LITERARY NOTICES. 



281 



years toward uniformity in the general out- 

 lines of the school systems of the different 

 States, " which seems remarkable in view of 

 the diversity of educational conditions in 

 the several States prior to 1870, the oppo- 

 site theories which prevailed in different 

 sections, and the great contrast between the 

 newly settled States and older common- 

 wealths in social conditions and available 

 resources." Information concerning rural 

 schools being given now fuller and in more 

 explicit shape than formerly, their deficien- 

 cies and wants are in consequence more 

 clearly perceived, and there is ground for 

 belief that improvement in them will be 

 steady and rapid. Women's opportunities 

 to influence education as voters and school- 

 officers have been greatly enlarged in many 

 States, but the commissioner regrets to say 

 that the women have shown more indiffer- 

 ence to them than he had expected. The 

 usual annual review of the different classes 

 and grades of schools in the United States 

 is given, but, while it shows the general im- 

 provement in efficiency that was to be ex- 

 pected, reveals nothing new that calls for 

 especial remark. Papers are appended on 

 "Education in Foreign Countries," "Indus- 

 trial Education," "Popular Science Teach- 

 ing," " Evening, Army, and Summer 

 Schools," "Myopia," the "Physiology of 

 Reading and of Writing," and other topics 

 bearing upon the advancement and improve- 

 ment of education. 



Manual of Blow-pipe Analysis, Qualita- 

 tive and Quantitative, with a Com- 

 plete System of Determinative Miner- 

 alogy. By H. B. Cornwall, Professor 

 of Analytical Chemistry and Mineralogy 

 in the John C. Green School of Science, 

 Princeton, N. J. New York : D. Van 

 Nostrand, 1882. Pp. 308. 



The title of the book before us very 

 fully explains its nature and purpose. Pro- 

 fessor Cornwall's skill as a chemist and ex- 

 perience as a teacher peculiarly fit him for 

 the preparation of a manual that shall sup- 

 ply the student with all the needed infor- 

 mation for pursuing a complete course in 

 blow-pipe analysis. 



The work is similar in plan, but wider 

 even in scope, than Plattner's well-known 

 manual, which was translated by Professor 

 Cornwall in 1872, and has since been the 



standard text-book. In the present work, 

 many details have been added which tend 

 to lessen the labors of the instructor, and 

 adapt the book to the use of students who 

 are working alone, although it will be read- 

 ily understood that few persons will be able 

 to acquire skill in a branch requiring such 

 delicacy of manipulation without personal 

 instruction. The apparatus and operations 

 are first fully described and carefully illus- 

 trated by numerous woodcuts ; special tests 

 are then given for each of the elements, in- 

 cluding even the rare metals, for in blow- 

 pipe analysis it frequently happens that the 

 presence of only one or two substances is 

 to be sought, and it is then unnecessary to 

 go through a complete analysis. The fourth 

 chapter, however, contains special schemes 

 for complex substances, and methods for the 

 examination of metallurgical products and 

 paints ; also Professor Egleston's scheme 

 for complete analysis, as it appeared in 

 the author's translation of Plattner. The 

 system has been devised with the view of 

 employing the blow-pipe to the exclusion, as 

 far as possible, of wet methods, but a few 

 directions are given for the general opera- 

 tions in wet analysis, and a list of reagents 

 both solid and liquid required for the latter. 

 Mention is made of the use of citric acid, as 

 recommended by Professor H. C. Bolton, 

 for decomposing minerals ; also of the glyc- 

 erine test for boracic acid. We can not 

 help feeling that the addition of a list of 

 Bunsen's " flame reactions " would have 

 added to the value and completeness of the 

 book. The use of spectrum analysis is very 

 briefly described, and an (uncolored) litho- 

 graphic plate shows the position of the lines 

 and bands which characterize the metals 

 usually sought for in this way. 



In the chapter on quantitative analysis, 

 the method of assaying gold, silver, cop- 

 per, lead, bismuth, tin, mercury, and co- 

 balt and nickel ores is fully described, 

 and the apparatus employed are illustrated. 

 In this sort of work the automatic ap- 

 paratus, described on pages 180, 181, are 

 very convenient, as a long-continued and 

 steady blast is essential. As the quan- 

 tity of ore that can be assayed is very 

 small, the operations of quantitative blow- 

 piping are very delicate, and an exceedingly 

 accurate balance is an absolute necessity. 



