The Elements of Qualitative Analysis. W. A. NouSs. Seventh edition, revised, in collaboration with the author, by J. H. Resou. ~ o r k ,1923. PP. ~ ~ n ~r oy i & t co., ~ e w vi 128. 13% X 21 cm. 61.50.
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The original purpose 01 this widely "red manual. to prvvide beginnen with explicit directions for manipulations, has been retained. The general Corm is t h a t of the earlier editions The direction. for certain procedures have been clarified or am~lifledas a result of experience with Parse c1assee A few distinct departures fmm the procedures or the previous edition have been made. The rations of the tin mxb-group arc separated by ammatrivm carbonate and aluminum, a method which experience has show" t o give better iesuits in the hands of elementary students than separation by varied concentration5 of hydrachlorlc arid. Nickel ie tested far by dimethylslyoxime and cobalt by thiocyanate (Vogel's reaction) thus obviating the use of cyanide. Potxrsium is ~reeipitntedby perchloric acid and sodium by Euorilieic acid, only secondary importance being attached Lo the Same tests. I n the detection of anions these are tested for, ss far P O ~ S in ~ ~the I ~ , removing cations of heavy metals. The cations present having been determined, this information is combined with the solubility relations of the original substance t o deduce what anions may be present. The changes noted all make for increared urefvloess and will be wcleamed by teachers who have used the book in previous editions. Ioniration, maro-action, t h e salubility-product principle and the colloidal state are briefly diseusned io an introductory chapter. Reference t o these matter. lo infrequent in the rubpeqvent pages and their c m p h a ~ i sor omirrion left t o the instructor's discretion. As in the earlier edition., the typography i. excellent and erron notably few. A. R. MIDDLZIOX
The directions for each experiment are printed on one ride of the leaf, only, leaving a blank page opposite the directions for each experiment and i t is evidently the intention of t h e authors t h a t the blank page be used for answering the rupplementary questions relating t o each experiment. The directions for performing n given experiment are clear and concise and it should be possible for most students t o follow t h e directions without an undue amount of additional help on the part of the teacher. With each experiment is found n number of speeifiequestian. which call attcmion t o t h e important observations t o be made and theeondusiona which should be drawn. I n addition to the specific questions, there arc a number of genera1 questions rr1sting t o each experiment which are intended to bring out certain applications of the experiment in question. Some of the9e questions are pretty good. Mort ofthem, however, eao be answered by the average student only by reference t o textbooks since they d o not in m m t eases refer t o actual experiences common t o m m t boys and girls. A t the end of t h e book are s i r tables: symbok, valence, atomic weight. of the more common elements. solubilities of common compoundn, s a p m tension, thermometer conversion table, met&-English equivalents and a valence chart. The reviewer is unable t o observe anything panieularlv b e w in t h e e experiments. It would seem t h a t the experiments should increasingly require more independent work on t h e part of the stvdent if he is expected t o gain as t h e result of lnharatorv As a m a t t s of . exoerience. . fact, i t appearr t h a t the student is given prtically t h e same amount of detailed help in each of the experiments. In other wards, t h e re9"irements placed upon the student d o not increase in difficulty as he works his way through the list of experiments. ~ a e hexperiment eonrtitutes an additional aeeumv1ntion of facts without provision for an inveared independent laboratom ability. H ~ R A. Y CARPBNYBR
MARTIN MewFordham Publishing Co.. New York. 1024. 61 pp. 20.5 x 265cm. $ 0 6 C with binder plus $0.25.
B i o l o a and Eman Welfare. J. E. Waaoounm A. B. HUNT. Macmillan Company, New Y a k . 1924. xii 585 p a g e . 13.5 X 20 em.
IIour pages are devoted t o preface, index of experiment. and diagrams of apparatu.. The preface stater t h a t t h e experiment sheets are t o be available in loose-leaf form whereas t h e voltune rvbmitted is in permanent binding. The index to experiments shows 59 titles which include the more frequently used laboratory erpcrimeots for elementary genera1 chemistry.
A review of a text on biology may seem out of place in a chemical journal but this book warrants some mention here. The reviewer is no authority on biology ra daes not venture any opinions on t h e biological phase of t h e hook heyond the statement t h a t t h e motive of t h e text as set forth in the preface seem. very sensible and t h e book look^ v e r y interesting.
Chemistry Experiment Sheets.
DBL A N D MILTON B. BRUND&GE.
