REVIEWS 497 



unfortunate in view of the fact that it is intended for beginners . The defective 

 nature of the work will be evident from the following few examples : The 

 discussion on pp. 12 and 13 gives the impression that granites are essentially 

 the oldest rocks ; on p. 14 the dark constituent of granite is stated to com- 

 prise "all the various metallic compounds"; on p. 16 we are told that 

 " sapphire, ruby, aquamarine, and topaz are crystalline forms of clay." 

 Many astonishing statements occur in the section dealing with the pottery 

 industry, while in the account of the Scottish Midland Valley, the Gifirock 

 Freestone is incorrectly described as belonging to the Calciferous Sandstone, 

 and is correlated with the Oil-shales Series of the Lothians. Perhaps the 

 most absurd example of carelessness in the book is the following sentence in 

 the description of the Firth of Forth, on p. 283 : " The Clyde is bridged from 

 Queensferry on to such a volcanic outcrop ; and on the Ftp coast the superb 

 position of Edinburgh is also due to a volcanic mass " (the italics are the 

 reviewer's). Although the book contains numerous illustrations, these are 

 very crudely drawn, while the contractions used for the place-names on the 

 maps are often not immediately obvious. 



As a whole the book has so many inaccuracies that any beginner to whom 

 it was recommended would be liable to acquire a mass of information more 

 curious than correct. 



A. S. 



The Chemical Analysis of Steel Works' Materials. By Fred Ibbotson, B.Sc, 

 F.R.C.Sc.L, F.I.C. [Pp. viii + 296, with 21 Diagrams.] (London : 

 Longmans, Green & Co., 1920. Price 21s. net.) 



The author of this book is well known to all interested in the analysis of both 

 ferrous and non-ferrous materials, owing to the fact that he is the joint author 

 with H. Brearley of a treatise on the Analysis of Steel Works' Materials, and 

 with L. Aitchison on The Analysis of Non-Ferroiis Alloys, two books which 

 have been well received and largely used. The present volume purports to 

 be a new and revised edition of the portion of the first mentioned, dealing with 

 analytical methods only, all matter referring to pyrometry and microscopy 

 having been eliminated owing to the fact that a large number of textbooks 

 dealing with these branches have appeared in recent years. The book is 

 divided into eight parts dealing with. General Processes, Analysis of : Steel 

 and Pig Iron, Steel-making alloys. Ores, Refractory Materials, Slags, Fuels 

 and Boiler Water, etc. In Part I. the methods employed in the separation 

 of iron from other metals are dealt with in detail, and, as this separation is so 

 frequently used in the analysis of steel, it is undoubtedly advantageous to have 

 these methods grouped and described together. The same remarks apply 

 to reductions by nascent hydrogen and their application to the determination 

 of iron, molybdenum, vanadium, etc., and to the mercurous nitrate precipita- 

 tion of tungsten, chromium, molybdenum and vanadium. The " basic 

 acetate " separation of iron is particularly well described, the important work 

 of Brearley receiving special attention and details being given which have 

 frequently been neglected in other books. 



The question of sampling is of vital importance to the steel works' chemist, 

 and his work may be entirely misleading, unless the material employed for the 

 actual analysis is truly representative of the bulk from which it is taken, and, in 

 view of this fact, it is disappointing to find that the author dismisses this 

 subject with a little over one page of matter. It is true that the possibility 

 of the contamination of samples by the use of unsuitable mortars is pointed 

 out, but the precautions necessary to avoid the undue influence of segregation 

 on the results obtained have been entirely ignored. The value of the book 

 would have been increased had it included directions for the sampling of 

 metalliferous materials, the methods of analysis of which are dealt with so 

 fully. 



