6o6 



NATURE 



I [April 25, 1901 



CHEMISTRY FROM HARVARD. 

 Ele7nentary Studies in Chemistry. By Joseph Torrey 

 junr., Instructor in Harvard University. Pp. viii + 487. 

 (Westminster : Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd. 

 1900.) 



THIS book is written with an evident desire to 

 present elementary chemistry in such a way as 

 to give full effect to its educational capabilities without 

 neglecting other ends and without a sacrifice of those 

 external features of interest which in the past have 

 •covered such a multitude of sins. Mr. Torrey has, in fact, 

 had but one aim, and that to make the best of his subject. 

 A spirit of entire forgetfulness of examiners and syllabuses 

 pervades the work, and things and theories are dealt 

 with according to their intrinsic importance. To say so 

 much is to say a great deal in favour of the book, and to 

 this it must yet be added that the author writes like a 

 practised and enlightened teacher. English teachers of 

 chemistry, both in secondary schools and colleges, will 

 do well to look at Mr. Torrey's book, if only to see the 

 sort of thing that is put forward from Harvard as a suit- 

 able course of elementary chemistry. It must be re- 

 marked, however, that the course is not intended for 

 quite the same class of pupil that in this country has in 

 recent years been supplied with reformed courses of ele- 

 mentary science. Mr. Torrey's course seems intended 

 for the later stages of the secondary school or for 

 beginners in a college. 



To point out the essential difference of plan between 

 teaching chemistry in a stimulating way and teaching it 

 in a deadening way would be to repeat what has often 

 been said before in these columns. It is becoming the 

 habit to summarise these two plans in the words heuristic 

 and didactic, and these philosophical terms have acquired 

 something of the character of verbal missiles, to be hurled 

 by contending parties as weapons of offence. 



Two main contentions are heard against the feasibility 

 of improved methods of science teaching. The first is 

 to the effect that a certain proportion of youth have a 

 natural repugnance to science, even in its most inviting 

 form. They refuse to be interested, they will not find 

 out ; therefore they must be told things and made to 

 listen and repeat. It seems very doubtful whether this 

 allegation does not very frequently arise from an injudi- 

 cious or a too impatient teacher, or from one who has 

 the misfortune to deal with good material already spoiled 

 by bad treatment. Where it is wholly true the reply would 

 be, let such pupils be tried with some other subject. If 

 the same resistance continues to be shown, we surely 

 are dealing with something akin to the deficient or feeble- 

 minded class for which at last some separate treatment 

 must be provided. It seems an unfortunate conclusion 

 to reach, that because a good method does not appeal to 

 all, it should be alloyed with an inferior one for the sake 

 of a i&vi. 



The second contention is that a good course of science 

 teaching presents difBculties from the examinational 

 standpoint. This is, unfortunately, only too true. It is, 

 undoubtedly, a great practical obstacle, and its removal 

 can only be looked for when further abatement has taken 

 place in the rigour of the whole examinational system, 

 NO. 1643, VOL. 63] 



which holds so many good teachers of all subjects m its 

 paralysing grasp. 



It is difficult to give in narrow limits an indication of 

 the sequence and style of Mr. Torrey's course. The 

 book is written in the form of short lectures of a sug- 

 gestive kind, followed by indications of the laboratory 

 work to be done in connection with, or consequent upon, 

 the lectures. It begins with physical topics, including 

 certain measurements, thermometry, vapour pressure and 

 density of gases. The chemistry begins with hydrogen 

 and the composition of water, which is to be studied 

 quantitatively ; the composition of hydrogen chloride is 

 then dealt with, in order to accumulate enough material 

 for a discussion of Avogadro's theory. Then follow 

 oxidation, symbols and formulae, determination of atomic 

 weights, acids,[bases and salts, electrolysis and electrolytic 

 dissociation, sodium as a metallic element and its chief 

 compounds, the sodium group of metals, the atmosphere, 

 ammonia, nitric acid, the nitrogen family, the sulphur 

 family, the calcium group, &c., ending with carbon and 

 its inorganic compounds. In an appendix we find hints 

 on the manipulation of glass, a list of apparatus required, 

 a list of books for a teacher's library, a few numerical 

 tables and two pages of logarithms. 



It would not be difficult to find fault with the order of 

 topics, and the chief objection would perhaps be to the 

 early introduction of the theory of atoms and molecules 

 and other theoretical matters. Mr. Torrey's order is 

 probably not so good as some which have been elaborated 

 in this country, but the method of the book in detail is 

 so good that some faults of arrangement may be allowed 

 to pass, and besides this it must be remembered that the 

 book is not intended for children. 



It is possible that on working through the book some 

 faults of detail would be discovered. Many of the experi- 

 ments described are novel in form, and some seem hardly 

 likely to succeed. For example, on p. 98 an experiment 

 is described, in which manganese dioxide is to be heated 

 in a tube containing hydrogen chloride. The shrinkage 

 of volume on opening the tube below a saturated solu- 

 tion of brine is said to represent the hydrogen which has 

 disappeared. This is obviously wrong, and, practically 

 speaking, the experiment is altogether an undesirable 

 one. 



In conclusion, it may be remarked that the book is 

 unusually free from words or pedantries peculiar to 

 America. An exception to this statement occurs on p. 7, 

 where there is a reference to " the graduate being held 

 in front of a dark surface to make the lines show more 

 clearly." The graduate there means a glass vessel and 

 not the careworn teacher. A. Smithells. 



A NEW EDITION OF WHITE'S '' SELBORNE." 



The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, and 



a Garden Kalendar. By the Rev. Gilbert White, 



M.A. Edited by R. Bowdler Sharpe, LL.D. Two 



vols. (London : S. T. Freemantle, 1900.) 



IT will be as well to state exactly what is contained in 

 these handsome but rather bulky volumes ; the price 

 is high (3/.), and purchasers will be glad to know what 

 they are buying. In the first volume are the letters to 



