GENERAL INTRODUCTION >^^7^^'' 





American Chemical Society Series of 

 Scientific and Technologic Monographs 



By arrangement with the Interallied Conference of Pure and 

 Applied Chemistry, which met in London and Brussels in July, 

 1919, the American Chemical Society was to undertake the pro- 

 duction and publication of Scientific and Technologic Mono- 

 graphs on chemical subjects. At the same time it was agreed 

 that the National Research Council, in cooperation with the 

 American Chemical Society and the American Physical Society, 

 should undertake the production and publication of Critical 

 Tables of Chemical and Physical Constants. The American 

 Chemical Society and the National Research Council mutually 

 agreed to care for these two fields of chemical development. 

 The American Chemical Society named as Trustees, to make 

 the necessary arrangements for the publication of the mono- 

 graphs, Charles L. Parsons, Secretary of the American Chemical 

 Society, Washington, D. C; John E. Teeple, Treasurer of the 

 American Chemical Society, New York City; and Professor 

 Gellert Alleman of Swarthmore College. The Trustees have 

 arranged for the publication of the American Chemical Society 

 series of (a) Scientific and (b) Technologic Monographs by the 

 Chemical Catalog Company of New York City. 



The Council, acting through the Committee on National Policy 

 of the American Chemical Society, appointed the editors, named 

 at the close of this introduction, to have charge of securing 

 authors, and of considering critically the manuscripts prepared. 

 The editors of each series will endeavor to select topics which 

 are of current interest and authors who are recognized as author- 

 ities in their respective fields. The list of monographs thus far 

 secured appears in the publisher's own announcement elsewhere 

 in this volume. 



The development of knowledge in all branches of science, and 

 especially in chemistry, has been so rapid during the last fifty 

 years and the fields covered by this development have been so 

 varied that it is difficult for any individual to keep in touch with 



3 



