VOL.8, No. 9
190'3
RECENT BOOKS
day affairs." Although the hook presupposes a year's course in general chemistry, it starts with a brief review of the principles involved therein, and continues through a discussion of analytical and "thetic chemistry, organic chemistry, biological chemistry, and the application of all of these to problems of especial interest to students of agriculture and home economics. I t is a tremendous task t o include in such a small space this large volume of material, and to present the outstanding winciples in a briefly summarized form. The hwk is, as the author states, an "abstract of the field of chemistry" adapted to a special purpose. The author has rigidly selected his material t o indude the estahlished theories on which the science of chemistry is based, the important recent work on the structure of matter. hydrogen-ion concentration, the colloidal state, physico-chemical phenomena, and the excellent general discussion of biological principles and processes. In reading the text, one has the impression of mncise organization of material, of logical sequence, and, as the author intended, of an unusual adaptation of the subject to the problems which are met in daily life.
The author that is a demand for a chemistry course which may be given in a limited time and which will give students an appreciation of the methods of chemical analysis and a general knowledge which may be applied to their respective problems. For such a brief course, the text might be usable. However, students of home economics and would not be adequately equipped for the application of chemistry to problems they would he likely to meet unless they had a more complete course in organic and in analytical chemistry than is here outlined. N' M. NayLon IOWAS r m e CoLcaoa Ares, low*
The Principles of Organic Chemistry. JAMES F. N o m ~ s .Professor of Organic Chemistry Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Thirdedition. McGrawHill Book Co., Inc.. New York City, 1931. xii 595 pp. 8 figs. 14 X 20.25 cm. 63.00. This has so widely used so well known that teachers and is it would seem unnecessary to describe here its purpose and srope, It was designed to meet the needs of heginning classes in the subject and in this has eminently successful, The great
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and sustained popularity the hook testimonial of has enjoyed is an the excellence of its general choice f, matter, the organization of the material, and the style of presents. tion,
In the new edition these features retained and the work has thoroughly revised particularly with re. spect to new developments, theoretical lines, however, the author has been more For taken of example, no advantage has the recent developments in the. ory; all bands are written alike, even in the ammonium compounds, and there is no indication that they differ in type, On the other hand, the theory of partial valence which has outlived its usefulness t o he emphasized. Large cyclic rings and the present status of the Baeyer strain theory are not discussed, The treatment of the Beckmann realtered. arrangement has not A conservative attitude with regard to the inclusion of theoretical developments is on pedagogical grounds. Certainly one of the chief merits of this textbook consists in the skilful handling or evasion of points which are so involved or of such value as he likely to confuse the be. ;---* 5L.L.L'>.
Against these few points which many will criticize adversely may he set a host of striking improvements. The nomenclature has been greatly improved; the problems are new and excellent; the q u a tions and structural formulas stand out very clearly on the page; the generaliza-
1904
JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
tions have been put in italics. The treatment is full enough to meet the needs of a year course; yet no one need hesitate t o use this hook in connection with briefer courses because the organization is so good that the less important sections may he passed over without seriously affecting the continuity. REYNOLD C. FUSON ILLINOIS URBAN*,ILL~NOIS
U N I Y B R S ~ YOn
Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry. HARRYL. FISHER. Ph.D., Research Chemist, United States Rubber Co., Passaic, New Jersey, formerly Instructor in Organic Chemistry. Columbia University. Third edition, revised. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York 368 pp. 21 figs. City. 1931. xvii 21.5 X 13.5 cm. $2.75.
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The third edition of this excellent manual represents a critical and thoroughgoing revision of the previous edition, with an enlargement of thirty pages. A careful examination reveals a multitude of minor changes, and a considerable number of more striking changes, though the general character of the hook remains the same. Some of the more prominent additions are the following: the determination of the boiling paint by Siwolohoff's micro method; tests to differentiate chlorine, bromine, and iodine in the experiment on qualitative elementary analysis; the preparation of butyl bromide by the acid method as a n alternative for ethyl iodide by the phosphorus-iodine method; the preparation of amylene by dehydration of tertiary amyl alcohol, and re-hydration t o the alcohol; an improved procedure far preparation of acetamide by the reflux method, and for its purification; an experiment to illustrate hydration of a nitrile t o an acid; another to show decarhouylation; a safe procedure for the Skraup synthesis. The series of experiments leading from turpentine to camphor is retained. Suggestions and literature references for work on iso~reneand rubha are given as a final experiment, which, like
SEPTE~ER 1931 .
the preceding, can he assigned t o the more advanced and capable students of a class. New tests have been added t o a numher of experiments, including those on amides, amines, and aromatic halogen compounds. Improvements in procedure have been introduced into experiments an ethyl iodide, urotropine, hydrolysis of butter, diphenylmethane, sulfanilic acid. hydrolysis of ethyl acetate, etc. Among other numerous changes may be noted the use of Nujol or Arochlor in the melting-point bath, the critical revision of stated boiling points and melting points. the deletion of some questions and the addition of others, the introduction of many new literature references, now indicated by the abbreviations used in puhlications .of the American Chemical Society. The experiment on acetaldehydeammonia happily has been retired, and its place is taken by the depolymerization of paraldehyde. The second part of the manual, devoted mostly to one of the best available accounts of combustion analysis for carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, is substantially as in the second edition. A few changes were noted: calcium chloride or dehydrite is recommended for water absorption in the Liehig method, permitting the omission of several long footnotes on dehydrated alumina; ascarite is now very properly given preference over soda-lime for absorption of carbon dioxide; the use of a Kipp generator to supply carbon dioxide for the Dumas analysis is now tolerated, provided the marble is first boiled with water; directions for analyses by the Parr bomb have been revised. Some errors present in the second edition have been corrected, though one misprint persists on page 194: "9.3 grams (10.4 cc.) of aniline." The set-up for the preparation of ethylene (Experiment 8) seems to be somewhat complicated far so early in the course, and may consume an undue amount of time. A simpler outfit serves about as well. The preparation of an olefine by dehydration of an alcohol over alumina would perhaps make a de-
