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JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
umes, as temperature conrept, methods for measuring temperature, precision requirements, and conditions affecting temperature measurement. The next eight chzpters deal directly with the messurement of temperatures in solids using thermocouples. All aspects of thermocouple technique are discussed explicitly, as thermocouple preparation, circuits, instruments, design calculation techniques, installation, drilling holes for mounting, special protective materials, cemented installations and temperature gradient designs. Basic theory is given wherever necessary and this is followed by practical and precise instructions for accomplishing the desired measuremenb. Ample illustrations are used to show the technique to be used, whether it be forming the thermocouple junction, or removing a broken drill from a hole. Ample references are given so that the reader can seek either more theory or articles describing specific applications of the technique desoribed. All chemists and chemical engineers concerned with temperature measurement should consult this hook to check the method they are using qainst the variety of methods desoribed. New techniques and "tricks" will be found here that will make this book worth while. KENNETH A. KOBE UNWERBLTIOW T E X * ~ A n s ~ mT . sx~s
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INTRODUCTION TO ANALYSIS
SEMIMICRO QUALITATIVE
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RAY WOODHIFF MONTANA STATEC O L L E ~ E BOIEM*N, MONTANA
PHOTOCONDUCTIVITYIN THE ELEMENTS
Trevor Simpson Moss. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1952. x 263 pp. 56 figs. 17 tables. 15 X 22 cm. $7.
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0
CLAY MINERALOGY
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THIS book is intended primarily far a one-semester course in qualitative analysis for students with only a onesemester course in general chemistry. It seems that this book would also be a n ideal laboratory manual for the third quarter of a comprehensive course in general chemistry to supplement a. textbook which digcusses the cations in the latter part of the hook. The second edition of this book is now out and it has beeuextensivelyrevised. The formulas of the amphoteric Group 111 ions have been changed to make them more consistent with what is known about the coordination numbers of these elements. For example, the aluminate ion is written A1(OHIr- instead of AM-'. The enlargement of chap& 11, and especidly the short section on the periodic table, are welcome additions to the book, since students with only a part of a year of general chemistry are often deficient in inorganic chemistry, especially of the metallic elements. Other improvements include provisions for the use of thioacetamide an an alternate source of sulfide ion and the separation of copper and cadmium with NazS?OI. The recently approved usme for Na,S,O, is. however, sodium dithionite and not sodium hvposulfite. Cobalt is identified by formation of the blue Ca(CNS),-ion, and zinc is confirmed by precipitation as the ferrooyanide. Many other minor changes have been made, improving the book and making it more teachable.
0
A. B. F. DUNCAN
Ralph E. Grim, Research Professor of Geology, University of Illinois. McGraw-Hill Book Co., h e . , New York, 1953. xii 384 pp. 121figs. 46 tables. 16 X 24 cm. $9.
C. H. Sorum, Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin. Madieon, Wisconsin. Second edition. Prentice-Hall, he., New 198 pp. 6 figs. 3 tables. 14.5 X 21.5 cm. York. 1953. ix
$3.50.
general theory of energy levels in solids in relation to optical and electrical properties of conductors, scmieonductors, and insulators is discussed in a rather condensed form in Part I. This part includes mathematical deductions of equ%tiousnecessary for the quantitative treatment of the subject, and gives some general a p plications of the theories. Most of the detailed applications are treated in Part I1 ("Erperimentd methods and results"), which constitutes the major part of the book. Detailed results me presented for twelve elements (each in a separate chapter) which show photoconductivity. There is s, final chapter in which the results are summarized in tables and generalizations me drawn. An author and a subject index are included. This book irr recommended as a concise account of modwn theoretied and experimental results relating to electrical and optical properties of solids
THISvolume, written by one of the pioneers in the field of clay mineralogy, is, as far as this reviewer knows, the first comprehensive text on clays published since the early 'thirties. Considering the rapid development in the mineralogy of clays during the last twenty years, the elear presentation of the subjects, and the critical discussion of the voluminous literature, Dr. Grim's monograph will certainly be greeted with enthusiasm by both teachers and research workers. Summaries covering parts of the field in question have fairly recently been published, e. g., the monograph of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain on X-ray identification and structure of the clay minerals (1951). The present text, however, covers a wider range, including structure, composition, properties, occurrence, mode of origin, distribution in space and time, stability conditions, eta., of clay minerals. The historical development of related concepts has been treated in detail, and the divergence in present opinions as well as the remaining uncertainty on many points is clearly indicated. I t is of course very difficult to obtain complete freedom from formal errors, especially in a work of such a size as this one. One of the more disturbing ones is the consistent misspelling of Kuonen's name (page 350). In the chapter on nomenclature of rlav minerals the reader is told that the name vermiculite is
great scientific and technical import,ance
0
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND ANALYTICAL CHEMICAL SEPARATIONS
Philip W. West, Professor of Chemistry, Maurice M. Vick, Associate Professor of Chemistry, and Arthur L. LeRosen, Late Associate Professor of Chemistry, Louisiana State University. The Maemillan Co., New York. 1953. xii 223 pp. 12 figs. 14.5 X 21.5 Em.
$3.75.
