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tribution, and elements of chemical kinetics. There is a chapter of one hundred pages on the technique of handling gases, such as the use of vacuum pumps, gauges, vacuum points, control and measurement of pressure and of temperature; the preparation and analysis of gases, including some isotopes; photochemical technique including sources, control, and measurement of radiation; methods and devices for measuring rates of reactions and factors of influence such as catalysis, illumination, and electric activation; and finally a section on explosive reactions. Naturally a manual on such a comprehensive field can not pretend to be exhaustive, but the authors have exercised excellent judgment in their selections and have produced a manual that should be as useful to experimental kineticists as the wellknown Ostwald-Luther manual was earlier to all physical chemists. S. C. LIND. Discovery of the Elements. By MARYELVIRAWEEKS. Fourth edition. Easton, Pennsylvania: The Journal of Chemical Education, 1939. Price: $3.00. The fourth and enlarged edition of this splendid account of the discovery of the elements will be welcomed by every lover of the history of chemistry. The reviewer can second the statement of the Scientific American: “A rich mine of elementary chemical lore informatively but most readably written,” if “and” be substituted for the word “but”. There is no necessary antithesis between informative and readable, as Miss Weeks has convincingly proved. In dealing with the elements the author has wisely not confined herself to atomic numbers b u t has also presented the discovery of some of the more important isotopes. The addition of a summarizing table of the elements, of their discoverers, and the dates of discovery, such as Professor W. iwuhlemann of Hemline University brought out through the Fisher Scientific Company in 1936,would be a very useful addition in future editions of the present work. S. C. LIND. Semi-conductors and Metals. By A. H. WILSON. 120 pp. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1939. Cambridge: University Press, 1939. Price : unbound, $2.00. This is one of the series of Cambridge Physical Tracts. The author needs no introduction to physicists and physical chemists. The present tract is a most timely treatment of the electronic theory, metals, and semi-conduction. Katurally i t deals with the various properties that can be described in terms of electronic behavior, such as thermal and magnetic properties and conductivity. This treatment is simple and non-mathematical, Full references are made to the literature of this field. The work is indispensable to one who wishes an introduction to the most modern work on the physical properties of metals. S. C . LIND. The Elements of FTactionul Distillation. By CLARKS. R O B I N S ~AND N EDWINRICH267 pp.; 97 figures. New York: McGraw-Hill A R D GILLILAND.8 x 6 in.; xii Book Company, 1939. Price: S3.00. With the recent advances in the treatment of the more complex distillation problems of industry, there was need of extension and revision of the two earlier editions of this book (1922 and 1930). The present revision is in collaboration with E. R. Gilliland. As stated in the preface of the earlier editions, the authors attempt to give an introauction to the study of fractional distillation according t o the best ideas of physical chemistry and chemical engineering. They specifically state that it is not
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h complete treatise on the subject. The first part of the book discusses the phase
rule in relation to simple and complex systems, followed by a discussion of the gas laws and solutions. This part of the book is essentially unchanged. For the purpose of the book, the treatment given in this part is probably adequate, but for a fundamental treatment according to the “best” modern ideas of physical chemistry, some improvement could be made as to completeness and correctness. There has been a rearrangement and addition of new material in the latter part of the book. Chapters on special cases such as the distillation of ammonia, benzolieed wash oil, methyl alcohol, and ethyl alcohol follow the short chapter on simple distillation and partial condensation, whereas in the earlier editions they were treated in the last part of the book along with chapters on rectification of the complex hydrocarbons. There is a new chapter on binary mixtures in which the methods of Sorel, McCabe and Thiele, Ponchon, Savarit, Lewis, Smoker, and Fenske are discussed. The new chapter on multicomponent rectification is treated according to the work of Lewis and Matheson, Lewis and Cope, Underwood, and Brown and his associates. Other new chapters are on the rectification of adsorption naphtha and on column performance on the basis of plate efficiency, pressure drop, allowable rates of flow, etc. This is a worthwhile addition to the previous chapters on condensers and accessories. The book is best suited t o those interested in the elementary theory of distillation and the design of distilling apparatus for different purposes. It gives very little on the actual practical operation or installation of distillation equipment. The treatment of packed columns and the advantages, costs, and efficiency of various types of packing is too short; description or reference to certain types of packings and new columns has been omitted, as, for example, the centrifugal types. The authors have advantageously added references a t the end of many of the chapters and worked out a number of new problems, all of which makes the book more valuable. The rather extensive tables of data on various volatile liquids have been omitted, since i t was felt that such data may be obtained from handbooks now available. In an elementary treatise i t would seem that the authors might well attempt to define more carefully all the new terms introduced as well as explain more fully the significance and units of their symbols. There are a number of annoying errors in labelling figures and following the labelling correctly in the text. As an example one may cite the description of figure 10 on page 22, where the primes are left off the letters in the discussion. Again, on page 39 they refer to the “dotted line AC” which is not dottedin the figure, an error carried over from the earlier edition. Most of the figures are fairly well chosen, but the units are often left off the diagrams and are sometimes hard to find in the text. While corrections of many of the mistakes and typographical errors, as well as some corrections in English, have been made in this new edition, some still remain. In general the book is written lucidly, but occasionally there is a poor choice of words which leaves the exact meaning obscure, especially for an elementary treatise. The generalizations in chapter XIV are illuminating. They would be of more value, however, if some attempt a t a quantitative statement were also included. T. I. TAYLOR.
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Colloidal Phenomena. By ERNST A. HAWSER. First edition. 6 x 9 in.; xx 294 pp.; 123 figures. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1939. Price: $3.00. This book can be strongly recommended aa an introduction to colloid science. It is written in a lively style, without hesitation; simple curves and diagram are
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