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$1.68.
rect one, an s e t whch presvpporer certain earefvi thinking or computation. Definitions are not required and equations are called for but once in both papers except ar they may he incidcoral to the solution of aproblem. The terts are stated to be applicable from the middle of t h e first =emester up to the time when general chemistry branchep out into specialized subjects. Other tests are atated t o be i n preparation. As a brief and rapid method for testing attainment of students along certain lines and as a means of reducing the time vsually allotted for examinations, these terts may prove satisfactory. There is a point of view in regard to these tests, and t o others of similar character, which ought not t o be overlooked. The purpose of cdllcation is: first, t o train the stadenl', ability t o think straight; and, second, to develop his pswers of seiEexpresion. In the older types of examinations, to mhieh the College Entrance Board still almost entirely adheres, the student is required t o express in his own language, without any ruggertive appended ststements, what he knows about the questions set. I" order t o he prepared t o pas5 such examinations the student needs such practice at frequent opportunities t o develop through written work his powers of selfexpression. Obvbusly this requires both time Rich's Chemistry Tests; Gamma and Epsilon and labor on the part of teacher as well %s stuTests with Manual of Instruction for Giving dent, but how else *hall t h e student get trnining and Scoring Tests. S. G. Rrc". PublicSchool in one of the fundamentals of edvcation? The Publishing Co.. Bloomingtan. Illinois. 1923. tertr devised by Mr. Rich, and by others, doubt12 pp. 22 X 28 em. $100 per 22 net. less demand careful thinking, bur it may he quesTeachern who are burdened a t frequent intioned whether they afford t h a t opportunity for tervals with the heavy task 01 correcting large .elf-expression which the older type of test afnumbers of examination papers in chemistry.. forded. T o underscore a dozen answers t o ar and who consider a saving of time and lmhor ma"$ quertionr may demand the ability to think of primary importance, will he interested in rtralght hut i t doe. not, in the judgment of the any method of conducting examinations which reviewer, provide much if any opport,,nity for promises t o reduce t h e drudgery of correcting that self-expression which the stlldent must depapers. Such a method is offered in the two tests velop if he is t o meet successfully t h e standards mentioned above. s e t for adnlirrion to college. Quoting from the author's Manual, the chief It may also be debated whether it is better point. t o be tested in chemintry eraminztionr pedagogy to piace before the candidate printed are: "ability to think, information. ability t o anrwerr, one of which is known t o be correct, or to mlve prohlemr, habits aod knowledge acquirrd ask q~lestionr which must be answered ~ o l e l y from work in the hhoratory." from the candidate's knowledge, without the The content of t h e two tests is derived from possibility of s u ~ ~ e s t i owhich n may lie in a list material contained in five standard textbooks, of answers. twenty-five recent eraminatioos given by the For variety's sake and for the purpose of apCollege Entrance Board r n d by the New York p'oaching the matter of testing attainment from Regents, and from a number of state syllabi. a new angle, the occasional use 01 such terts as N o material has been used which r w a not common thme above indicated may be recommended, b.t t o at least two texts, or to a t e x t and an examinat h e reviewer would be loth t o .base a series of tion and ~yliabua. marks upon the data derived solely from such a I" order t o avoid terting memory alone, the set of tests. C. H. S ~ O N B questions are arranged on the ''eyclie principle" of Kugg as lollows: thinkins, memory, numeried, Junior Science. JOHN C. HB$SL$P, Ph.D., thinking, memory, laboratory. On each paper Pa. Benj. H. Sanborn 81 c o . New York. the time allowed for answering the twenty-five 1923. xvii 533 pp. 13 X 19 cm. $1.60. question. h twenty-five minutes. To each I n hi. preface the author ha7 taken the viewquestion four answer3 are appended. The point t h a t while every child user in an empirical candidate ir told t h a t one of these answers in way the f a c b of science, relatively few children each ease is correct and is instructed to underleave school with theve facts clarified and eascore t h a t answer which he believes to he the corI t s particular value t o c h e m i ~ t r yteachers lies in the diagrams and the numerou. references to chemistry. I t should give the non-biologiral teacher of chemistry interesting and valuable side material. The dingrams that caught the eye included: (1) storqe and reieare of enrrgy, (2) food m m ufacturc, storage and assimilation. (3) per cent of dcohol in patent medicines and in liquors, (4) carbon cycle, and ( 5 ) nitrogen cycle. There diagrams are "nunually good. T h a t the text is closely iinkcdup withchemistry is further evidenced by the tact t h a t eighteen of the 357 illu~trationsmight be found in the urllal chemistry textbook; one of them shows the interior 01 a chemical laboratory. A rough patimate rho,"$ t h a t abollt one~sixfhof the r e f e r rneer in the Index arc chemical in nature. Sixty~thrre laboratory cxerrircr are included and i t may interest authors of chemistry texts t o know t h a t they "are included in the body of the hook, because" t o quote from the preface. "they constitute an es.ential part of the course and because they are more convcnieot for use here than they would be if placed in a sep-rate W. SecnanLoM volume or in appendices."
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