NEW BOOKS The War Gases. By MARIO SARTORI.Preface by G . BARQELLINI.Translated from the second enlarged Italian edition by L. W. MORRISON.6 x 9 in.; xii 360 pp.: 20 figures; 15 tables. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1939. Price: $7.50. This book is a welcome addition to the library of chemical warfare. I t is particularly valuable to students of chemical warfare who have been curious about the chemical, physical, physiopathological, and tactical reasons for the rather small number of chemical agents considered satisfactory for war use by the military services. Doctor Sartori has been careful to present rather completely and clearly the properties that an effective war gas must have. He has not concerned himself with the non-toxic smokes, such as white phosphorus and titanium tetrachloride. He discusses the physiopathological properties and gives data on the relative effectiveness of many of the war gases. The physical and chemical properties are considered with respect to the tactical uses to which the gases might be put and to the ease of manufacture and handling under war conditions. The relationship between chemical structure and aggressive action, including the influence of the halogens, sulfur, arsenic, nitro groups, CN groups, and molecular structure on the war gas properties of chemical compounds are reviewed. He has included several methods of classification,-chemical and tactical,-which have been presented by various workers. The book is most valuable for its complete data on more than sixty elements and compounds possessing properties making them possible war gases. Information is presented for each compound or element on its constitution, on laboratory methods of preparation, on the industrial method of manufacture where the compound has been produced industrially, and on its several properties. M. C. ROGERS.
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Ions, Electrons and Ionizing Radiations. By J . A. CROWTHER.Seventh edition. 6 x 9 in.; xi 348 pp.; 117 figures; 17 tables. New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1939. Price: $4.00. The earlier editions of this work are well known to students of electronics and nuclear physics or chemistry. It is intended as an elementary supplemental text for students who have had an introductory course in physics. The rapid increase in knowledge of the nucleus has necessitated extension of the text to include new sections on neutrons, positrons, and cosmic radiation. S. C. LIND.
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Ezperimental Methods i n Gas Reactions. By A. FARKAS I)ND H . W. MELVILLE. 6 x81 in.; xv 389 pp.; 266 figures. New York:The Macmillan Company, 1939. All who have worked in the field of gas kinetics are familiar with the variety and the difficulty of the techniques that must be employed in preparing and handling gases under all the necessary conditions. The authors have performed a real service in collecting these, classifying them, and bringing them together for the first time under one cover. The treatment is extensive, including kinetic gas theory, collisions, energy dis-
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