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subsections) : general physics (Brownian movement, surfare tension, viscosity), quantum theory (including theory of valency), atomic physics, geophysical prospecting, radio-exploration of upper atmospheric ionization, sound, heat, electrical’and magnetic measur,ements, the charge on the electron, electron tubes, x-rays (including structures of substances), spectroscopy, and optics. It will be seen that the volume resolutely avoids a narrow view of the subject and overemphasis of certain very new fields. The latter receive proper attention and their due space, but it is rather necessary t o emphasize that this report does represent progress in physics rather than in a mere branch of physics, and its value to physical chemists is correspondingly enhanced. The volume is one which every physical chemist should read. J. R. PARTINGTON.
Gmelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie. 8 Auflage. Herausgegeben von der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft. System-Nummer 35: Aluminium, Teil A, Lieferung4. 26 x 17 cm.; pp. x 535482. Berlin: Verlag Chemie, 1936. Price: 18 RM. This part of the volume on aluminum deals with the alloys of aluminum with S, Se, Te, Po, B, C, Si (pp. 536-627), P, As, Sb, Bi, Li, Na, K , Rb, Cs, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra. The physical properties are given, with tables and curves, and the chemical properties discussed include corrosion. Literature references come to January, 1936. The volume is of particular interest from the chemical engineering point of view and the treatment is thoroughly sound. J. R. PARTINGTON.
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Gmelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie. 8 Auflage. Herausgegeben van der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft. System-Nummer 55: Uran und Isotope mit einem Anhang uber Transurane. 26 x 17 em.; pp. xviii 279. Berlin: Verlag Chemie, 1936. Price: 34.50 RM. The volume on uranium is complete in itself and includes the chemistry of uranium and its isotopes, with a brief account of very recent experiments on the artificial production of elements of atomic number greater than 92 (“Transurane”). There is also a rather brief account of the radioactivity of uranium in which only elements in the series of atomic number 92 are considered, the relation to the actinium series being left rather vague. There is a section on salts of uranium with organic acids. The highly systematized arrangement necessary in a work of this kind has its disadvantages, since there is, for example, no account of uranium X, and uranic acid and uranates are separated, the latter (with other compounds) being included under the various metals. The volume maintains the high standard of the series. J. R. PARTINGTON.
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Stereoscopic Drawings of Crystal Structures. Edited by M. VON LAUEand R. VON M ~ s n s ;drawing# by E. REHBOCK-VERSTANDIG; text by G. MENZER. Part 2. 18 x 17 em.; 56 pp. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1936. Price: in portfolio, 18 RM. This collection of twenty-four stereoscopic drawings of crystal structures forms a continuation of the series published some years ago by the same authors. In the first volume the structures chosen were those of very simple types; here rather more complicated ones are depicted, although they are still comparatively simple, consisting of those of some of the elements which crystallize in a less regular way than most, and of compounds of two or three elements. Even for these relatively simple structures the advantages of the stereoscopic method of representation is very considerable. One has only to try first to make out the details of a structure from the drawing Rithout the use of the stereoscope, and
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then afterwards to view it stereoscopically to be a t once convinced of the immense gain in clarity obtained by so doing. It is a real difficulty in work on crystal structure that the results of an analysis are not easily made clear to the chemist or mineralogist whom they might interest. The ideal method, the study of three-dimensional models, is rarely available, but sets of stereoscopic models of this kind make a very good substitute for models, and one could wish that more of them existed. Mrs. Rehbock-Verstandig has drawn the figures for this volume with much skill, and with the help of the text, which was contributed by Dr. G. Menser and has been translated into English by Mr. Greenwood, the English and German versions being in parallel columns, it is easy to get a very good idea of the plan according to which the structures here shown are built up. Although, if necessary, this information can be obtained from the Strukturbericht of Ewald and Hermann, it would undoubtedly have been a convenience to the reader if references to the sources from which the structures are taken had been given in the text.
R. W. JAMES. Eclipses of the Sun. By 8. A. MITCHELL.Fourth edition, revised and enlarged. New York City: Columbia University Press. Price: $5.00. The present, and fourth, edition of this standard treatise on eclipses differs from the previous issues chiefly in the addition of an extra chapter dealing with the recent eclipses of 1932 and 1934. It is unfortunate, in this connection, that a t least a few allusions to these eclipses were retained uncorrected from the previous edition. Thus, we find that in 1935 the author still predicts what will happen in 1932. This last chapte>r contains an excellent summary of some of the conclusions derived from crucial observations made a t the occasion of these two recent eclipses, and a description of Lyot’s success in obtaining spectra. of the corona without a n eclipse. The remainder of the book is still essentially the same as in previous editions, and contains a description of historical eclipses and of the gradual development of and the improvement in the prediction of eclipses; furthermore, some chapters dealing with the working of the spectroscope and giving a n outline of our present ideas on the structure of the atom and the theories of ionization and relativity. The remainder of the book is devoted to a detailed description of virtually all well-observed eclipses of modern times from 1842 onward. The arrangement of the chapters suggests that the author had a dual purpose in writing this book, namely, to make it appeal to both professional astronomers and the public a t large. The very large amount of personal narrative included was doubtless a concession to the latter, but the reviewer feels that its omission would have made the book more acceptable to the former. Similarly, in connection with the early historical eclipses a good deal of Egyptian history has been included and a rather invidious comparison made between the astronomical accomplishments of the early Egyptians and the Babylonians, which, in this reviewer’s opinion, might well have been left out. Such comparisons represent, at best, only a consensus of opinion rather than a statement of fact, and in the present instance appear to be based chiefly upon the authority of a single egyptob ogist-Breasted-in a field of such great diversity of opinion. The reviewer cannot help expressing the wish that the author, one of the foremost observers of eclipses of our times, would condense into a separate monograph all the facts and theories of interest to the professional astronomer, but without any concession to popular appeal in the form of discussions which are, after all, not very relevant from the astronomer’s point of view. W. J. LUYTEN.
