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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



An Introduction to thk Practice of Com- 

 mercial Organic Analysis: Being a 

 Treatise on the Properties, Proximate 

 Analytical Examination, and Modes of 

 Assaying the Various Organic Chemi- 

 cals and Preparations employed in the 

 Arts, Manufactures, Medicine, etc. 

 With Concise Methods for the Detection 

 and Determination of their Impurities, 

 Adulterations, and Products of Decom- 

 position. By Alfred H. Allen, F. C. S., 

 Lecturer on Chemistry at the Sheffield 

 School of Medicine, Fellow of the In- 

 stitute of Chemistry of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, Public Analyst for the 

 West Riding of Yorkshire, the Northern 

 Division of Derbyshire, and the Bor- 

 oughs of Sheffield, Chesterfield, Barns- 

 ley, etc. Vol. I. Cyanogen Compounds, 

 Alcohols and their Derivatives, Phenols, 

 Acids, etc. Philadelphia: Lindsay & 

 Blakiston. Pp. 360. Price, $3.50. 



This useful volume is the first part of an 

 ample treatise which will be carried out if 

 the reception of the present portion justifies 

 the compilation of the second volume. The 

 author has been moved to its preparation by 

 a conviction of the palpable deficiency in this 

 branch of chemical literature. While man- 

 uals of inorganic analysis abound, books 

 on organic analysis, the author avers, are 

 chiefly conspicuous by their absence. He 

 says : " It is a lamentable fact that while 

 our young chemists are taught to execute 

 ultimate organic analyses and to ring the 

 changes on the everlasting chloro, bromo, 

 and nitro derivatives of bodies of the aro- 

 matic series, the course of instruction in 

 many of our leading laboratories does not in- 

 clude even qualitative tests for such every- 

 day substances as alcohol, chloroform, gly- 

 cerine, carbolic acid, and quinine. As a nat- 

 ural consequence of this neglect, the meth- 

 ods for the proximate analysis of organic 

 mixtures and for the assay of commercial 

 organic products are in a far more back- 

 ward state than is justified by the great in- 

 herent difficulties of this branch of analysis. 



"Having in my own practice as a con- 

 sulting chemist repeatedly felt the need of 

 a convenient hand-book containing all reli- 

 able information respecting the methods of 

 assaying and analyzing organic substances 

 in common use, I presume that others will 

 have suffered similar experiences, and hence 

 that a work on' the subject will ' supply a 

 want which has long been felt.' 



" In the arrangement of the subject- 



matter I have ignored the more obscure 

 relationships, and have preferred grouping 

 the bodies treated of in a manner which it 

 is hoped will be found convenient for prac- 

 tical reference, though such an arrangement 

 has necessitated some inconsistencies." 



The Relations of Mind and Brain. By 

 Henry Calderwood^ LL.D., Professor of 

 Moral Philosophy in the University of 

 Edinburgh. New York : Macmillan & Co. 

 Pp. 455. Price, $4. 



In the progress of modern psychology 

 the organic side, or corporeal conditions of 

 mind, has been brought into constantly in- 

 creasing prominence, until now it is no 

 longer denied that cerebral physiology is, if 

 not a foundation, at least an essential part 

 of mental science. But the necessity of 

 having to mix up cells, fibers, blood capil- 

 laries, and protoplasmic pulp with subtile 

 and refined mental operations, has been 

 looked upon with great repugnance by the 

 old-school metaphysicians. It has virtually 

 divided them into two parties, one of which 

 raises the cry of " Materialism ! " and will 

 have nothing to do with the new heresies ; 

 while the other accepts the situation, and is 

 only anxious that the new views are not 

 pushed too far. Among these more ration- 

 al devotees of mental philosophy is Profes- 

 sor Calderwood, who, approaching the sub- 

 ject from the metaphysical side, has entered 

 into the general inquiry of the physiological 

 relations of the human mind. He thus ex- 

 plains the purpose of his book : " The ob- 

 ject of the present work is to ascertain what 

 theory of mental life is warranted on strictly 

 scientific evidence. The order followed is 

 to consider 1. The latest results of ana- 

 tomical and physiological research as to the 

 structure and functions of the brain; 2. The 

 facts in human life unaccounted for by ana- 

 tomical and physiological science, and re- 

 quiring to be assigned to a higher nature. 

 On the side of mental philosophy it must be 

 recognized that analysis of consciousness 

 can not be regarded as affording a complete 

 survey of the facts of personal life. On the 

 other hand, it is clear that the known facts 

 connected with cerebral action do not in- 

 clude familiar phases of mental activity. 

 If we allow ourselves to be engrossed with 

 physiological investigations as to brain, we 

 restriet our attention to a single class of 



