334 Notice of a Manual of Chemistry. 
position of these substances, and indeed of all other important 
ones, is given in symbolic language after the name of each, as is 
also the atomic weight. This plan is a decided improvement 
over the tabular arrangement introduced by Turner. It saves 
the student much trouble, and the vexatious labor he would have 
to undergo in referring back to ferret out the name of a substance 
contained somewhere, in a long table. The descriptions of the 
metallic salts are selected mainly from the excellent ones of Tur- 
ner and Liebig. 
The four remaining chapters treat of organic chemistry, under 
which are embraced both animal and vegetable chemistry. This 
reminds us to remark, that Dr. Webster has rejected the old di- 
visions just alluded to, and recognizes in his Manual two great 
divisions only ; viz. the chemistry of unorganized and that of or- 
ganized bodies. Under the second general division, the author, 
manifestly with great labor, has compressed within the compass © 
one hundred and fifty pages, most of the important matter to be 
found in the late elaborate and masterly volume of Dr. Thomson. 
That volume contains upwards of one thousand closely printed 
pages, and of course is a very unwieldy tome; we therefore are 
under no small obligations to Dr. W. for furnishing us with so 
excellent an abridgment of it. He also introduces, in this part 
of the work, the views and theories of Liebig. Although the 
chemistry of animal substances is very important, still, as the 
time devoted to this department in most of our institutions and 
in almost all courses of lectures, is very short, Dr. W. has not 
thought best to enter much into detail in the chapter appropriated 
to this subject. In this portion of the work he has followed Dr. 
Reid, and what has been furnished will be found ey sufficient 
for.all purposes of elementary instruction. 
As has already been incidentally mentioned, numerous impor- 
tant addenda are placed near the end of the work, followed by 
an Appendix, made up of tables and other valuable matter, a very 
copious general index, and an index of cuts. 
- We have also already alluded in very general terms to the fact 
of this volume being liberally supplied with: wood engravings ; 
they amonnt to upwards of fico hundred in number. ‘The vast 
number of experimental illustrations, and the careful directions aS 
to pie ace ae many of which are, if we mistake not, original, 
and we know have not hitherto been introduced into 
