BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 



Chemistky of Colloids. — The want of a text book of colloids in 

 English has been long felt and much discussed. Recently Dr. W. W. 

 Taylor of Edinburgh University has been moved to supply it and his 

 volume, issued early in this year, is at hand. 1 The work is most credi- 

 table. In aim and content it stands between the admirable but brief 

 treatment of Hatschek 2 and the larger detailed treatises of Freundlich, 3 

 Oswald 4 and Zsigmondy. 6 For the colloid specialist these latter works 

 will remain indispensible. The greatest usefulness of Dr. Ta}dor's 

 volume will be in the hands of those workers in chemistry, biology and 

 adjoining fields who are finding more and more necessary some knowl- 

 edge of colloids and their behavior. For the needs of these readers 

 the book is a model of selection and condensation and the well chosen 

 references to original literature furnish ample guides when more de- 

 tailed information is necessary. 



The book is in four parts. First are 163 pages devoted to the gen- 

 eral properties, behavior and relations of colloidal systems. Following 

 are 56 pages on the preparation of typical colloids, especially the 

 metallic sols. The directions are detailed and practical and will be 

 most helpful to those inexperienced in the difficult art of preparing 

 stable colloidal solutions. The third part, of 42 pages, discusses adsorp- 

 tion and surface phenomena in general, excluding, however, any spe- 

 cific treatment of catalysis at surfaces. The fourth and last part (56 

 pages) is devoted to applications of colloid chemistry and includes 

 chapters on casein, soaps and other semi-colloids; on the phenomena 

 and theories of dyeing; on tanning, the colloids of the soil and the 

 purification of waste waters and sewage; and on the applications of 

 colloid chemistry to biology. 



1 Taylor, W. W., The Chemistry of Colloids. Pp.328. New York, Longman 

 Green and Company, 1915. 



2 An Introduction to the Physics and Chemistry of Colloids. Pp. 87. Phila- 

 delphia, 1913. 



? Kapillarchemie. Pp. 565. Leipzig, 1909. 



4 Grundniss der Kolloidchemie, 2nd edition. Pp. 329. Dresden, 1911. 



8 Kolloidchemie. Pp.281. Leipzig, 1912. 



344 



