4 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 



examination of the literature given by Chemical Abstracts and such 

 compendia as Beilstein's Handbuch der Organischen Chemie, Richter's 

 Lexikon, Ostwald's Lehrbuch der Allgemeinen Chemie, Abegg's and 

 Gmelin-Kraut's Handbuch der Anorganischen Chemie and the English 

 and French Dictionaries of Chemistry, it often takes a great deal of 

 time to coordinate the knowledge available upon a single topic. Con- 

 sequently when men who have spent years in the study of important 

 subjects are willing to coordinate their knowledge and present it in con- 

 cise, readable form, they perform a service of the highest value to their 

 fellow chemists. 



It was with a clear recognition of the usefulness of reviews of this 

 character that a Committee of the American Chemical Society recom- 

 mended the publication of the two series of monographs under the aus- 

 pices of the Society. 



Two rather distinct purposes are to be served by these monographs. 

 The first purpose, whose fulfilment will probably render to chemists in 

 general the most important service, is to present the knowledge available 

 upon the chosen topic in a readable form, intelligible to those whose 

 activities may be along a wholly different line. Many chemists fail to 

 realize how closely their investigations may be connected with other work 

 which on the surface appears far afield from their own. These mono- 

 graphs will enable such men to form closer contact with the work of 

 chemists in other lines of research. The second purpose is to promote 

 research in the branch of science covered by the monograph, by furnish- 

 ing a well digested survey of the progress already made in that field and 

 by pointing out directions in which investigation needs to be extended. 

 To facilitate the attainment of this purpose, it is intended to include 

 extended references to the literature, which will enable anyone interested 

 to follow up the subject in more detail. If the literature is so voluminous 

 that a complete bibliography is impracticable, a critical selection will 

 be made of those papers which are most important. 



The publication of these books marks a distinct departure in the 

 policy of the American Chemical Society inasmuch as it is a serious 

 attempt to found an American chemical literature without primary 

 regard to commercial considerations. The success of the venture will 

 depend in large part upon the measure of cooperation which can be 

 secured in the preparation of books dealing adequately with topics of 

 general interest; it is earnestly hoped, therefore, that every member of 

 the various organizations in the chemical and allied industries will recog- 

 nize the importance of the enterprise and take sufficient interest to 

 justify it. 



