NEWS
NEW BOOKS Spot Tests. Fritz Feigl. Vol. I, In organic Applications. 4th ed. xii + 518 pages. Elsevier Press, Inc., Houston, Tex., 1954. $6.50. Re viewed by JOHN H. YOE, University
of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. The first edition of this classic and standard reference appeared in 1931 and has grown through three English edi tions to the new one which is available in two parts (Inorganic and Organic), each complete in itself. Volume I deals with inorganic spot test analysis, Volume I I with the application of spot tests to qualitative organic analysis. "Spot Tests" is a companion text to the author's book on the "Chemistry of Specific, Selective and Sensitive Reac tions" published in 1949, in which is as sembled and arranged the critically selected material that is related to the specificity, selectivity, and sensitivity of analytical procedures. Volume I gives an up-to-date survey of procedure and application of inorganic spot tests, both research and routine. An important feature is the inclusion of new or unpublished material which added about 100 pages to the text. The arrangement of the material and the de scription of the texts are the same as in
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the previous edition, except for typo graphical changes to save space, and omission of the bibliography of papers dealing with technical applications of spot testing. "Tests which have been thoroughly tested by the author have been described in detail." These were selected not only from the standpoint of practical usefulness but also of possi bilities of improvement and important details in the chemical basis of the par ticular test. The descriptions of the tests have been made so that they may easily be translated to the macro scale, and also applied to inorganic chroma tography, though no effort was made to include the latter technique, since ex cellent tests in this new and rapidly growing field are available. The intro ductory chapter, "Development, Pres ent State and Prospects of Inorganic Spot Test Analysis," has been com pletely rewritten in cooperation with Philip W. West, Louisiana State Uni versity, who also contributed Chapter II on "Spot Test Technique." Extensive lists of references to the original literature dealing with the vari ous tests are given at the end of each of the first seven chapters (totaling 938); the eight and concluding chapter con sists of a tabular summary of the limits of identification attained by spot tests
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for cations, anions, and several of the free elements. Author (7 pages) and subject (46 pages) indexes conclude the book. As in the third edition, R. E. Oesper translated the German manu script and rendered valuable assistance in the preparation of the text. Printing and binding are good and the book has an attractive flexible binding. Volume I will be a useful source of information for all who are interested in inorganic spot test analysis. In it the research worker in analytical chemistry will find much that is stimulating and helpful. Spot Tests. Fritz Feigl. Vol. II, Or ganic Applications. 4th edition, xv + 436 pages. Elsevier Press, Inc., Houston, Tex., 1954. S6.25. Re viewed by JOHN H. YOB, University
of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. Volume II of "Spot Tests" is an out growth of the previous edition of "Spot Tests, Inorganic and Organic Applica tions," which included slightly over 120 pages devoted to the application of spot tests to the analysis of organic com pounds. It now becomes an independ ent manual of organic spot test analy sis. In order to make it truly a selfcontained monograph, the chapter on spot test technique, which was written
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