3 2 4 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



CHEMISTRY 



Stoichiometry. By Sydney Young, D.Sc, F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in 

 the University of Dublin. Text-books of Physical Chemistry, edited by 

 Sir William Ramsay. Second edition. [Pp. xii + 363, with 93 illus- 

 trations.] (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1918. Price 12s. 6d. net.) 



THIS is the second edition of Prof. Young's book. The work is already so well 

 known that we need do little more than draw attention to the appearance of the 

 new edition. The subjects dealt with include the laws of chemical combination, 

 the periodic law, the determination of atomic and molecular weights, the properties 

 of gaseous, liquid, and solid systems, including mixtures and dilute solutions. 

 As regards new material, an account is given of recent work upon the accurate 

 determination of atomic weights, the position of the radio-active elements in the 

 periodic table and Soddy's theory of isotopes, the application of the falling drop 

 method to the determination of surface tension, the measurements of osmotic 

 pressure, by Morse and his collaborators in America, and by the Earl of Berkeley 

 and F. G. J. Hartley in England, and the work of McBain upon " sorption " of 

 gases by solids. 



Considerable space is given to the consideration of gaseous and liquid systems 

 and the principle of the continuity of state. In these subjects the author gives us 

 an account of developments in which he himself took a large share. For this 

 reason it will be regarded by many as the most attractive and interesting portion 

 of the book. 



The subject of Stoichiometry is admittedly not one which it is easy to define 

 with precision. In this matter, the scope of the work as planned by Prof. Young — 

 himself one of the greatest living authorities upon the subject— is instructive. 

 There is little that calls for criticism. One would have liked to see, perhaps, 

 some account of the elucidation of crystal structure by X-rays, and a fuller 

 consideration of the recent work on the atomic heats of solids in the light of 

 the quantum hypothesis. But this would have added considerably to the length 

 of the work. 



The book may be warmly recommended to all interested in physical chemistry. 



W. C. McC. Lewis. 



Practical Organic and Biochemistry. By R. H. A. Plimmer. [Pp. xii + 636, 

 with coloured plate and other illustrations in the text. New and revised 

 edition.] (London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1918. Price 18s. net.) 



The previous edition of this book was published in 191 5, and was fully reviewed in 

 this Journal. The author states in the preface that " several sections have been 

 rewritten and some new methods of preparation and analysis have been incor- 

 porated, "but as the general arrangement and scope of the subject matter has not 

 been materially altered, further comment is perhaps unnecessary. That the last 

 edition was exhausted in so short a time shows that the book is in good demand, 

 but it is to be regretted that the publishers have found it necessary to raise the 



price so much above the previous one. 



P. H. 



A Handbook on Antiseptics. By Henry Drysdale Dakin, D.Sc, F.I.C., 



F.R.S., and Edward Kellogg Dunham, M.D. [Pp. x+ 129.] (New 



York: The Macmillan Company, 1917. Price 7s. net.) 



This little handbook aims at giving a concise account of the chief chemical 



antiseptics which have been employed and found useful in the present war ; fore- 



