conception of life and life procerseo. It was written especially for those students who take i n elementary course in bacteriology without having had any previovs training in biology. The author h l s employed the classification reeentlr adopted by the American Bacteriological Association. H e in t o be commended for the manner in which he has handled this subject, in its p r e s e t state. On the other hand, the render is left somewhat in doubt as t o the advisability of teaching this classification, at present, t o students in elementary bacteriology unleos they have had some grounding a t least in laboratory work. The chapters on Bacterial Enzymes, Hygiene and Sanitation, and Bacteria in Relation to Inare especially good. The index is alro generally complete. A word should be said in commendation of the publishers in their preparation of this hook. It is printed on a good quality of heavy paper, in very elear type, and is well bound.
E. M. PlCxL%ss Chemistry, Incluludira Recent Examination Questions. M. H. K ~ s s u ~Globe . Book Compbny. New York, 1925. 112 pp. 15.5 X 22.5 em.' $0.67. This tittle book, written for "students preparing for examinations in e h e m i s w gives a summary of the information that a student might be expected t o have a t the end of his high-echo01 chemistcy course. The principal chemical laws and theories are listed, a considerable number of problems in chemical arithmetic are given, short laboratory experiments are desoihed and apparatus pictured and the -menee, preparation and properties of the more important elements and compounds are mentioned. Besides these, a few qualitative teot. are deserib~d. At the end of the book are sets of typical examination questions which might be of value as a guide in review. Sioee ail this is done in about a hundred pages, statements are necessariiv concise and in but tittle detail. Some question might be raised as to the treatment given molecular weights and weight of a liter of gas hn vapor dennity, electrolysis of brine, nascent oxygen and the avoidance of more d i s e v ~ ~of i athe ionic theory. hut in its place the book can serve and no doubt will. For review and preparation for examinations. it ought t t o be valuable. Taolanr B. BRronMN Chemistry and Civilization. Wusron Cusalam, A.M., Pa.D. Director of Industrial Rerearch, Washington, D. C New and revi~ed edition. E. P. Dutton, New Ymk. 1925. ix I67 pager. 6 illustrations. 15 X 2 1 em. $2.50.
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"Chemistry in the s u v i e e of man ir t h e author's theme in this volume, founded upon theseries of
lectures delivered by him a t the Wagner Institute of Science. Philadelphia, under the Richard B. Westbraok Lectureship Foundation." The method of prerentation is largely histatical and the book I h t diseusseo memie chemistry and the advances made by man as he progresred in civilization. The works of the alchemists and phlogirtonists are reviewed and then the dis. coveries of Lavoisier, Dnvy, Paraday, Liebig. and Pasteur, are presented in a popular way. The apptieation of chemistry t o the hasic industries and the rise of organic chemistry is treated in an entertaining manner. The subject of nitrogen fixation has been brought up to date and in this connection the topic. "Chemistry and war," receives adequate treatment. The last three chapters deal with "Chemistry and the Future." The discovery of X-rays and radieactivity is firat discussed and then the author outlines some of the conclusions which can be drawn from these facts. A simple and readable outline of the Einstein theory is included. The subject of colloids and dispersoids is next introduced and a brief treatment of the thcories of roiutions follows. The story of helium is related in a very interesting way and the author makes some predictions as t o the future promeoo of the race. The final chapter tells about the modconcepts of matter and en-. After an historical introduction the modem views are simply snd clearly stated and the book a d s with some p r c dictions concerning the modern transmutation
chemistry is necessary for tiberal culture. All chemistry teachers should attempt t o "humanize knowledge" and this hook is distinctly valvable for this purpose. Technical details are necessary for the scientist hut ail others should be given an opportunity t o realize the relationship of "Chemistry and Civilization." R. N. MAXSON The Use of Solvents in Synthetic Or.wnis Chemistry. DONALD W. MACABDLU,S.B., Arst. Prof.. Boston University. Vol. I. D. Van Nostrand Co.. New York. 1925. vii 217. 15 X 23 em. $3.50 net.
