RECENT ROOKS ORGANIC SYNTRESES. Collective Volume 11. A revised edition of annual volunlcs X - X I X . Edited by 21. H. D L l l , Srcrrtary to the Board. Queens College, Flushing, K . Y. John Wilry & Sons, Inc., New York. 1943 xi T 6% pp. 21 fix,. 12 X 23 r m . $6.50. "Organic Syntheses," Collective Volume 11, contains in revised form the material which appeared in the annual volumes X t o XIX, inclusive. I t is a companion t o Collective Volume I and 'inits general plan follows the pattern of the first. I n the prccess of compilation, errors found in the original printings have been corrected; calculations and references have been checked; and modifications and improvements in procedures, which were noted in appendices in the annual volumes, have been incorporated itl the text. Collective Volume I1 includes 11 new and improved checked procedures for the preparation of 2-carbethoxycyclopentanone, 1,2-dibromocyclohuane, ethyl adipate, ethyl methylmalonate, ethyl a-naphthoate, 4-nitrophthalimide, nitrosomethylurea (two procedures), pimelic acid (two procedures), a n d tripbenylmethylsodinm. The section on methods of preparation has been revised to ind u d e those methods of preparative value found in the literature covered hy Chemical Abstracts through Volnme 35, for 1941. There are also included some references to articles published in 1942. but this coverage is not complete. As in Collective Volume 1,when the indexing name in Chemical Abdrads differsa t all from t h e title of the preparation, it is given as a subtitle. Where a compound can he purchased for five dollars or less per kilogram, the directions for its preparation have again been marked with an asterisk. This latest addition t o an already popular and essential series of books is the equal in every respect to previous productions. I t includes and retains all the characteristic and essential features .of Collective Volume I. The same five convenient indexes are incorporated. Binding, typography, appearance, and freedom from error are outstanding. This is the book chemists have been anxiously awaiting since the appearance of the 19th annual volume back in 1939. It is gratifying t o note that ten annual volumes have been included in Collective Volnme 11.rather than the ninc of Collective Volume I. Thc apprarancc of the rccond collective volumc represents a hig step fuwarrl in the rlimirlation of timeand labor for the practicing chemirt and the rexhrr of chcm~
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.GENERAL CHEMISTRY FOR COLLEGES.Herman T. Briscoe, Professor of Chemistry, Indiana University. Third Edition. 918 pp. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1943. viii 305 figs. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $4.25. The three objectives set forth in the first and second editions (cf. J . Am. Chem. Soc., 58,860-1 (1936)) are retained in the third edition, vie., (1) to provide a basis for an appreciation and understanding of the hi,torical drrelopn~entof chcmistry, ?) to make available to the ~ t u d c n ihr t va5t fund of information on rhestructureof rnattrrand to h e h him touse this itlforn~ationin the interpretatiou of chemical properties and reactions, and (3) to develop the ability t o reason, in terms of chemical principles, about the world, and about the products of nature and industry. The hook is intended for students who are "studying chemistry for the first time." The order of presentation and scope of material, however, is such that the hook is suitable for students who have had chemistry in the preparatory school. The definite aim of the author, to provide the factual background for principles and theories, explains the rather unusual size of the baok (918 pages). The author presumes that not all of the text is t o be covered by the student and that the instructor
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mav. a d a ~the t course to meet s~ecificneeds. The advisabilitv ,of -~ this ~ l r r t i vplan r is. of course, a dcbntnblequeation. 