GENERAL INTRODUCTION 



American Chemical Society Series of 

 Scientific and Technologic Monographs 



By arrangement with the Interallied Conference of Pure and Ap- 

 plied Chemistry, which met in London and Brussels in July, 1919, the 

 American Chemical Society was to undertake the production and 

 publication of Scientific and Technologic Monographs on chemical 

 subjects. At the same time it was agreed that the National Research 

 Council, in cooperation with the American Chemical Society and the 

 American Physical Society, should undertake the production and pub- 

 lication of Critical Tables of Chemical and Physical Constants. The 

 American Chemical Society and the National Research Council mu- 

 tually agreed to care for these two fields of chemical development. 

 The American Chemical Society named as Trustees, to make the nec- 

 essary arrangements for the publication of the monographs, Charles 

 L. Parsons, Secretary of the American Chemical Society, Washington, 

 D. C.; John E. Teeple, Treasurer of the American Chemical Society, 

 New York City; and Professor Gellert Alleman of Swarthmore Col- 

 lege. The Trustees have arranged for the publication of the American 

 Chemical Society series of (a) Scientific and (b) Technologic Mono- 

 graphs by the Chemical Catalog Company of New York City. 



The Council, acting through the Committee on National Policy of 

 the American Chemical Society, appointed the editors, named at the 

 close of this introduction, to have charge of securing authors, and of 

 considering critically the manuscripts prepared. The editors of each 

 series will endeavor to select topics which are of current interest and 

 authors who are recognized as authorities in their respective fields. 

 The list of monographs thus far secured appears in the publisher's 

 own announcement elsewhere in this volume. 



The development of knowledge in all branches of science, and espe- 

 cially in chemistry, has been so rapid during the last fifty years and 

 the fields covered by this development have been so varied that it is 

 difficult for any individual to keep in touch with the progress in 



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