NEW BOOKS Commercial Organic Analysis. .I Trciifisc oii flic I’ropwti’cs, .\fotics of Assnj’iiig, mid P ~ Y iJi i cXl t c~ .I i i i i l ~ t i c i i iI ~ ~ ~ i i i i i i i a t i oofi zf / i e I-urious Orgaiiic Chcmiccrls ntzd P r o d i i c f s Emplowti iu tlic A y t s , . \ f ~ i i i ~ ~ j ~ ~ c t u.lIediciizc, rcs, Etc. l i y .41fWli H . Allcil, Th:rd Edlfi~liZ,1 i f f c i i 1 1 n d 1.c:,:.ccii. Volunzc I I , P a r t I I I . Acid D c r i e a f i ‘ v s of PIic.izols, .1ro?nufic A c i d s , Rcsiii s, iiizd Essciitinl Oil?. Rez’iseti bq’ flzc L4zi1~zovaiiil :1r?ioIil Xoii rhl, 7‘ciiikaud. r j X 23 cm; @$.xiz I 547. Philaticlfiliia: I ) . L3liihistu1i’s S o i l c“ Co,, 1907. Price: $,j.oo ?zct.--In the preface of this volume Mr, Tankard states: “The compilation of this w l u m e \vas commenced as long ago as 1898by its author, h u t owing tci ill health the \\-cirk made only slow progress. l l r , Allcn’s untiiiiel>- death at a comparatively early age was deeply regretted by a11 clieniists, and especially ljy workers in the domain of Xpplied Chemistry. His recognized great ability and his untiring energy secured for this treatise a unicjuc i is it ion anion:. the standard \vorks on cheniical anall-sis. -4fter his lamented death in 1904, I undertook the completion of the volume-a task carried out in ready obedience to a special and last request of the author, \vho realizctl tliat he hiinself could nor see the final completion of liis work.” Mr, Tankard lias done liis work in ii most creditable manner and has produced n \-cilume \vhich compares very favorably with the earlier ones of this very vn1ual)le treatise. The first part of the hook takes up the acid derivatives of the phenols and the aromatic acids in niucli greater detail than in the second edition of the work. The rest of this volume is devoted t i l tlie resins and e s e n t i a l oils and this part of the book has been esliandetl from aliout tnenty-five pages in the first edition to four hundred in the present. Each subject is preceded liy :I tlircirctical discussion of the prq)erties of tlie substances on ~vliichtlie :inalyticnl nicthotls are I)ased :ind tallies are given surnmarizing the characteristic properties of related substances, which rnay be useful in identifying them. -is a reference book of laboratory methods for analyzing the various organic sutistanccs considered in this volume i t is simply invaluable for the teclinical chemist and ‘even the scientific chemist will find here information of value to him in his work on these compounds. The book is n.ell printed and I ~ o u n dand is furnished with n very complete index. Like most hooks, ho\vever, i t contains some niist:tkes, most of which seem to be due t o bad proof-reading. On Iiage 5 “aseptol” is described as ortlio-plienol-sulphonic acid, ~vliileaccording to J , Ohertniller (Ber., 40, 3623, and 41, 696) i t is mostly the para acid anti contains very little of tlie ortho product. The statement on page 9 t h a t “niiodo~I,ara-plienolsulphonic acid is prepared commercially in the free state by treating diiodohenzene \\-it11 fuming sulphuric acid” is certainly ivrong and is contradicted by the further statement appearing in the foot-note on the same page tlia?, “in preparing the di-iodo acid, a certain amount of mono-iodo-phenol sulphonic acid is produced.” On page 2 1 , sodium benzoate is dismissed nit11 the brief statement t h a t i t “receives extensive application in .America in the preservation of articles of food,” and nothing is said regarding its harrnfulness. . Perhaps in view of t h e controversy over this matter, this is wise.
I n speaking of Kollie’s synthesis of sdicylic acid friiiii siitliuni Iilietiolate and carlion dioxide no mention is nixtie r ~ fthe latest a n d p r o h l i l y niore correct \Tien. of the mechanisin of this reaction (Her., 38, 1377). In the statement on page 1 2 9 that “phtlialic acid is Ijrelxired liy osidatiun of naphthalene b y chromic acid mixture (according t o Ludtlens, J . S.C. I., 1891, S,7 5 8 ) notwithstanding the general iriipression that otht Y compounds are destroyed by this reagent.” @ f / w r is plainly a misprint lor o y f h o , hut the whole statement is irrong for practically all the I)litlialic acid is now made by oxidizing naphthalene with concentrated sulphuric acid in the presence of a small amount of mercuric sulphate. 1-nder tliis head too the technically important diclilorand tetrachlor-~jlitlialicacids sliould a t least lie iiientioned. On pages 131 a n d 1 3 2 tlie formula for ~iliencil-phthaleinis wrong, though i t is correctly given a t the liottotn of 1 3 2 , Quinol-IIlitlialein is spiiken oi as if i t \\ere identical \\it11 quinizarin on page 131 antl all thc foriiiulas in the table on page 1\32 are xrong, The forinulas for gallein a n d coerulcin on page 130 are incorrect and several of the statements tiicicle regarding tlicse suljstances are not true (see Xriier. Chein. J . , 26, 97). On ]]age 239 in the first foot-nute the statement is made that, “Herzig makes an addition of 8 percent of acetic a c i d t u tlie hydriodic acid.” Fortunately tlie reference to Herzig’s article is correctly given and if tlie user Oi this \-olurne is careful enough to l ~ the k matter up he \vi11 find that Herzig reall)- adds from 6 to S vcilume percent of acet>c u)ihydriiir. On page %358 i t is stated tliat “By h i l i n g with alcohulic potash, anetliol undergoes a molecular rearrangement with conversion into the isomeric body methyl-cliavicol” and the reader is referred to pagc 3,
