VOL.7, NO. 4
RECENT BOOKS
The authors make a distinction between chemical physiology and physiological chemistry, no doubt as a justification for the unusual title, which they later nullify by the assertion that the h w k deals with both fields. G. H. W~OLLETT
sented in a manner to justify the time expended. G. FREDERICK Smrm UNWBRSITY OII ILLINOIS URBAN*, ILLINOIS
The Essentials of Chemical Physiology. W. D. HALLIBURTON. M.D.. LL.D.. F.R.S., J. A. HEwrTT, Ph.D., DSc.. W. ROBSON,Ph.D., DSc. Twelfth edition. Longmans, Green & Co.. 55 Fifth Ave., N. Y., 1929. xii 383 pp. 56 illustrations. 1 colored plate. 14 X 211/n cm. W.00. Like the earlier editions this one consists of two parts, an elementary course in thirteen lessons (277 pages) and an advanced course in seven lessons (74 pages). The book is intended t o serve as a "practical guide." The elementary course is of the combined laboratory manual and textbook types, the first part of each lesson being devoted t o laboratory exercises of which all hut four are qualitative. A very large number of subjects are covered in the text making the discussion of each in so small a volume necessarily very brief. The treatment is inclined t o be dogmatic as is perhaps inevitable with such condensed material. Theoretical discussions and the consideration of controversial mattus have been cut almost t o the vanishing point. Graphic formulas though not numerous are correct in all cases except one, obviously an oversight, in the formula for methyl glucoside on page 62. The formula for kynuruic acid (p. 264) and the reversal of formulas for glucose and glucosides occurring on pages 62 and 63 may be confusing t o the student. The advanced course consists altogether of laboratory work and presents a good assortment of quantitative methods. No attempt is made in this part to give a theoretical background. The hook has been well reworked and brought up t o date although some old material, such as the hypobromite method for urea, which might have been discarded, has been retained.
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955
UNIVBRS~N OF WSSISIPPI UNIYBBSITY, MiSSrSSzPPI
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Select Methods of Metallurgical Analysis. WlLLIAM ARCHIBALD NAISH. Ph.D. (Eng.), A.R.S.M., B.Sc., F.I.C., M. 1nst.M.M.. Lecturer in Metallurgy, Chelsea Polytechnic, London, and JOHN EDWARD CLENNELL,RSC. (London), Assoc. Inst. M.M. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1930. rii 495 pp. 24 X 15 cm. Figures 32. 87.50. The object of this book is the compilation of selected methods of analpis of both the ordinary and rarer elements chosen for their suitability and accuracy, useful for professional metallurgists, chemists, and students. The hook is self contained in that its Parts I-VI include sampling, qualitative analysis and general methods of solution p d separation; the analysis and dry assay of the individual elements; commercial metals and alloys; ores, slags, and drosses: refractory materials and the proximate analysis of coal; minerals, electrometric titrations, and spectrographic methods. The system of qualitative analysis is largely in table form and includes the rarer elements. Trouble may be encountered by the inexperienced; for example, "Group I is precipitated hy HCI." The book conforms to the British and Colonial usage of red lead in the fir? assays and the I.M.M. screen standards in sieves. Briefness of description makes many of the quantitative procedures suitable only for the experienced chemist. In the decomposition of white metals with HPSOI, separatrd S is not eliminated previous to the KMnOl titration for Sb. Ni is recommended as a reducing agent in the iodide method for Sn but iron nails with a hydrocarbon blank is still given as an alternative. The
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