08 
ment. Although the course is systematic the 
endeavour has been made, and made with con- 
siderable success, to bridge the gap which too 
often, unfortunately, separates the lecture from 
the laboratory. The book is written on the sound 
principle of uniting the lecture and the laboratory, 
and for that reason it will probably earn a place 
for itself among chemical manuals. 
(2) This is the fourth and concluding part of the 
late Mr. Donington’s well-known ‘‘Class-book of 
Chemistry.” It contains a more extensive and de- 
tailed treatment of metals than that already given 
in an earlier part. The descriptions are lucid, and 
numerous illustrativé experiments have been in- 
serted. The concept of ions in solution, and of 
reversible reactions, are early introduced, and good 
accounts are given of electro-chemical processes 
of extraction and refining. The earlier parts 
have rendered useful service to the teaching of 
elementary chemistry, and the present volume is 
up to the level of those previously issued. 
(3) Dr. Fenton’s book is significant in being the 
first serious attempt to deal with a problem of 
importance—namely, that of introducing a cer- 
tain amount of instruction in physical chemistry 
into the school curriculum. Hitherto physical 
chemistry has suffered not a little from the general 
impression that it is only for those who possess a 
more or less advanced knowledge of mathematics. 
The present work ought to do much to remove this 
erroneous impression. Of course, one has to bear 
in mind the immaturity of the pupil, and there 
are aspects of the subject which should not. be 
attempted. There is no reason, however, why the 
elements of the kinetic theory and its simpler 
applications should not be taught. Thermo- 
dynamical relations, in the reviewer’s opinion, are 
much too abstract’ to be dealt with adequately at 
this stage. This is exemplified in one or two 
places in the present work, where an attempt is 
made to deal with them. Thus. on p. 25 the 
logarithmic expression for work done in the ex- 
pansion of a gas is given, but it is not pointed 
out that this is the maximum work, and that as a 
matter of fact the work might be anything from 
zero up to this limit. This would necessitate an 
account of what is meant by maximum work, and 
this in turn a statement of what is meant by 
thermodynamic reversibility. No mention of 
these points is made, although on p. 169 the term 
“‘maximum work” is used in connection with the 
calculation of the p.d. of an electrode. The 
greater part of the book is of course devoted to 
kinetic molecular conceptions, and the treatment 
is highly successful. The concluding chapter on 
technical applications is of special importance, as 
it will serve to do away to a certain extent with 
another very erroneous idea about physical 
chemistry, that it has nothing to do with practical 
problems. As a matter of fact it has everything 
to do with such problems, and the attempt to 
inculcate this upon the youthful mind is as praise- 
worthy as it is necessary. 
Wy Ga MeGriis 
NO. 2448, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
] 
[SEPTEMBER 28, 1916 
INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. 
(1) Factories and Great Industries, with some 
Account of .Trade Unions, Old-Age Pensions, . 
State Insurance, the Relief ofe Distress, Hospi- 
tals. By F. A. Farrar. Pp. 90. 
(2) Trade and Commerce, with some Account of 
our Coinage, Weights and Measures, Banks 
and Exchanges. By A. J. Dicks. Pp. 94. 
(3) Ships, Shipping, and Fishing, with some 
Account of our Seaports and their Industries. 
By G. F. Bosworth. Pp. 86. (Cambridge: At 
the University Press, 1916.) Price 1s. 6d. each. 
HESE three books are the first of a series 
which is designed to give children informa-— 
tion on the industrial and commercial condition of 
their own country. They deal, generally on his- 
torical lines, with the nature of the principal in- 
dustries, with the machinery of commerce, and 
with the development of shipping; while forth- 
coming volumes are announced on agriculture and 
mining. ; 
The first volume under notice contains brief 
accounts of the Industrial Revolution; the textile 
industries; leather, paper, and printing; some 
great manufacturing towns; trade unionism; fac- 
tory legislation ;,and provision for unemployment, 
sickness, and poverty. The second describes 
weights, measures, and the coinage; the Post 
Office ; food supply ; imports and exports; banking | 
and exchange; trade marks, patents, limited 
liability, underwriting, the customs and excise. 
The third volume traces the growth of the ship 
from early times; the mercantile marine and the 
great ocean highways; the Royal Navy and its 
dockyards; the fishing industry; Lloyd’s and its 
work; Trinity House and the lighting of the 
coast; the Port of London and other great ports. 
The writing is simple without being very inspir- 
ing; the books are well printed on good paper; 
and each volume contains some twenty illustra- 
tions, comprising half-tones, line drawings, and | 
maps. 
The series is suitable for boys of fourteen years 
of age or thereabouts, and the books may be used 
as supplementary readers in the upper classes of 
elementary schools and in the lower classes of 
evening schools. It is to be welcomed as supply- 
ing just that information which is necessary to 
create a sane outlook upon the problems of indus- 
try and commerce which, as citizens, boys will be 
called upon to exercise judgment. It is no use 
treating citizenship as a collection of ethical prin- 
ciples tacked on to a description of representative 
government and the administration of justice. The 
deeper problems of politics are even now, and to a 
still greater extent in the future will be, technical 
problems, requiring for their comprehension an 
adequate knowledge of the way in which this 
industrial system of ours has come into being, and 
a general sense of the direction in which it is 
tending. 
Our only fear is that the price of the books will 
lead to their being used singly, and the pupils 
