and & m o m E. m, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, U. of Minnesota. Ginn & Company, Boston. First edition, 1927. xvii+l81 pp. 61 figures. 13.5X20.5 cm. $1.20. A laboratory manual written to accompany "General Inorganic Chemistry," by the senior author, reviewed in a recent issue of T m s JOURNAL. "More experiments are included than will normally be performed by any single class. Topics of a diversified nature have been selected to give the instructor choice of material suitable to the purpose of his course. Instead of adhering t o the customary practice of directing students t o use 'a little of this' or 'some of that' reagent, we have thought i t more in keeping with the tenets of an e'xperimental science t o give specific directions wherever possible." The manual includes a set of preliminary laboratory directions, 246 experiments and preparations, and an appendix consisting of 10 pages of necessary tables. The experiments are grouped under the chapter headings of the text which the manual is written to accompany, though in arrangement and subject-matter it is suited for use with any standard college text. The excellent figures should prove of material assistance t o the student in correctly setting up his apparatus. An adequate number of quantitative experiments is included, mostly in the first half of the manual. Each group of experiments is followed by a number of study questions and problems. The material is well arranged and carefully selected, the directions are dear and concise, and the manual, while differing in no essential respect from many another, is excellently adapted for use by beginning students. A. P. BLACK
The book is well divided into four parts, the &st listing the general properties and importance of cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectin and gums; the second consisting of brief descriptions of the micra6rganisms associated with the decomposition of these carbohydrate substances, and including Schizomycetes, Actinomycetes, and Eumycetes; the third dealing with the processes involved in the decomposition of these substances as found in flax and hemp (retting), manure, hay and straw, wood, fabrics, peat and coal, and in the plant destruction in the animal intestine; and the fourth briefly referring t o industrial applications not included in the first three sections. A wealth of information has been condensed into 350 pages, with a few illustrations to augment the brief descriptions of micrc6rganisms. These descriptions are frequently too brief t o serve the worker as the basis for the identification of unknown species, hut the classification can be of much value in dividing the field for the beginner. The. copious literature references will greatly aid the student of the subject and indicate direful and thorough work on the part of the authors. Many weaknesses in the work of the past and the manifold prablems yet unsolved are carefully pointed out. It is not a textbook, but is all that the authors claim, "a comprehensive account of the information available * * * * compiled from the point of view of the research worker who desires t o know in what direction his efforts may most profitably be directed." L. H. JAMBS
A Guide to the Literature of Chemistry. E. J. C&ua am AUSTIN M. PATTERSON. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, 1927. v 438 pp. 14.5 X Microbiology of Cellulose, Hemicelluloses, 23 m. 55.00. Pectin and Gums. A. C. TRAYSEN AND H. 1. BUNKER, Oxford UniverThe hook is not only a "Guide t o t h e sity Press, New York, 1927. viii + Literature of Chemistry," but has sign 363 pp. 13.5 x 22 cm. $8.50. posts along the way. One does not
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