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revolutionary developments which have taken place in theoretical physics during this period of time. There is still a great deal to be said for the historical approach to the quantum theory. The aspect of quantum mechanics changes so rapidly, almost daily, that those outside the field of action may well hesitate before making the effort necessary to understand the very recent developments. For those who wish to approach the problems of theoretical physics from the older point of view this book may be very useful. It presents the experimental evidence and the points of contact with the older theory which certainly are very important for a clear understanding of our modern theories, and which perhaps have received less emphasis than they should in some of the other recent books on the subject. H. ANDREWS DONALD THBJOANS HOPXINS UNIVBRS~TY BALTISORB. MAR~AND
Modem Textbook in Chemistry. J. ELLIS STANNARD, Instructor in Chemistry, Boys' High School, Brooklyn, N. Y. Academic Book Company. New York 376 pp. 114 Figs. City, 1930. viii 13 X 19 cm. $1.32. I n his desire to avoid the Scylla of "cyclopedic treatment" which he believes to be confusing and discouraging to the young student, the author has fallen into Charybdis. He has written a chemical catechism which may meet fully the requirements "of the New York State Board of Regents, the College Entrance Examination Board, and the American Chemical Society" but it will please few chemistry teachers except the Gradgrinds, with their devotion t o "Facts, Sir, nothing but Factsl" To lop off every item of interest outside the bare bones of a subject will not tend to make i t palatable to the student, however admirable it may be in preparing for a Regents or College Entrance Examination. Not all chemistry teachers will kiss the clay feet of this pair of Collassi. And as sixty per cent of chemistry students probably do not
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1931
go to college, perhaps they would enjoy some of the detail which the author omits. If the illustrations "are used to teach chemistry, not merely to show machinery" we wonder that the picture of Dr. MUikan (Figure 21) is shown with the elaborate and unexplained glassware. But for the assurance of the title, the illustration of Open Pit Iron Ore Mining (Figure 93) might as well be that of Meteor CaEon. A flow sheet diagram would he an improvement aver the titled bottles which are given several places. Incidentally, Michael Faraday is still washing glassware for Sir Humphry Davy. [See J. CHEW.EDUC..7, 859 (Apr., 1930).1 If the author had sought the golden mean between his own text and the extra long texts of which he complains, if he had included a list of supplementary reading, if he had been willing to have cracked a joke once in a while, his text would have been far more human, far nearer to the present objectives of chemical education. This text will be quite useful to the a a m m e r s t o those who, in chemistry, as in other subjects, expect a docile repeating back of statements and opinions. But as a force in civilization, a way of livelihood for thousands of men, i t fails to present live, every-day chemistry to the student. R. E. BOWMAN WTLM~NOTON TRAD& SCHOOL Wn.WWCTON, DBL*W*RB
The Carbon Comvounds. C. W. PORTER, Professor of chemistry, University of Southern California. Second revised edition. Ginn and Co., Boston. Mass., 1931. ix +469 pp. 15 X 23cm. $4.00. The revised edition of Porter's wellknown text adheres very closely to the plan of the first edition, and the changes in form are of minor importance. The introduction has been much abbreviated and the seventeen pages of the first edition's introduction shortened to seven by the omission of a considerable amount of material dealmg with the electron theory. Much new material has been incorporated in the work to bring i t abreast of the
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times. The work of Kendall and Harington on thyroxine, and the researches of Haworth and Hudson on structures of the carbohydrates, are mentioned, but in each instance the space devoted t o this important work is so brief that the reader is left with no idea as t o the methods employed by these investigators or the extent of their work. Only two references to Hudson's investigations are given, and in the text his researches are dismissed with three lines. The principle of optical superposition, on which much of Hudson's work is based, is not even mentioned. The section on disaccharides is particularly brief, and next t o nothing is said about the contributions of Hudson and Haworth in this field. The preparation of methyl alcohol from water gas is dismissed in four lines, and no mention is made a t all of the importance of the process, or of the possibility of synthesizing other alcohols in a like manner. Indeed, one would be led t o believe that the wood distillation industry is thriving, and that synthetic methanol is an unimportant substance. The hydrogenation of petroleum is not mentioned, and "cracking" is very briefly dismissed. No mention of dehydrogenation as a means of preparing aldehydes and ketones catalytically is made. Certainly this excellent method deserves a few words in the most elementary text. The formation of bisulfite addition products from aldehydes and methyl ketones is given far too little space. The reader is left with the erroneous impression that the reaction takes place equally well with all methyl ketones. The readion should be expressed as an equilibrium, and some mention should certainly be made of the effect of structure on the position of the equilibrium. After a careful discussion of the eqnilibrium of the esterification process, no mention is made of the clever application of the principles involved in the preparation of ethyl acetate by continuous esterification. Similarlv. . . no mention is made of the continuous distillation method
