724 JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION March, 1930

bad qualities arc pretty evident and will
See https://pubs.acs.org/sharingguidelines for options on how to legitimately share published articles.
will make the student wish for more, and
probably impress the reader adversely a number which do not contain enough
at the outset. Its good points will appear to insure a proper understanding of their
when the book is read. The reviewer has meaning. It is supplied with a really
found that a careful examination dulled excellent index.
greatly, or almost neutralized, the first Tenney L. Davis
unfavorable impression and convinced Massachusetts Institute
of Technology,
him that the book is very much better Cambridge, Massachusetts

than it at first appears to be. The four-

teen collaborators have done their part Practical Chemistry with Experiments.
and have chosen their material wisely Lyman C. Newell, Ph.D., Professor of
and well, but their contributions have Chemistry, Boston University, Boston,
Downloaded via 106.78.168.249 on September 15, 2019 at 13:32:32 (UTC).

plainly suffered from too much editing. Mass. Revised edition. D. C. Heath
The effort to unify the whole account has and Co., New York City, 1929. Part I.
mangled it in many places. It would un- Practical Chemistry, viii -f 543 pp.
doubtedly have been a better book if it 24 tables; 139 drawings; 95 photo-
had been written by one man, or, lacking graphs. Part II. Experiments in Prac-
that, if the reader had been offered the tical Chemistry, viii + 168 pp. 114
clear exposition of one expert, then the drawings. 12.5 X 13.19 cm. $2.24.
clear exposition of another—and had been The text (Part I) and the manual (Part
allowed to synthesize the various opinions
II) are bound in one volume. This second
for himself. The intelligent reader will edition is more attractively bound than
probably insist upon the latter alternative was the first (1922) one. The quality of
anyway. the binding of the new book is good; how-
The book covers the whole realm of ever the cloth part spots somewhat. The
general science and supplies a textbook thickness (3.6 cm.) of the book is, perhaps,
for an orientation course in which the, too great for the other dimensions. The
student is given a broad survey of man’s paper stock will withstand very well the
knowledge about nature and about man customary usage accorded a first-course
individually, and in the group. The chemistry book; it allows too free a flow
original manuscripts of the chemistry of fountain-pen ink.
sections were prepared by Lyman C. The paragraphing is well done; the sec-
Newell and by Ralph N, Maxson, both tion heads show excellent composition,
well known to the readers of This Jour- both from the standpoint of directing the
nal. That on astronomy was prepared reader’s attention and also for purposes of
by Harlow Sbapley, perhaps the most ready reference. These headings are
distinguished of living astronomers. Some printed in 11-12 point, bold face type; the
of the other collaborators are well-known main body of the text in 11-12 point; and
and distinguished specialists in their the less important section of the text, ex-
various branches of science. ercises, problems, and the main body of the
Each chapter is followed by a “Ques- manual in 8-point. The type is neat and
tionnaire with Reading References” which easily read, it being probably monotype
seems a needless irritation—for most of us modern or monotype Caslon. The reviewer
have had enough of questionnaires. found no typographical errors but he was
Each question is followed by a list of slightly disconcerted by an avoidable
books which bear upon it, and the par- amount of broken type.
ticular page upon which a discussion of In the main the drawings are very well
the question may be found is generally executed. Conventional perspective out-
noted—a detail which is distinctly un- line shading would have added to the
favorable to productive scholarship. The reality of the three-dimension drawings.
book contains many paragraphs which The customary broken section conventions
Vop. 7, No. 3 RECENT BOOKS
are almost totally ignored. In some in-
stances tile ends of open glass tubes are
closed and in others are left open. These
are minor considerations, but the observa-
tion of them would add to an otherwise
well set-up book. The photographs are
well chosen and excellently printed.
It is unusual to find an inorganic text
and manual combined under one cover.
This arrangement has the merit of a
greater assurance that the student will
have the text available for reference pur-
poses while in the laboratory. The combi-
nation cannot, however, be satisfactorily
used in the elimination from the text
proper of the partial description of certain
of the laboratory experiments.
The reviewer had access to the first
(1922) edition of the text but not to the
previous edition of the laboratory experi-
ments. A hasty comparison shows: (1)
that certain paragraphs in Chapters XXVI
(Metals and Non-Metals—Periodic Classi-
fication) and XXXVIII (Radium and
Radioactivity) were revised and extended;
and (2) the addition of Chapter XXXIX
(Electrons)—these changes and additions
being in conformity to more recent fact
and theory relative to the nature of mat-
ter. The index is increased accordingly.
The Appendix lists 53 (an addition of
nine) sources of related and detailed out-
side reading.
The text is "intended for the first year
of chemistry.” The author states, "it is a
Practical Chemistry—practical in several
way s,” The author is modest, as his state-
men leaves the impression that his treat-
ment of the subject is devoid of theory.
Such is not the case, for there are in the
book brief but adequate presentations of:
(1) the atomic, kinetic, and ionization
theories; (2) valence; (3) structure of the
atoms, etc. Of the 421 exercises and 274
problems, quite a few deal with theoretical
chemistry.
The general sequence of topics is excel-
lent. The student is quite early but very
unostentatiously introduced to such sub-
jects as symbols, formulas, equations, and
atoms. These terms and abbreviations
725
constitute some of the fundamentals of the
language of chemistry—hence why not this
early introduction of them? The dis-
placement (chemical activity) series is
briefly used in the chapter on hydrogen
(p. 42), and there is no particular reason
for not utilizing this series as early as the
chapter dealing with oxygen. The pages
concerned with molecular weights, formu-
las, atomic weights, and valence are master-
pieces of clarity and simplicity. The ex-
tensive lists of the practical uses of the
various substances lend a wholesome pan-
demic tenor to the subject.
Solutions and colloid chemistry are
given scanty space in the chapter on water.
The dangerous nature of definitions is well
recognized by the author as exhibited by
the fewness of them. The chemistry of
condensed acids and their salts is not
mentioned. Early in the book, chemical
change is discussed without reference to
the accompanying energy changes; a little
later chemical change is extended in the
light of the electron theory. The use of
electronics is avoided in the sections deal-
ing with oxidation and reduction. The
metallurgy and refining of copper is pre-
sented at some length. The double-
arrow (fc^) is used in the sections per-
taining to equilibrium reactions, but
thereafter avoided. The statement "about
85 elements” is to be found on p, 7; 85
elements are listed in the “Table of-
and atomic weights;” and only 70 are in-
cluded in the "Periodic Classification.”
The reviewer regrets that the Chemical
Abstracts’ spelling of aluminum, sulfur, and
buret is not followed.
Part II (Experiments in Practical Chem-
istry to Accompany the Text) contains 238
exercises. According to the author,
"Several experiments have been revised
and minor corrections made in this edi-
tion.” The first experiments are given in
ample detail, while the later ones are more
abbreviated. Attention is also given to
the selection of experiments involving the
lesser costs for materials. The technic in
pouring liquids (Figures XV and XVI)
could be improved. The other general in-
 72G JOURNAL OR CHEMICAL EDUCATION

