539
NEW BOOKS
literature references are thoroughly covered and no doubt practically all have been seen in the original, as in previous volumes of the work. The mineralogy and geology of barium and the physical properties of the element and its compounds are fully dealt with and the literature includes the year 1932. The book is indispensable both to chemists and physicists and maintains the high standard of previous volumes, J. R. PARTINQTON.
+
W. D. HACKH.viii Structure Svmbols of Organic Compounds. By INGO 139 pp. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Son and Co. Price: $2.50. The author has devised an ingenious set of shorthand symbols for organic compounds, which he advocates as a substitute for-or rather, improvement on-the ordinary structural or graphic formulas using the chemical symbols of the elements and the usual connecting bonds. As a teaching device, the reviewer doubts very much if these symbols would have the value claimed for them, namely, that they make i t possible to include a larger amount of organic chemistry in the usual courses; and it would appear that the new symbols might have the definite disadvantage of getting the student even further away from reality than the usual structural formulas do, since in the new symbols no symbols for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, or oxygen appear’. But as a tool for advanced students and research workers, these new symbols appear highly advantageous, for they amount to a shorthand way of representing the structural formulas and can be written in much less time than even the most abbreviated structural formulas. This, i t seems to the reviewer, is the field in which these symbols have their greatest advantage, and this advantage is a considerable one. The first thirty-five pages of the book are given over to a discussion of the formulas, and then follow twenty-nine plates showing the formulas for about a thousand typical organic compounds. There is an index. LEE IRVIN SMITH. Einfuhrung i n die Tonphotographie. Photographische Grundlagen der LichttonAND R. SCHMIDT.23 x 15.5 cm.; vi 137 pp. Leipaufzeichnung. By J. EQGERT zig: S. Hireel, 1932. Price RM. 7. Card covers. The ear is far less tolerant in judging the reproduction of sound than the eye in judging the scale of intensities in a monochrome photograph. The difficulties encountered in reproducing sound free from distortion are therefore very considerable, and it is partly for this reason that so much experimental work has been carried out to investigate the photographic technique of sound recording. Few people could be found who are in better position to write an explanatory book on this difficult subject than Professor Eggert and Dr. Schmidt. They have been working in this field for some years and have now produced an excellent little book which should be welcomed by all interested in the general problems of photographic sensitometry as well a s by those engaged more narrowly in the actual problems of sound-recording. The book is well printed on good paper; there are one hundred and twenty-two very good illustrations, together with literature and general indexes. S. 0. RAWLING.
+
Handbuch der Spectroscopie. Band VIII, Lieferung 1. By H. KAYSERand H. KONEN. 26 x 18 cm.; i v 654 pp. Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1932. Price RM.67.50. It is now thirty-two years since the first volume of Kayser’s Handbuch was published, and it is interesting to read today in the preface t o that volume the scheme Professor Kayser had in mind for the complete work. The fourth volume was to
+
540
NEW BOOKS
contain the complete account of the emission spectra of each element, with a supplementary volume on experimental methods. He hoped to add a fifth volume to include astrophysical spectroscopy. We signal today the publication of the first part of an eighth volume, which is to be devoted entirely to the emission spectra of the elements. The phenomenal advance in knowledge of emission spectra, which has given rise to the continued expansion of this great treatise, occasions a reflective mood. Whilst one may legitimately wonder what may possibly be the state of knowledge of the spectra of the elements described in the final section of this volume, compared with that of those now dealt with, one cannot but hold up t o admiration the devoted labors of Professor Kayser and Professor Konen and of their six collaborators, which have given to the scientific world a book so urgently needed. The present volume deals with the spectra of the elements from silver to copper, arranged as previously in the alphabetical order of their symbols. I n general, the series terms and individual lines have been expressed in the modern notation, but this has in some cases been impossible. Difficulties arose from the want of agreement amongst authors in the use of the modern system, and also from the want of consistency in its use by individual authors. A conversion to the modern notation was a t times found to be impossible without a re-investigation of the whole spectrum, which would have involved much time and indeed does not lie within the purview of a book which aims a t a faithful presentation of published work. I n these cases the original notation used by the author has been given. I t must be remembered that the present volume is part of a supplementary volume to those already published. Thus in the tables of wave-lengths only those measurements are included which have been published since Volume VI1 was written. Furthermore, the literature references for each element are numbered consecutively to those given for that element in Volume VII. I n general, therefore Volume VI11 should be used in conjunction with Volumes V to VII. Under each element the line and band spectra are dealt with, the latter also as measured in the absorption spectra of such compounds as have been examined. The emission spectra are extended into the very short wave-length region of the x-rays. The measurements of the Zeeman and Stark effects are included of all lines which have been examined, and the Raman effect is also added. As may be readily appreciated, the latter measurements are given only where they stand in immediate relation to the simpler spectra, the broader application to organic compounds being omitted. Lastly there are to be found the measurements of fluorescence and reasonance spectra so far as these have been studied. I n assessing the value of this new volume, an excerpt from the authors’ preface may be quoted as a text. If, they say, there be found some want of uniformity as the result of the collaboration, we believe that this will be far outweighed by the advantage gained both from the more rapid continuation of the work and from the fact t h a t the collaborators are experts in different sections, whilst in these days a single individual can scarcely gain an equal mastery of the whole. As specialization in spectroscopy becomes more narrow, so is one the more pleased to have a t hand a well coordinated and admirably compiled account of the whole field of emission spectra. The literature of the subject is much enriched by its publication. C. C. C. BALY. with an introduction by Dr. W. Noddack. Das Rhenium. By DR. W. SCHROTER, 25.5 cm. x 16.5 cm.; pp. 59. Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke, 1932. Price: RM. 5.50. Though we welcome this account of the earlier chemistry of rhenium i t is, we feel, published at an unlucky moment, Since rhenium became available commercially a number of workers have so extended our knowledge of the element that some parts