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for preparing absolute alcohol. A few words about a process illustrating such an important principle would be expected. A considerable amount of space is devoted t o essential oils, and the alkaloids. I n view of the rather limited treatment given many more fundamental subjects, this fact makes the work seem unbalanced. I n accordance with the plan of the previous edition, the latter part of the book (87 pp.) is devoted to a discussion of general organic reactions. From a pedagogic standpoint i t seems questionable practice in most cases to isolate this material from the previous discussion of the substances involved. I n the section dealing with aldol condensation under aldehydes and ketones, no mention is made of the possibility of a ketone's taking part in a similar reaction, and unless the reader turns to the section a t the end of the hook on condensation reactions in general, he will obtain an erroneous impression. Even in this latter section, the treatment is extraordinarily brief, and one is left to infer the possibility of preparing diacetone alcohol. No mention a t all is made of the possible connection of this sort of process in the building up of sugars. The discussion of the Grignard Reaction contains no mention of the excellent work of Gilman and his m-workers on the effect of various variables on the yield of reagent. A great deal of space is devoted t o the various reactions of the reagent, and about a half a page to the far more important problem of obtaining the reagent itself. The author's interest in molecular rearrangements is evidenced by the sixteenpage section dealing with this important subject. The inclusion of certain rather unimportant rearrangements, however, seems out of place in a work of this size. Following the text is an appendix in which are described methods of deducing formulas, etc., and finally a number of questions and problems. The work could be used in a year's introductom course in oreanic chemistm but.. in the estimation of the reviewer, i t would
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not be a suitable text for an advanced course. References t o the original literature are frequent, print and paper are good, and the binding is of excellent quality. NATEANL. DRAKB
The value of the preparations is twofold: not only do they afford approved methods for the synthesis of needed "ausgangsmaterial" but their study gives valuable hints as to the technic of organic readions. F. B. D A ~ N S UNNB-Y
OP KANSAS
IAWBBNCB,
Organic Syntheses. Volume XI. An Annual Publication of Satisfactory Methods for the heparation of Organic Chemicals. CARL S. MARVEL.Editorin-Chief; C. F. H. ALLEN,Secretary to the Board, McGill University, Montreal. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York 106 pp. 15 X 23 cm. City. 1931. vii $1.75.
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Organic chemists always welcome each new volume in this series, which has become one of the valuable contributions of America to this field of chemistry. The present issue contains thirty-one preparations from some twenty laboratories, mainly university-among the foreign ones are found Freiburg, Miinster, and Vienna. The list follows: Acrolein Acetal, a-Aminoisobutvric Acid, 1min no-2-Naphthol ~ydrochloride, 1Amino - 2 - Naphthol - 4 - Sulfonic Acid, Azuxybenacne, a-Bromoisuvaleric Acid, Eromomesitylcnc. 8-Chlurupropionaldchyde ~ c e t a l ,Citraconic Anhydride and Citraconic Acid, Cyanogen Bromide, 2,4Diaminotoluene, Ethyl Ethylenetetracarbornlate, Ethyl Phenylcyanopyruvate, Ethyl Pimelate, Fumaric Acid, dl-Glyceric Aldehyde, dl-Glyceric Aldehyde Acetal. Haptaldoxime, n-Heptyiamine, 9-Iodoaniline, Isodurene, Itaconic Anhydride and Itaconic Add. Mesaconic Acid. 3-Methyl Pentamic Acid, a-Naphthoic Acid, nPentane, Symmetrical and Unsymmetrical o-Phythalyl Chlorides, iro-Propyl Thiocyanate, Thiohenzaphenane,o-ToluicAcid, ~ r i e t h y lCarbinol. It might be noted that the syntheses of ethyl pimelate and fnmaric acid are interesting illustrations of the formation of open chain derivatives from ring compounds.
JUNE,1931
KANSAS
Qualitative Chemical Analysis. HERMAN T. Bmscos, Professor of Chemistry, In diana University. D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.. New York City. 1931. v 279 pp. 29 Figs. 14 X 22 cm.
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$2.25. Another book of qualitative analysis. Considering the Limited number of elements whose detection is taken care of by the ordinary qualitative scheme it seems that the possible number of combinations and permutations would soon be reached. But, just as artists in ages past have been painting faces with a limited number of features and have produced no two alike, so analysts have written and are writing their qualitative texts and no two are alike. Each has some features that appeal t o us, and some that do not. Some books like the masterpieces of art appeal favorably t o the majority of us and are acclaimed a new step, a great advance. Now, here is a new book built around the framework of the old familiar hydrogen sulfide separation. I t contains preliminary experiments on each of the ions so that the beginner may learn what a certain precipitate ought to look like and how it ought t o behave. I t contains plenty of theoretical matter (142 pages) so that be may learn why and under what conditions a reaction occurs. As the author states in the preface, the methods and principles which make up the book are those which the author has used in his dasses for many years. Also, the study of the theories and principles of electrolytic solutions serves as an intraduction t o physical chemistry for the chemistry major or as a source of knowledge of many of the most fundamental concepts of theoretical chemistry for the