5ome teachers may feel that il is too much toerprct that theaverage student can cover aclequatrly the hi~turiralaspucts.the work on ,he > t r u e tnre of matter, and a t the same time acquire a reasonable knowledge of the chemistry of the nonmetals and metals. There are 45 chapters, of which 25 deal with the descrip&n of the elements and their compounds and 20 are devoted to chemical theory and principles. "Symbols, formulas, and equations" appear as chapter 11, and "Ionization" is presented in chapter 26. A well-balanced list of review exercises and problems, and references for further reading are included a t the end of each chapter. The diagrams are well designed and illustrate clearly the principles to which they refer, for example, Figure 206, "An electric refrigerator." Many of the photographs illustrate new products or processes, especially those in chapters 35, 36, 37, which are devoted t o carbon compounds. The photographs are very well selected. With regard tostatistics on the annual production of important materials, "the author has attempted to provide data for the years immediately preceding the war because such data reflect the more nearly normal conditions of industry." In the equations showing reactions for the preparation of oxygen, potassium chlorate and potassium chloride are written in the molecular form (p. 82) while sodium hydroxide as a product of the reaction of sodium peroxide with water is expressed as separate ions (p. 83). Although a brief introduction ta ions is given on pages 69-70, the decision as to whether t o write a formula in the molecular or the ionic form is likely to be very troublesome t o the student until he has made a more thorough study of ionizstion (chap. 26). Some teachers might prefer to introduce the subject of ionization a t a much earlier stage in the conrse. The methods of balancing oxidation and reduction equations seem to be rather briefly presented, especially in a text of this scope. I t is apparent that the author has achieved the three objectives stated in the preface of the teat. To teachers of general chemistry who have ample time allotted to their course, and whose objectives in teaching correspond t o those of the author, the baok can be well recommended. A. J. CURRIER ~~~~
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Tne Peanenvmr* STATBCDLLBOB ST*=- COLLB~&, P.NNSYLV*NI*
SEMIMICRO QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS(A Brief Course). Arthur R. Middleton, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Purdue University, and John W. Willard, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Virginia Military Institute. Prentice-Hall Inc., New York, 1943. x 254pp. 18tables. 7figs. 15 X 23 cm. $2.75. This baok is a reduction of the authors' two-semester course t o a one-semester course havinz a six-hour laboratom oeriod. The authori profess to keep in mind the ncerls of both the students who intend to major in chemistry or rhcmiral exxineering and those who desire only a prctical knuwlcdge of qualirative anslysis. The buok is divided into two part;: Part I, Theory. and Part 11. The Laboratory Work The fir-t chapter in Part I hegins with various definition3 and then proceeds tokxplain in greatest detail the methods for solving several types of problems, such as those involving concentrations, weight relations, and normal solntions. The second chapter deals exclusively with the use of logarithms. Following this is a comprehensive treatment of chemical valency and atomic structure, including much valuable material on complex ions. Then follow chapters on the periodic table, writing and reading of equations, chemical reactions, ionization. and solution of equilibrium problems, until the midpoint of the hook is nearly reached
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It is unfortunate that on page 64 the authors define reaction velocity as, the time required (that is, the speed of the reaction). .,"and on page 72, where they apply the Law of Mass Action. they state: "The molar concentration of solvent water is t o be taken ar, constant and therefore omitted from equilibrium expressions." No quantity unless it is an infinitesimal of higher order is ever "omitted" from an equation. The second part of the book (The Laboratory Work) begins with an excellent description of microtechnique, hut no description of microequipment is included. The importance of an orderly and accurate notebook is stressed, and suggestions aremade as t o the best methcds of recording results and tabulating data. The following chapters include a brief but adequate outline of the chemistry of the various elements tested for in the scheme of analysis, preliminary experiments for each group, and then detailed directions for the analysis itself. The scheme of analysis used is quite conventional, and directions and notes appear to be adequate. The author makes the common error of stating that the red color formed by the reaction between Fe?"+ and (SCN)- is Fe(SCN)*---, whereas Bent and French have shown it t o be Fe(SCNVf in water soh-
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knowledge of chemistry and wrote for the chemi&l major who is especially susceptible to the problem method of learning chemistrv.
