114 



NATURE 



[October i, 19 14 



and university collegfes, but to others who have 

 an interest In the more intricate branches of 

 organic chemistry. 



(4) Among- the more valuable of the series of 

 monogfraphs on inorg-anic and physical chemistry 

 published under the editorship of Prof. Findlay 

 is the volume on the viscosity of liquids, by 

 Dunstan and Thole. The subject is, in a sense, 

 in an elementary stagfe, but the foundations have 

 been laid, and the results, which have been 

 obtained by the authors who may be looked upon 

 as pioneers in this branch of physical chemistry, 

 promise a valuable aid in elucidating- many inter- 

 esting problems. As the authors state in the 

 preface, the additive effect of a physical property 

 is of little use for the purpose of studying- struc- 

 ture ; but viscosity, like optical rotatory power, 

 is mainly constitutive, and the difficulty in both 

 cases lies in the interpretation of the numerical 

 values. 



The various chapters describe the apparatus, 

 methods of measurement and of calculation, the 

 measurement of the viscosity of pure liquids, of 

 mixed liquids, of electrolytic solutions, colloidal 

 solutions; and the final chapters are devoted to 

 discussing the relation of viscosity to chemical 

 constitution. 



It is impossible in the short space allotted to 

 this review to discuss the results ; but the volume 

 is a unique contribution to chemical literature, and 

 well worth reading. 



(5) The monograph on intermetallic compounds, 

 by Dr. C. H. Desch, has reference to those mix- 

 tures of metals which form true compounds, and 

 the methods by which such compounds may be 

 distinguished from simple alloys. That the sub- 

 ject is an intricate one may be judged from the 

 numerous erroneous results which marked the first 

 attempts in this direction, and bv the not alto- 

 gether satisfactory character of the present avail- 

 able data. The first accurate investigations were 

 made by Heycock and Neville in 1897 by means 

 of the freezing-point curve, and these have been 

 followed more recently by the work of Tammann 

 and his pupils. That the subject has been very 

 widely studied may be seen by the long list of 

 references, more than 200 in number, which are 

 given at the end of the volume. The chapters 

 are divided into the following subjects : thermal 

 analysis, microscopic structure, the isolation of 

 intermetallic compounds, their physical properties 

 and chemical nature. The subject is one of the 

 first importance to metallurgists, to whom this 

 excellent and complete summary should make a 

 special appeal. 



(6) "De la Pirotechnia," of Biringuccio, of 

 which the present volume is a reprint, appeared in 



NO. 2344, VOL. 94] 



1540, the year following the death of its author. 

 It has been edited and annotated by A. Mieli, who 

 has also added a valuable introductory and bio- 

 graphical notice. As the name of Vannoccio 

 Biringuccio is little known to English students of 

 chemical history, it may be stated that he was 

 born at Siena in 1480 and died in 1539. His 

 father was an architect, but the son devoted his 

 attention chiefly to metallurgy and mining, and 

 paid several visits to Germany and Austria and 

 other countries In pursuit of his studies. In the 

 disturbed state of Italy at this period, when the 

 Italian towns were constantly in conflict, the 

 fortunes of those who allied themselves with the 

 ruling families were apt to suffer. It is not sur- 

 prising to find that Biringuccio was twice banished 

 from his native city, when his patrons, the 

 Petrucci, got into hot water, and was also twice 

 recalled. 



He was a contemporary of George Bauer 

 (Agricola), whose great work on mining and 

 metallurgy, "De Re Metallica," appeared a little* 

 later ; for in it a reference is made to Biringuccio, 

 In which Agricola recognises the debt he owes to 

 the work of his predecessor. 



Mieli, In his introduction, comparing the work 

 of Agricola with that of Biringuccio, says : 



" In Agricola we have the min'eraloglst and 

 metallurgist, and in certain respects the geologist. 

 Agricola was a man of much erudition, and his 

 work Is full of classical references. But Birin- 

 guccio was something more. Not only do many 

 portions of the book attest a profound knowledge 

 of chemistry ; but they reveal the artist, the crafts- 

 man, and the Inventor. If Agricola has observed 

 and described, Biringuccio has manufactured and 

 invented new methods and machines, and shown 

 his artistic temperament in the production alike of 

 big and little things. He could cast a cannon 

 as well as a church bell." 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Memorials of Henry Forbes Juliaji. Written and 

 edited by his wife, Hester Julian. Pp. xIx + 310. 

 (London : C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 

 6s. net. 

 Henry Forbes Julian, sprung from a Scoto-Irish 

 family, was born at Cork In 1861. During his 

 childhood his family migrated to Bolton, in 

 Lancashire, and there his taste for scientific re- 

 search was aroused under the teaching of Sir 

 Henry Roscoe at Owens College, Manchester. 

 He began his life as a metallurgist and mining 

 engineer in South Africa, where he did much 

 exploring in the Barotse country, and visited the 

 falls of the Zambezi. He devoted himself to 

 developing the cyanide process of ore reduction, 

 and in collaboration with Mr. E. Smart wrote a 

 standard treatise, "Cyaniding Gold and Silver 