structions in the "Introduction” are ex- the Division of Statistics by Frank

cellent except that “carron-oil” for burns
is no longer oil the favored list of first-aid
treatment.
The absence of apparatus supports in
the diagrams may leave too much to the
ingenuity of the student. The title
"Effect of Shape on the Solubility of a
Solid” is misleading. Hydrated sodium
acetate is probably a more interesting sub-
stance for the study of "super-saturation”
than is sodium thiosulfate. The familiariz-
ing of a first-course student with a hy-
drometer is commendable. Some of the
analytical determinations are worthy of an
excellent first-course manipulator.
The manual affords a wide latitude in
the choice of experiment and is a veritably
excellent accompaniment for the text.
In conclusion, the reviewer recom-
mends the volume for the use of students
who have not had any previous training in
chemistry.
Jesse E. Day
The Oslo Statu University
Columbus, Ohio
BULLETINS
'
Record of Current Educational Publica-
tions. Dept, of the Interior, Bureau of
M. Phillips, Chief. Dept, of the In-
terior, Bureau of Education, Bulletin,
1929, No. 19. U. S. Government Print-
ing Office, Washington, D. C. 61 pp.
$0.10.
The Saline Springs of the Rio Salado,
Sandoval County, New Mexico. John
D. Clark, Professor of Chemistry, Uni-
versity of New Mexico. Univ. of
New Mexico Bulletin, Univ, of New
Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mex-
ico, 1929. 29 pp.
A complete description of these springs
with numerous excellent illustrations.
Optical Rotation and Ring Structure in the
Sugar Group. The Optical Rotation of
the Various Asymmetric Carbon Atoms
in the Hexose and Pentose Sugars.
H. S. IsbELL, Associate Chemist,
Bureau of Standards. U. S. Dept.
of Commerce Publication. Research
Paper No. 128. Reprint from Bureau
of Standards, Journal of Research, Vol. 3,
Supt. of Documents,
Dec., 1929.
Wa^ungton, D. C. 12 pp. $0.05.

Education, Bulletin, 1929, No. 24.

U. S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D. C. 128 pp. $0.15.
This bulletin comprises publications
received by the Bureau of Education,
January-December, 1928, with index.
Statistics of Private High Schools and
Academies, 1927-1928. Prepared in
The Detection and Investigation of Poisons
by Spectroscopy. Adam Hilger, Ltd.,
24 Rochester Place, Camden Road,
London, N. W. 1, England. Dec.,
1929, 17 pp.
The material in this pamphlet is di-
vided into three parts: I. Applications;
II. Equipment; III. Method of Working.

Professor A. F. Holleman Honored. Professor A. F. Holleman, the eminent Dutch

organic chemist, attained his seventieth birthday on August 28th, and a special volume
of the Recueil des Travaux Chimiques des Pays-Bas has been dedicated to him in honor
of the event. The volume contains numerous papers, from Dutch, British, American,
German, French, and Italian authors. Much of Professor Holleman’s published work
deals with the directive effect of substituents in the benzene nucleus on new substituents
entering therein. He is also widely known for his Text-Book of Organic Chemistry,
which has been used by many generations of students. Originally written in Dutch, it
has run into six English editions, and has also been translated into German, Italian,
French, Russian, Polish, Spanish, and Czechoslovak.— Chem. Age