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The author stater in his preface, "This volume is planned as the first part of n treatise on the opcraGve technic of synthetic organic ehemistry, similar in a general way t o the first sections of the well-known German works of Lamar-Cohn and of Weyl." There is no question hut what such a series of books written in English and brought up to date will he of genuine value, not only t o the rerearch and university worker, but also t o the industrialist. The author has the reviewer's respect and admiration for attempting a piece of work of s m h magnitude, and hc should be
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eongrnfulafed filrttie'verjsueeessful manner in which he has written this first volume. The book contains. first of all. a c h a 3 e r on genera1 conideration., which inelude the theory of solution. This chapter could hardly be improved upon m t h the possible exception of more material regarding the use of the polarity factor in predicating solubilities as outlined bv Joel H. Hildebrand. T h i s chapter ia followed by a chapter covering the use of different types of organic ~olvents,svch ru alcohol, ethers, ncidn, esters ketones, and hydrocarbons. There are two final chapters: one on special mean. of indudng crystallization, and another on "salting out." The chapter on crystallization ir especially good and is undoubtedly the best summary of methods written in English. I" order t o get an idea of the magnitude of this work, it should be noted that there are over 900 references. ~ a c hreference has been gone over by the author and he has made an excellent abstract of each, the summation of which comprises the body of the bwk. 1t will beimpossible to give in ashort space the many different references which seemed d special interest. It should be stated, however, that the reviewer found many references that will be of particular value t o him in his own line of work. The book is not written from a critical standpoint. and though it is realized that a critical review would be almmt impossible, nevertheless the "due of mch a review ~ o u l dbe enormous. The author, furthermore, has confined himself to an academic viewpoint and hru not attempted t o f a l l o ~up the use of solvents in industrial synthetic operations. Thia is perhaps not nccesraw, but it- would, however, in the reviewer's opinion, add t o the value of the treatise a. a tertbook. one amusing instance where the writer failed to appreciate the significance of industrial pmeesres was noted in his chapter on the preparation of absolute ethyl alcohol. There is probably no modern develoIIrnent in solvent manufafture that ha. meant more than the manufaeture on an indurtrial scale of absolute ethyl alcohol. The author gives twenty-five pages of subject-matter on the laboratory preparation of absolute alcohol while he allows only four lines to the ohly successful process for the manufacture of this solvent. Furtheimore, he gives credit for the invention of this process t o an English patent attorney who was acting for one of the American inventors. The reviewer wa. especially interested in the apparent lack of use of anhrdrous esters as solvent.; for example, anhydrous ethyl acetate. Thirie probably due t o t h c fact that an anhydrous ethyl acetate practically free from alcohol has been a commercial product for only a few years. I t would seem to the reviewer that research on the d t h i n new d~lvenfmight lead t o interestins result% i
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Bvndamental Concept$ bf Physits. PAUL R. H B ~ .The Williams & Wilkins CC.,Baltimore, 1926. xii 112 . DO. . 12.5 X 18.5 ems.
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82.00. I n three lectures the author di%cusses the changes in the scientific conceptions of physical phenomena, presenting clearly and lucidly the fundamental factors that led t o the reviseq concepts for each century from the eighteenth t o the present. In the scientific world of the eighteenth cmtury there were three predominant characteristics. (I) an interpretation ~i physical and chemical phenomena, (2) ah in! consistent tendency to resort t o supernatural explanations, (3) a failure t o lay emphmio on quantitative data. Science war a study of matt& only; matter as a hard, heavy,ultimaterubrtance. Gravitational, mechanical, electrical, and mag: netic farces were known, but were regarded ss properties of matter. The "imponderables" were introduced, resulting in such theories & the caloric, the. eorpuneular, the electric Euids. the magnetic h i d . The exception t o this materialism war the "vital force." which suppaeedly resided in all organic matter aod eontrolled all organic renetians. The nineteenth century was one of cornlatiod. The isolated and distinct concepts of matter, heat, light, electridty, magnetism, and the various forces, handed down from the previous century were correlated-all except that o! gravitation-into two, the concept of matter, mafeiralisfie, and of energy. immaterial, yet always associated with mstter. This l a t t q association necessitated the pmtulhtion of a new "imponderable:' the ether of space, t o explain the apparent existence of tight energy in space empty of matter a. usually conceived. The law of the conservation of energy wa. advanced, c o m ~ l e m e n t a vto that of the eonswation of matter. The twentieth century ha. furnished a correlation between electricity and matte-matter is merely an electrical phenomcnm, and the doctrine'of the i n v t i a of energy-matter and energy are not independent entities, but are as: pects of inertia; matter, static; energy, kinetic; The assumption of the quantum concept that energy is di.cootinuous in its nature seems justi: fied by its various successful applications. The reiativity theory unites the concepts of gravitation and inertia, hitherto the definihg pro~ertie9 of matter, by advancing the concept of curved ~ p i e e . "Matter is a s t a f l e e u r v a t w e i n ~ ~.:~ ~ ~ ~ if the static becomes kinefie, matter 'becomes radiant energy." The book is very readable, e-ly undbrtood, written in a semi-popular style. It Y well worth teading for everyone interested in science, espccially for the di3eussIons of thc "disripAtion of energy:' the quantum theory, and ielativity in general. , . .. C. .G. E l c a ~ a
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