dence in, analytical chemistry. Throughout the bwk the sources of error and probable precision are laudably stressed and this should help greatly in developing, particularly in the better students, the ability for judging the real significance of the results of en analysis. The authors appear to have made a real contribution to the teaching of elementary quantitative analysis.
Aromrc SPECTRAAND THE VECTORMODEL. Vol. I: Series Spectra; Vol. 11: Complex Spectra. A. C. Cnndlcr, Sometime Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. Two Volumes. First Edition, Cambridge University Press. London. 1937. viii 4- 237 pp. (Vol. I), vi 279 pp. (Vol. 11). 354 figs. 13.5 X 21.5 cm. Set, 58.50.
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The chapter headings in the first volume are as follows: Hydrogen Atom, Alkali Doublets, Alkaline Earths, Absorption Spectra, Zeeman Effect, Paschen-Back Effect, Atomic Magnetism, Stark Effect, The Periodic System, and Doublet Laws. In these chapters there are discussed such topics as Land& interval rule, the spinning electron and the vector model, intensity rules, the Stern-Gerlach method for determining magnetic moments of atoms and the paramagnetism of ions. The chapter on the periodic system contains sections on valency, covalency, electronic structures and X-rays. The second volume contains a discussion of each of the following topics: Displaced Terms, Combination of Several Electrons, Short Periods, Long Periods, Rare Earths, Intensity Relations, Sum Rules and Cij) Coupling, Series Limit. Hyperfine Structure, Quadripole Radiation, and Fluorescent Crystals. I n the chapters dealing with the different periods the characteristics of individual spectra are discussed, and tables given of the more important terms. Aside from the application of thevector model, the presentation of the observations on spectra is largely from the paint of view of the experimental spectroscopist. The Bohr theory is discussed briefly and there is one short section on wave mechanics in which no mention is made of the Schrwdinger equation or of the relation of the Schroedinger function to the Bohr orbital model. The author has dealt rather briefly with topics which involve the mechanism of production of spectral lines. Thus there is no mention of metastable states. I t also seems that in the enerev-, level diagram for ear\iurn (p. 30) it miyht t w hrtrcr to label the lowr.;t Iwrl C\ in ~rcordam.cwill>thr rlrrtronic structure given in thc tahle on page.; I9i-4. The same criticism would apply to the energy-level diagrams for calcium and mercury, and to those given on pp. 177-8, Vol. I. Probably the use of "inductive methods free from the heavy mathematics of the quantum mechanics" (quoted from the advertisement an the cover) will appeal to a number of readers, and for those who wish to obtain a summarv of our oresent knowledee of atomic spectra, apart from the relalion of this information to throrrtml considerations, thc present trratise .huuld prow of material assistance. S a m DUSHMAN
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ORGANICCHEMISTRY.Frank C. Whitmore, Dean of the Schwl of Chemistry and Physics and Research Professor of Organic Chemistry, Pennsylvania State College. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 250 Fourth Avenue, New York City, 1937. x 1080 pp. 14 X 21.5 cm. $7.50 net.
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The English-speaking countries are supplied with a wealth of good elementry organic textbwks, intended for instructional use in colleges and universities, but generally of too limited scope to serve as adequate reference works for advanced students. I t is therefore gratifying to find a book designed, according to its author, "for practising organic chemistsand for students who
have pursued organic chemistry for a t least a yea-a text of advanced character for those already possessing reasonable knowledge and experience in organic chemistry." Within its covers is packed a very great amount of information, accurate and strictly up-to-date. Some saving of space has been effected by omission of many topics found in more elementary texts, and also by the use of readily understwd abhreviations in the descriptive portions. The type is, nevertheless, large and easy t o read. The printing and binding are good, but the book is not free from typographical errors. These seem to be the most numerous in the section on heterocyclic compounds. The order of arrangement of subject matter is the conventional one-aliphatic compounds (six hundred fourteen pages), alicyclic compounds (one hundred eighty-two pages), and heterocyclic compounds(eighty-twopages). I t will benoted that considerably more space has been devoted t o the aliphatic3 "in keeping with the present trend toward aliphatic chemistry, especially in the British and American Industry." The section on heterocyclic compounds is larger than in most books of this character, and the treatment of the derivatives of aromatic hydrocarbons, while relatively short, is nevertheless adequate. The very complete subject index (one hundred twenty-one pages) is certainly a most desirable feature. There are few paged references to the literature, and most of these are to the "Annual Reports of the Progress of Chemistry." I t is more customary to find only the author's name and the date of publication of his article, since it is manifestly impractical in a text of this kind to make the documentation complete. "The use of electronic conceptions has been definitely limited to those cases in which ordinary structural formulas fail. In most processes of organic chemistry, the bond corresponds exactly to the effect of an electron pair, and nothing is achieved by substituting two dots for the conventional dash." The author's own ideas are liberally introduced in the numerous discussions of reaction mechanism. "A deliberate attempt is made to explode what might be termed the fallacy of the homologous series," in which it is assumed that a study of two or three individuals will furnish a satisfactory picture of the reactions of a whole class of compounds. I t has thus been necessary to consider in detail a rather large number of alcohols in order to demonstrate satisfactorily the effect of the substitution of alkyl groups upon their properties. The author has succeeded well in writing a b w k that will be of considerablevalue, not only t o students specializing in chemistry. but also to chemists not in academic life.
F. W. BBRGSTROX Sr*~loaoUNrveasrru ST*NPO.D
UNI"&RSITY, CALIPORNI*
MODERN-LIFE CHEMISTRY.Frank 0.Kruh, Soldan High Schwl. St. Louis, Missouri, Robert H. Carleton, Summit High School, Summit, New Jersey, and Floyd F. Carpenter, Stivers High Schwl, Dayton, Ohio. Edited by W . R. T e e m , supervisor of physical and biological sciences, St. Louis Public Schools. J. B. Lippincott Co., Chicago, 1937. xxv 734 pp. 359 figs. 13.4 X 19.3 cm. 51.80.
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This h w k is a textbook in elementary chemistry designed for the upper secondary schwl level, and "offered in the belief that it will prove t o be a positive contribution to the evolution of a truly functional course for high-school students." The book is rigorously constructed according t o the Morrison unit-problem plan, the eleven units being entitled: Foundations of Chemistry; The Structure of Matter; Solutions and Near-Solutions; Chemical Action in Solution; Chemical Equations and Calculations; Sulfur a n d l t s Compounds; The Halogens and the Periodic Classification; The Nitrogen Family; Mineralogy and Chemistry; Metallurgy and Chemistry; Organic Chemistry. The last two units are relatively long, occupying about one hundred pages each.
