NEW BOOKS Thermochemie. By DR. W. A. ROTH. 102 pp.; 15 figs. Sammlung Goschen. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter and Co., 1932. Price: RM. 1.62. This small volume by a skilled experimenter in the field contains an excellent, condensed treatment of thermochemical practice. Students who desire to become acquainted with the best methods of attacking thermochemical problems will find this book of considerable value Even the experienced thermochemist will find many useful hints scattered through this volume. The author has included a short treatment of thermodynamics. Thermochemical data appear only as illustrative material. F. H. MACDOWALL.
Diainario d i Chimica Generale e Industriale. Volume I, A-E. By PROF.MICHELE 1082 pp. Turin: Urime GUIA AND DR. CLARAGIUA-LOLLINI.29 x 20 cm.; ii Tipografico-Editrice Torinese (Utet), 1933. Price: L. 165. This is a formidable first volume of a Dictionary of Chemistry, concerned not only with the theoretical aspects of the science, but also with its varied application to agriculture, biology, pharmacy, geology, and mineralogy. The whole, when completed, will be no small achievement for only two authors. I n view of the existence of other seemingly similar compilations, e.g., Thorpe or Ullmann, each the combined work of many specialists, the question may he asked, what is there to justify this new work, apart from its being Italian and up to date? The answer is that it covers new ground. The information given under each heading is, in the main, comprehensive, without very great detail, and is in general stated so simply that anyone without special knowledge of chemistry can get valuable information from it. A t the same time useful references are appended for anyone who requires more. The inclusion of short biographies of past chemists, from the earliest times, and technologists of later date, and the large part of the work devoted to chemical theory and pure science, differentiate it from the dictionaries or encyclopedias dealing only with applied or technical chemistry. Indeed another Italian compilation is probably the only one on similar lines, Le., Nuova Enciclopedia d i Chimica, founded by Guareschi and continued by others in thirteen volumes. I n the volume under review much is open to criticism, chiefly on the ground that subjects are inadequately dealt with. More modern work is often omitted, e.g., molecular association is chiefly devoted to the work of Ramsay and Shields, or under such headings as catalysis, etc. On the other hand, many good accounts are given, e.g., of the history of the atomic theory, crystal form, chemical affinity, etc. On the technical side the detail given is not always distributed proportionately to the importance of the subject considered, but, as is to be expected, materials important to, or products of, Italian industry are exceptionally well done, e.g., boric acid. This first volume contains twenty-eight tables and five hundred and sixty-five illustrations. Should the succeeding volumes maintain the high standard already achieved, the whole should prove a useful and necessary work of reference. W. H. PATTERSON.
+
L’Azkotropisme. L a tension de vapeur des mdlanges de liquides. Bibliographie. By 264 pp. (Printed on one side of the paper MAURICELECAT.24.5 x 16 cm.; viii only). Brussels: Lamertin, 1932. Price: 15 belgas. Azeotropy is a subject of increasing importance both in the research laboratory 825
+
826
NEW BOOKS
and in industry, and the determinations of the vapor pressures of mixed liquids have important theoretical implications at the moment. Professor Lecat has made an exhaustive study of the literature of azeotropism, and has himself examined over two thousand mixtures and discovered a great many azeotropic mixtures. Before the appearance of this volume the literature and details regarding the phenomena were collected by him in a volume published in 1918 having almost the same title as the book under review. The data in Professor Sidney Young’s well-known book Distillation Principles and Processes (1922) and also in the International Critical Tables, Vol. 111,p. 318 (1928), were based largely on this former volume, and we are referred to i t in the Tables for further details and literature regarding the azeotropic systems there cited, each system being given a number termed Lecat’s number. The volume under review contains a list, in alphabetical order, of the authors of papers and other publications on azeotropism and the vapor pressures of liquid mixtures. The complete reference with the full title of the paper or book is given. A second more concise list arranges the works chronologically, and gives an abbreviated reference. A third list gives the journals and books, already quoted in the previous lists, in alphabetical order. Cross references are given in both of these to the first list. All the lists are printed on one side of the paper only. As is only to be expected in a work of this kind, there are a few omissions in the later years. I n the preface we are promised shortly another book entitled Tables d’ankotropes hinaires, and it is probable that these tables will contain the azeotropic mixtures arranged by subject, and will therefore be a necessary companion volume to this one. Professor Lecat should have our thanks for having carried through an enormous task most successfully. It will be a welcome addition to the shelves of all chemical libraries. D. C. JONES.
Third and Final Report of the Adhesives Research Committee. By the Adhesives Research Committee appointed by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 24 x 15 cm.; v 109 pp. London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1932. Price: 2/6. The third and final report of the Adhesives Research Committee contains the report proper, together with three appendices. Appendix I describes the final stages of the work conducted by Mi-. Douglas and Miss Pettifor a t the Royal Aircraft Establishment on the mechanical testing of timber-glue joints. Appendix I1 reports further progress in the work conducted by the late Professor Schryver and his collaborators a t the Imperial College of Science and Technology on the chemistry of gelatin. Appendix I11 describes further investigations into the nature of adhesion by Professor McBain, with Dr. Lee, a t Bristol University, and later a t Stanford University. Most of the work described in the appendices has appeared already in various publications. The later stages of the research dealt with in Appendix I are given more fully here, and the conclusions of the authors as to the best type of test-piece, the most suitable timber, and the procedure best adapted for reducingin number the many experiments necessary to arrive at a representative value for a certain glue, are given with complete tabulated experimental results, and numerous illustrations. Appendices I1 and 111 both contain discussions of work of great interest t o chemists. Professor Schryver (with Dr. H. W. Buston) describes in ageneral way his work on the purification of gelatin, and gives a more detailed account, in chronological order, of the work done on the intramolecular changes that gelatin undergoes. A short section is devoted t o the methods of protein analysis, but this part of the work remains incomplete. Appendix 111is divided into six parts, the heads to which give a rough idea of the comprehensiveness of the treatment by Professor McBain. Part I is a general survey of the new results; Part I1 contains the work on pure chemical
+
