REVIEWS 685 



but there is doubtless room for just such a work for those to whom the prac- 

 tical application of the science is of greater importance than its theory. 



As Dr. Briscoe writes in his Introduction, " A praiseworthy prejudice 

 against purely utilitarian education causes many teachers to handle their 

 subjects in an atmosphere of entire detachment from their practical applica- 

 tion. Chemistry in particular has suffered in this way, and the book Mr. 

 Thorne has now written is the first of its kind. It is a departure from stan- 

 dard practice which is, I believe, of the first importance." 



Accepting the book as being intended for those who have to do with 

 the hard facts of chemistry rather than with the more philosophical aspects 

 of the subject, it will be readily admitted that the author has managed to 

 compress into the 244 pages quite a good summary of the existing state 

 of development of applied inorganic chemistry. 



There are five sections : (A) Solids, liquids, and gases, describing shortly 

 the general physical methods used for separating substances. (B) Chemical 

 change ; giving a little theory and details of a number of important manu- 

 facturing processes such as the Leblanc process, metal smelting, etc. (C) 

 Elements and compounds. (D) The rate of chemical change. (E) The use 

 of electricity in chemical changes. 



It is doubtful whether so eminently practical a book will commend 

 itself to public school science teachers or to those who have to teach first- 

 year university students, but for technical schools and colleges and for those 

 who desire to obtain a practical knowledge of the world of applied chemistry, 

 no better introduction could be desired. 



F. A. M. 



The Manufacture of Chemicals by Electrolysis. By Arthur J. Hale, B.Sc, 

 F.I.C. [Pp.xii + 80, with diagrams.] (London: Constable & Co., 

 1919. Price 6s. net.) 



It is a little difficult to place Mr. Hale's short monograph, as eighty pages on 

 the whole subject can hardly be regarded as a generous allowance for a practi- 

 cal handbook, whilst, regarded as a student's text-book, it is to be feared that 

 there are too many facts and too little theory to recommend it to teachers. 



The book may serve as a useful short outline for those who do not wish to 

 dip deeply into the question, but, clearly, would have been all the better for 

 more extended and more detailed treatment of the processes dealt with. 



F. A. M. 



Catalysis in Theory and Practice. By Eric K. Rideal, M.B.E., M.A., Ph.D., 

 and Hugh S. Taylor, D.Sc. [Pp. xvi + 496, with illustrations and 

 diagrams.] (London : Macmillan & Co., 1919- Price 17s. net.) 



In considering the history of chemistry during the past century one is con- 

 stantly reminded of the way in which all chemical processes are becoming 

 more and more dependent upon the action of catalysts : for instance, the 

 transition from the old chamber process to the modern contact process for the 

 manufacture of sulphuric acid, the gradual replacement of the older sodium 

 nitrate method for preparing nitric acid by the catalytic oxidation of ammonia, 

 and, most recent of all, the production of acetaldehyde from acetylene by 

 the agency of a mercury catalyst, leading thus to the commercial synthesis 

 of alcohol, acetic acid, acetone, synthetic rubber, and a hundred other products. 

 In the early days there can be no doubt that chemists were largely de- 

 pendent upon what we may call forced chemical reactions, that is to say, 



