tin r yAmerica. Almost everybody of note and a large proportion, of the things of importance are given a t least a line. The author has wisely appended a list of references for those whose appetites have been whetted. The reviewer frankly wonders how the lay mind reacts to such brief treatment of many of the topics. The terse delineations of the political, economic, and literary conditions prevailing a t some of the great milestones in chemical history are well done. Mr. Harrow is capable of better things. He knows his chemical history and he has a facile pen. May his next furrow be deeper and not quite so wide. RALPHE. OESPER
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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
