VOL.8, No. 5
RECENT BOOKS
This book, by the same authors as "Beginning Chemistry," reviewed above, is a loose-leaf type lahoratory manual. It contains seventy-six experiments covering the usual range of laboratory work in high-school chemistry, and is written in the so-called questionnaire form. The experiments are arranged t o conform to the order of topics in the texts. Each experiment is introduced by a title and fallowed The by a statement of the "Object." statement of the "Object" varies throughout the book; in some cases it is expressed as a question; in others, i t i s a statement of fact, and again i t is expressed in the infinitive form. The experiments end without a concluding summary to show the extent to which the object of the experiment has been realized. The book is attractively prepared and should make an appeal t o the student. Ample space provided for answers makes possible the writing of reports without crowding. The drawings seem t o lack consistency throughout the book. In some cases line drawings of woss-sections are used while in others picture type drawings are used to illustrate apparatus. I n a few cases the drawings suggest hoth types in the same ti-. Another example of inconsistency in the drawings is the use of so many types of pneumatic trough. Onthe whole it seems that the diagrams have a tendency to detract from the appearance of the book. The study of the Bunsen burner as Experiment 51 seems t o he introduced too late for effective work. The summary of apparatus and materials hy experiments a t the end of the book is an excellent feature hoth from the standpoint of checking supplies from the storeroom, and also for the purpose of ordering supplies. The appendix contains useful tables, list of apparatus, and a very short "First-Aid Chart." KIM~ER M. PERSING GL.BNVILLB Hmll SCIOOL CLBVELAND, Omo
1009
Teachers Manual and Key for Beginning Chemistry. G u s r ~ v L. F L E T C ~ E R , James Monroe High School, New York City; HERBERT 0 . SMITX,Newton High School, New York City; BENJAMrN HARROW, College of City of New York. American Book Company, New York City, 1930. 180 pp. 16 fig. 13 X 19 em. $1.20. This hook, as the name suggests, is a manual and key for teachers' use with the tent "Beginning Chemistry," reviewed on page 1008. The hook consists of demonstration experiments and question-answer groups arranged under chapter headings corresponding to the chapters in the text. The demonstration experiments are well selected and should prove valuable t o the teacher. The chapter questions of the text are answered and discussed, and this should be especially helpful t o the inexperienced teacher. The answers are much more extensive than might be expected from students. The book does not contain either a Table of Contents or an index. The purpose of the book might he fulfilled more easily by having the demonstration experiments listed by title. To the ambitious teacher the demonstration experiments will suggest ways of collecting and organizing a valuable though inexpensive museum. KIMBERM. PERSING G'ENYILLB Hma ScnooL
CLBVBLAND, orno
A Textbook of Practical Physical Chemistry. K.FAJANS,Professor of Physical Chemistry a t the University of Munich, and J. Wiisr. Translated by BRTAN TOPLEY, M.A. E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., New York City, 1930. xv 233 pp. 74 figs. 15 X 23 cm. $4.95.
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The authors set for themselves the task of writing a laboratory manual which would incite the student to carry out the exercises with a maximum of self-reliaace and with a minimum of assistance from
1010
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
the instructor. To this end, the exercises are presented in nmsiderahle detail and the relevant theory is given in each case. References to well-known treatises of physical chemistry, too, are made a t the appropriate places. The text records the course of experimental physical chemistry originating in the Technische Hochschule of Karlsruhe, and as modified and improved in the universities of Munich, Erlangen. and Wiinburg. The many years of testing out, with classes, of the directions of the text have brought to light the points of theory and practice which prove most troublesome to students. These points have been given special attention in this text. The text covers a remarkably wide field and contains a number of exercises usually not found in many of the semi-elementary courses of physical chemistry. The following list SeNes to give a general notion of its scope and contents: molecular weights (in solution); vapor pressures and distillation of liquid mixtures; surface tension and internal friction of liquids; adsorption from solution; coagulation of sols; pH determinations; calorimetry; metabgraphy; radioactive transformations; rates of readion (in solution); refradometry; spectro-photometry; electrical conductivity; transference; electromotive force; and practical electrolysis. A number of different exercises are usually included under each heading. The authors have succeeded in presenting clearly the theory and the practical directions for each exercise. The instructor will welcome such discussions as the soand estimation of errors, details of setting s Beckmanu thermometer, directions for the calibration and mmparisou of mercurial thermometers and of thermocouples, and other items of laboratory technic with which the student is confronted. perhaps, far the first time. Also, the inclusion of the quinhydrone electrode, potentiometric and conductimetric titrations, ultra-violet spectrography. and radioactive transformations serve to bring the subject matter up to date.
MAY.1931
The use of the capillary electrometer. certain thermoregulators, etc., may not laboratories, appeal to the better-equipped - but their inclusion does not detract seriously from the value of the text. The hook is teachable. I n fact it serves to develop the student's manipulative skill and his practical evaluation of the meaning and import of each exercise. The hook should be welcomed by all who are engaged in the giving of laboratory instruction in physical chemistry. W. A. FELSINO UNIVBASITY OII TUXAusnr*,T s u s
Qualitative Analyse mit Hilfe v m Tiipfelreaktionen. Theoretische Grundlagen und praktischer Ansfiihrung. F&Z FBIGL, Privatdozent an der Universitit Wien. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft M.B.H., Leipzig; McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York City, 1931. 387 pp. 12 figs., 2 colored plates. xii 28 M, cloth, 26.40 M, paper.
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Recent developments in analytical chemistry have emphasized the importance of physico-chemical methods of measurement and the fact that our limited number of specific reagents can be increased by utilizing the properties of organic compounds. Just as certain groupings of the atoms serve to develop color, other groupings tend to develop specific reactions with inorganic ions. More and more the analyst is making use of organic reagents as this hook emphasizes. During the last decade Feigl and his associates have published more than fifty papers concerning special tests which can he carried ant with a single drop of solution. Many of these papers were published in a journal which does not have a wide circulation in the United States and it seemed a pity that this interesting and valuable work was not more accessible. To satisfy this demand, Feigl has collected together the tests that he has himself developed, together with tests prepared by o t h m and with some material not previously pub-
