i 5 8 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



latter may occupy most of the front seats for the performance of the third 

 movement ! F. A. Mason. 



Recent Advances in Physical and Inorganic Chemistry. By Alfred W. 

 Stewart, D.Sc, with an Introduction by (the late) Sir William Ramsay, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S. Third Edition. [Pp. xvi + 284, with 23 illustrations.] 

 (London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1919. Price 12.?. bd, net.) 



ALTHOUGH nominally a third edition of Dr. Stewart's well-known book, so much 

 fresh matter has been inserted and so much has been rewritten that it is practically 

 a new work. 



The second edition contained fourteen chapters, whilst the present edition 

 contains twenty, of which twelve are entirely new and the remainder have been 

 largely rewritten ; eight chapters deal with subjects selected from pure and 

 applied Inorganic Chemistry, six chapters with Physico-chemical subjects, and 

 four with Radioactivity. 



Perhaps not the least interesting chapter is the last, which, under the name of 

 "Conclusion," deals with various points in Inorganic and Physical Chemistry 

 still requiring further investigation and should serve to stimulate would-be 

 researchers who may be on the look-out for new worlds to conquer. Amongst the 

 subjects dealt with may be noted Electric Furnaces and their products, Nitrogen 

 Fixation, the Permutites, Peroxides and Peracids, Active Nitrogen, Absorption 

 Spectra, X-rays and Crystal Structure, Rare Earths and Gas Mantles, Pseudo- 

 Acids, Rare Gases, Positive Ray Analysis, and several chapters on Radioactive 

 Phenomena. Readers thus have a wide choice of subjects, though a cursory 

 inspection leads rather to the view that the chapters dealing with purely theoretical 

 matters are perhaps more satisfactory than those on the practical applications ; 

 possibly, however, this may be due to the absence of illustrations of actual plant 

 used, as, for instance, in Nitrogen Fixation ; it is always somewhat difficult to deal 

 satisfactorily with technical subjects without a large number of photographs and 

 diagrams. 



Chemical science develops so rapidly almost from day to day that those who 

 desire to become acquainted with the latest work on Inorganic and Physical 

 Chemistry and Radioactivity will be grateful to Dr. Stewart for providing them 

 with the requisite information in so palatable a form. F. A. M. 



Osmotic Pressure. By Alexander Findlay, M.A., D.Sc, F.I.C. Second 

 Edition. [Pp. xi + 116, with 10 figures.] (London : Longmans, Green & 

 Co. Price 6.?. net.) 



Since the publication of the first edition, six years ago, a good deal of fresh light 

 has been thrown on the subject by new researches and theories, and Prof. Findlay 

 has taken advantage of the. issue of a second edition to incorporate these results 

 in his book, whilst a fuller description has been given of the apparatus employed 

 by Morse and his collaborators. 



The importance of osmosis in many branches of chemistry, and above all its 

 r61e in the mechanism of the vital processes in plants and animals, renders the 

 present volume of great value. 



The subject is dealt with largely from the standpoint of the mathematical 

 physico-chemist, but, having regard to its importance in the living organism, one 

 could have wished that space could have been found for a chapter on the biological 

 aspect of the subject, which is one that should always be kept in mind. 



