JuLy 15, 1915] 
NATURE 
533 

and the chemistry of rubber, tannin, and the 
eyanides. The book is sufficiently well known to 
need no elaborate description. 
(4) The “Elementary Practical Chemistry” by 
Messrs. Myers and Firth is written mainly for 
medical students, who, according to the authors, 
have experienced a long-felt want of this parti- 
cular kind of aid to practical work. The informa- 
tion, though neither new in substance nor arrange- 
ment, is selected in accordance with the syllabuses 
of most of the medical examining bodies in order, 
it is presumed, that the overworked medical stu- 
dent may not expend his energies in stepping 
beyond their well-defined boundaries. This remark 
is not made in any spirit of cynicism, for it is 
becoming more and more evident that, with the 
present overcrowded courses in other branches 
besides that of medicine, special instruction must 
be devised for particular classes of students. 
We have no hesitation in recommending the 
book, not only to medical students but to any 
class of beginners, as a useful introduction to 
practical chemistry. It is divided into four parts; 
the first deals with chemical manipulation and a 
variety of preparations, the second with qualita- 
tive, the third with quantitative analysis, and the 
final chapter is devoted to organic analysis. We 
would submit two suggestions to the consideration 
of the authors, though, perhaps, they overstep 
the syllabus; to combine rough quantitative 
measurements with such preparations as the re- 
duction of copper sulphate to copper or the pre- 
paration of quicklime from marble, to which they 
readily lend themselves. There seems no reason 
to wait until part ili. is reached. The second point 
is to modify part iv. so as to introduce a group 
of simple organic preparations before entering on 
the qualitative side of the subject. We confess 
to having our misgivings as to the value of this 
section. 
Organic chemistry, as represented by organic 
compounds used in medicine, is not to-day what 
it was a quarter of a century ago, and the per- 
functory testing of a few dozen of the simplest 
substances selected from the wide range of com- 
plex medical preparations now manufactured has 
neither an educational nor a practical value. It 
is, of course, not the authors, but the syllabus 
which is at fault, for the growing importance of 
organic chemistry for the medical man demands 
a much more intimate knowledge than most of 
the syllabuses are devised to meet. 
(5) Dr. J. N. Friend, the editor of this new 
text-book of inorganic chemistry, points out that, 
whilst physical and analytical chemistry have been 
comprehensively dealt with in the form of text- 
NO. 2385, VOL. 95 | 

books, inorganic chemistry can show no similar 
publication, and the present projected series of 
nine volumes is intended to fill the gap. Each 
volume is written by one or more authors, well 
known and accredited in the chemical world, so 
that the new volumes, so far as authorship is 
concerned, hold out every promise of success. 
That the series, if efficiently done, will be wel- 
comed by those who can afford to purchase it, 
almost goes without saying; but it is to be feared 
that nine volumes at ten shillings and sixpence 
each will appeal more to public libraries than to 
private purses. 
After reading through several chapters and 
dipping into others, the impression we have re- 
ceived is entirely favourable. The matter is not 
only well and thoughtfully arranged and clearly 
expressed, but (what is less common in the larger 
text-books containing great masses of condensed 
information) it is presented in an attractive, 
literary form. Whilst giving full weight to the 
many excellent features of the work, it is not, 
perhaps, irrelevant to inquire for what class of 
readers it is written. It is obviously not a work 
of reference, such, for example, as Dammer’s 
“Handbuch.” It is too big and costly to serve 
as a text-book for advanced students, though 
there is much that they might read with profit. 
The question, in short, is whether a big and 
expensive text-book affords the best means of 
conveying to a large number of readers the latest 
discoveries in a growing science like chemistry. 
It generally means the reiteration of a large 
amount of elementary matter, with an expenditure 
of space which could be more profitably applied 
to expanding the subject on its less familiar side. 
To take an example from the present volume, 
a chapter on the classification of the elements 
leads naturally to the familiar facts of the periodic 
law, which is discussed at some length. Our in- 
terest having been stimulated up to this point, we 
come upon a paragraph entitled “ Modifications of 
the Periodic System,” in which we are informed 
that there is no space to discuss it, our curiosity 
having to be appeased with three-quarters of a 
page of references. The work of the Braggs on 
molecular structure, which is certainly among the 
most important contributions to the subject during 
the present century, is relegated to a footnote 
with numerous references, and there are many 
other examples of the same kind. It is as if we 
had been invited to take a journey into foreign 
lands, and, having started, had been presented 
with a Baedeker instead. 
We are strongly of opinion that, with a mobile 
science, the system of cheap monographs, which 
