NEW BOOKS
11;
ists who have glue analyses to make, is the position the author takes that the physical tests must determine the value of the glues and there can be no question but that the author proves his thesis. Much credit is given the standards of physical tests, known as “Cooper grades,“ which depend greatly on the viscosity and jelly strength-by the latter is meant the resistance to pressure of a given glue when compared with other glues of known character. His book should be in the hands of all chemists who have glue work to do ant1 comes nearer to being a hand-book of the subject than anything yet printed, giving as it does all the chemical and physical tests of value and entering also largely into the commercial side of the subject. JOHS “
THE PEABODY ATLAS.”-SHIPPING MINES
H. Y o c v ~ .
COAL RAILROADSOF THE C E N Accompanied by Chetiiical, Geological and Engineering Data. By A. BEAMENT. Price $5.00. 149 pp , size 1634’ x 18 in. Peabody Coal Co., Chicago. 1906. AND
TRAL COMMERCIAL DISTRICT O F THE EXITED STATES.
This is a n exceedingly valuable compilation of coal information and represents a vast amount of labor as well as great expense. Three general maps of the United States are given with especial designations of coal fields. Twenty-five sectional maps 14”x16” give counties, railways, antl mines in detail. the latter niiiiibered for ready reference to the lists of coal, localities, coal operators and coal railroads arranged alphabetically under each head. T h e statistical antl geological data are concise and well arranged. Not the least valuable feature is a well illustrated description of the author‘s theories concerning the combustion of coal under the heading of “Smokeless Furnaces and Smoke Suppression.“ Few writers are so well qualified to tliscuss this antl related topics \\-here fuel of the bituminous type is involved. S.ItT.P.\RR. WATER SOFTE‘VING A N I ) T R E i T M E S r .
308.
Price,
$2.50.
I).
\’~ii
\~XLt.IiM
H.
BOOTH.
Sostrand B Co., New York, 1906.
8VO.,
pp. XVI
-
T h e literature in English upon boiler \\-aters is meagre. Real contributions, therefore, to our information on this topic are welcome. Thirty pages are devoted to a discussion of the mineral constituents and reactions of possible reagents. T h e author is evidently an engineer rather than a chemist, and most of the chemical data are “said to be” as given in the text. This second hand characteristic of the descriptive matter probabls. accounts for the lack of discrimination in the topics introduced. Magnesium hydrate, for example, may be interesting, but hardly practical, while no mention is made of phosphates as reagents. T h e discussion of anaiytical methods covers six pages antl is devoted solely to a description of the use of soap solutions. A more pretentious discussion along these lines is contained in Appendix No. I , covering sixteen pages. This
‘i34
NEW BOOKS
is a reprint of Dr. -Angus Smith‘s report on the Incrustation in Eoilers near Manchester, England, first printed i n 1839 and repeated here \\.it11 the chemical nomenclature in the old st!,le. S e a r l y one-half of the book is talieii up bvith a description of condensers. feed heaters and feed pumps, pp. 149-288. Fifty pages are devoted to a description of water softening apparatus common to England and the Continent. S o rimerican types are referred to. T h e book may iiot he \vithout interest to the engineer, but has little of value for the chemist.
S.\V. PARR. SCIESTIFIC .ASPECTS OF \V.kTER
jj.
PURIFICATION.
BY
FREELAND HOWE. 8v0, pp.
Pittsburgh Filter Mfg. Co., 1906.
I n the preface, the author states that “the writer‘s principal desire is to present to others the ideas which make water purification more coniprehensible and simple to him.” Tt is possibly comprehensible that one ma!‘ dwell so persistently among the ions as to be able to make trutliidl!. such a statement as the one quoted, but to the ordinary individual. the descriptive matter of this little treatise \vi11 seem to give the rather simple problems of water purification a most terrific twist to bring them into the “scientific aspect” of the author. One example may be cited as illustrative of the general plan of “simplification.” T h e faiiiiliar reactioii of Prof. Clark for the softening of \ v a t u is put t h u s : “If an increase of a solid phase in contact with the system resulted in the increase in concentration of one of the ions, when the system \vas already saturated \vith respect to that ion, there would be a change. T h e point of saturatioii \\,auld be reached and the solid phase of the least soluble of the coniponents tvould separate out. This is \\-hat happens when lime is added to ;L. s!.stem containing the ions, carbanion (CO;;’’) , hydro-carbanion (HCO,’ ) and the calcion iCa”) and magnesium (Mg”j.” T h e author states that “all the salts are in a state of electrolytic dissociation . . . each chemical or group of elements exists as ions o r atoms with charges of either positive o r negative electricit!. he discusses as illustrations, hydrion, tliferrion, triferrion. etc., but does iiot say anything about silicon. ~Zllytliscussion of quantivalent reactions seems to be avoided. This would require distribution of ions in conformity with the every day conceptions of the compounds involved. T h e nearest approach is in the following paragraph taken from page 32. “Sulphanion can be almost completely reinoved by supplying barion . . . It is rendered non-scale forming hy supplying it with sodium o r potassium, but the resulting sulphates of sodium and potassium causes foaming.” It is difficult to determine \i.hether the last clause is a lapse o r a concession. I n general here is another illustration of a. fine system put to bad service. If the work is intended as a dissertation on physical chemistr)-. it lvould seem that an un-