TEE CHEM~STRY OF POWDER AND EXPLOSIVES. Vohme 11. Tenney L. Dauis, Emeritus Professor of Organic Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Director of Research and Development. National Fireworks, Inc. John 298 pp. (pp. Wiley & Sons, Iuc., New York, 1943. ix 191489). 106figs. 14 X 21.5cm. $3.00. I n the preface the author states, "This second volume preserves the point of view of the 6rst volume and fulfills the plan which was outlined in its preface." The hook was written for the purpose of informing chemists, already well trained, concerning the modes of behavior of explosive substances and concerning the phenomena, both chemical and physical, which they exhibit. This the b w k does well. More of the chemical engineering such as included in the section treating single-base powder would have been welcomed by the average serious student of explosives. Since the author did not set out to include any chemical engineering aspects, the above is not offered as criticism hut as a lament. Current interest in explosives arises from the great military use of them. There are many tests that must be made upon military explosives and many others that are frequently made. A large number of these tests are chemical, and this reviewer would like to have seen a section of Volume I1 treat this very important topic. The chapter headings of Volume I1 are: V, Nitric Esters; VI, Smokeless Powder; VII, Dynamite and Other High Explosives; VIII, Nitmamines and Related Substances; IX, Primary Explosives, Detonators, and Primers. The index is exceptionally well done, there being twenty-six pages of subject index and four of author index. All of the useful explosives are treated quite thoroughly from a chemical point of view, frequently with the aid of structural formulas. The treatment of nitroguanidine and guanidine nitrate deserves special mention because of its excellence. In this reviewer's opinion this two-volume treatment of explosives is a "must" on the list of books for the library of any serious student of explosives. AUBI~ON T. BURTSELL
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TREESAND TEST TUBES. Charles Morrow Wilson. Hen Holt and Company, New York, 1943. xii 352 pp. lustrated. 14 5 X 21.5 cm. W.50. "Trees and Test Tubes" is Charles Morrow Wilson's twelf book and is based upon years of hst-hand experience in t American tropics where he lived on an experimental rubt plantation in Central America. Nowhere has the review seen a more comprehensive, dramatic panorama of rubt history than in this story of rubber from its discovery to t present day, with a full account of the rubber crisis and future solution, including a complete text of the Baruch repor There is an intriguing chapter on that tragic and gallant figu Charles Goodyear. "the greatest of all rubber inventors," w changed overnight an interesting curiosity to a vital substar of the modern industrial world. The chapter on "Fordlandi is an amazing story of Mr. Ford's rubber venture in Bra which found Mr. Ford with three million Brazilian rubt trees to the good in 1941 with a future prospect of twelve fifteen million pounds, thus bringing back to the Americ American-born rubber. There are interesting and informati chapters on synthetic rubber and elastomers, the rubber crir and the oresent war consumotion of rubber. Mr. Wils laments the~omplavencywhlrh ~ n s r e i p o n ~ ifor h l ~not p r ~ w d i for this contingrncy and condudri hi, rcmarkahlr. hook by lo< ing into the future, paying tribute to all men. brown, rcd, yello and black, as well as t o the white men who process our ti) in a rubber-dependent world, by saying, "I believe that t forthcoming Western rubber lands can and will be lands free men and private enterprise, that the growing of rubber v merxe - into a new and better order of hemis~hereapricultt and rrade a n order free o i inrernntionnl cdrtcls which profit s t the crprn.e uf tropical people;.'' Fur understanding and : preciatiou uf a drat+ material this book deservcs the attenti of every thinking American
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BALLH ~ SCHOOL A GALVBSTON. TBX&S
A MANUAL FOR EXPWSIVES LABORATORIES. Volumes 1 and G. D. Cliftand B. T.Fedorof. Leiax Society, Inc., Philad phia, Pennsylvania. 194243. 219 and262 pp. 7.7 X 1 7 . 7 ~ $2.25 per vol. The first volume of this manual describes the analyti. methods for the analysis of mined acids, oleum, and spent aci Other anal-,tical methods used in the ~roductionof mixed ac for T N T production. tests far toluene a i d TNT, also the purifi, tion of TNT and the separation and identification of impurit in T N T are mentioned. The nitration of toluene is treated the authors, who are experts in this field, with skill ana authori The production of glycerin trinitrate, cellulose nitrate, amat picric acid, nitro starches, tetryl, black powder, and primers ; well treated, but somewhat less extensively than the product of TNT. The second volume contains a descriptive list of explos compounds and allied substances which is welcome to eve body doing research and production work in the field of ploeives. Recently the American literature has been enriched by 1 publication of two volumes of the "Chemistry of Powder s Explosives" by Professor Tenney L. Davis and the "Manual Explosives, Military Pyrotechnics and Chemical Warf Agents" by Professor Jules Bebie. The twa-volume "Man for Explosives Laboratories" by Clift and Fedoroff is a vc valuable addition to these books. I t is written by experts a have broad practical experience in the production of explosi, Both volumes of this work are of importance. They cont the description of laboratory investigation methods for I materials, intermediate products, and final end products in field of explosives. They contain, furthermore, a very extenr bibliography. E. BBRI C A P N B DI~ m m s on TB-OLOCY Prrrseoaaa. PBNNSYLVANIA