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T H Ih ~m k prewnfs n novrl srhcrnr of systetnntir cation amlg*is which wuida tltc uac of sulfides, xnd group3 thr d~nltlrrf3quit? Jillwcrrtlg from the trndirion:ll irhemr. While h y d r d h r i v acid is used to separate silver and mercurous ibns, a concentration
223
APRIL, 1954 of hydroxide ion controlled by a heneoate buffer serves to precipitate basic compounds of the metals of higher valence. A saturated solution of mdiumfluoride is used tonrecinitste lead and the identification rertotions provide an excellent medium for the teaching of chemical equilibrium and the authors have shaped the text to this end. The laboratory aection of the text, which follows two brief introductory chapters, includes preliminary tests and group separations of the usual cations. The anions are treated more briefly. The second part of the text develops the fundamental theory logically and contains many graphic illustrations from every day living that should be helpful to the student. Coordination complexes are discussed in detail. The authors use a classicel spproaeh to acid-base theory with rather too brief a. mention of Briinsted concepts. The reviewer feels that the authors have done real service to the teaching of qualitative analysis and that the text should be challenging to the student and enjoyable for student and teacher. LUCY W. PICKETT
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HUMOUR AND HUMANISM IN CHEMISTRY
lohn Reed, Professor of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. The British Book Centre, Inc., New York, 1953. xxiii 388pp. 90figs. 15 X 22 cm. $4.50.
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ALTHOUGH this hook was published in 1947 in England, and has been known to many ever since, it is now being distributed in the United States by the British Book Centre of New Yark, and so a review in an American journal is appropriate. This is, in a sense, a continuation of Read's earlier work, "Prelude to Chemistry," and like this book, it is bertutifully illuatrated. I t has, however, a much more personal character. It begins, it in true, with a discussion of alchemy, but this is more a collection of anecdotes about individual alchemists whose lives appealed to the author. As might be expected from his position in the University of St. Andrews, there is a strong Scottish tinge to these anecdotes, as indeed there is to the entire book. The story of the flying alchemist and the account of the research activities of James IV make absorbing reading. The transition from alchemy to chemistry is illustrated by a.discussion of men whose major activity was teaching, men such as Lemery and Boerhaave. In their books and lectures Read traces the growth of the scientific spirit and illustrates it again with many anecdotes. In the same style the true chemists are considered, from Joseph Black down to Alfred Werner. Read worked with Werner a t Zurich, and so this portion of the book is enlivened with many personal reminiscences of student Me in the SWISS citv. appears in a new light. Yet there are many examplea of contributions to the history of chemistry which slip into the discussion so easily that the reader hardly realizes the scholarship behind the apparently simple style. The last two chapters are of a different character. The sew tion entitled "Chemistry reaches the Australian hush" is largely an account of the chemistry of the essential oils of the eucalyptus and other Australian trees and plants. This chapter has little or no relation to the r e d of the book, and seems distinctly out of place. The final chapter is a play, written to he performed a t the centenary eelebration of the chair of chemistry a t St. Andrews. There ari a large number of local references which would only be understood by an alumnus of that university, and the plot is somewhat feeble. but the collection of chemical nuns is mobahly the greatest ever to he found in one place.
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There is no doubt that the author enioved . " himself m a t "h in writine this book. and his enthusiasm ouieklv ,onmmunieates itself to thr reader. Ilesidrs the uound hisrorirnl rcscwrh, rl,e humor of the book 39 well H* tIw "Hamtur" i r l rhrmiatry which it vonsidpra will make this work ideal for the leisure hours of every chemist.
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HENRY M. LEICESTER COUIEBEOI P R Y ~ ~ C I A A NNDBSUAOEONB
S m FRANEISCO. CALIFORNIA
THE ALKALOIDS: CHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY. VOLUME I11
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Edited by R. H. F. Maoske, Dominion Rubber Research bboratory, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and H. L. Holmes, The Canvin Company, North Haven, Connecticut. Academic Press, Inc., 422 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. $11. New Yo*, 1953. viii
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THEEis the third volume in a series devoted to a review of the chemistry of alkaloids. The two previous volumes have been reviewed in THE JOURNAL (27,530 (1950); 30,54 (1953)). This volume suffers the drawback of all reviews of an active field of study: the current literature cannot be reported completely. That this drawback has been minimized in this book is evidenced by observation that about one-third of the references in the c h a ~ t e ron solanum and veratrum alkaloids are as recent as 1950; about one-third of these are from the 1952 literature. There ia alno an addendum from the 1953 literature. The other ohapters do not contain so many recent references but are complete up to 1950. Included in this volume are nine chapters: "The chemistry of the cinchona dkaloids" (R. B. Turner and R. B. Woodward); "Quinoline alkaloids other than those of cinchona" (H. T. Openshaw, Scotland); "Quinazoline alkaloids" (H. T. Openshawl; "Lupin a,Iksloids" (Nelson J. Leonard;) "Imidaaole alkaloids" (A. R. Battersby and H. T. Openshaw); "Solarium and veratrum alkaloids" (V. Prelog and 0. Jeger, Switzerland); "&Phenethylamind' (L. Reti, Argentina); "Ephedra bases" (L. Reti); and "Ipecac alkaloids" (Maurice-Marie Janot, France). Each of the chapters is well written and is systematically arranged in the style followed in the two earlier volumes. The authors, who are obviously familiar with their subjects, pfesent a lucid acrount of the chemistrv of the alkaloids thev d~scuss.
book. The chemistry of solanum and veratrum alkaloids is treated together because of the close relation of both classes to steroids. The chapter on cinchona alkaloids is unusually well written. The section in this chapter dealing with stereochemiatry will be of interest to all organic chemists. Like its predecessors, Volume 111 of "The Alkaloids" will he a. valuable addition to the library of every chemist who is active in the fields of alkaloid and heteroryelic chemistry. WILIIAM B. COOK
CIBA FOUNDATION COLLOQUIA ON ENDOCRINOLOGY. VOLUME VI: HORMONAL FACTORS IN CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM G. E. W. Wolstenholme, General Editor. Little. Brown and CO., B O S ~ O1953. ~, xiv + 350 pp. 94 figs. Tables. 14 X 0
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THIScolloquium met under the chairmanahip of Professor C. H. Best and was attended bv 45 evoerta assembled from all mrts of the world. Of these, 24 presenied the papers which cohstitute
