NA TURE 



509 



THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1913. 



SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. 

 Treatise on General and Industrial Inorganic 

 Chemistry. By Dr. Ettore Molinari. Third 

 revised and amplified Italian edition. Trans- 

 lated iDy Dr. Ernest Feilmann. Pp. xvi + 704. 

 (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1912.) Price 

 2 IX. net. 



THIS treatise, which is a translation of the 

 third and amplified Italian edition, is 

 di\ided into three parts, devoted respectively to 

 general, non-metallic, and metallic chemistry. 

 So far as English readers are concerned, it is 

 open to doubt whether the general part (pp. 

 1-125) represents, in any sense, an improvement 

 on the treatment of the subject to be found in 

 standard works on historical and physical 

 chemistry. In some cases, the views of the 

 author are not such as would meet with unquali- 

 fied acceptance by all chemists, and in these cases 

 the translator has added emendatory notes, many 

 of which occur in this general section [e.g. pp. 

 -5> 49> 50)- In the paragraphs devoted to the 

 history of chemistry the author discusses, in 

 some detail, the development of chemical arts 

 among the ancient civilisations of the world. He 

 holds that the Chinese in particular were adepts 

 in these matters, and had actually anticipated 

 Priestley and Lavoisier in arriving at a know- 

 ledge of oxygen and the composition of water. 



The space allotted, in this section of the book, 

 to various historical topics is not, however, pro- 

 portional to their chemical interest and import- 

 ance. A long footnote, occupying two-thirds of 

 a page, refers to certain particulars in the life 

 of Lavoisier which are of dubious import in a 

 scientific treatise. Biographical criticism leaves 

 us with so few illusions that we might have been 

 spared a reference to the accusation brought 

 against Lavoisier that he amassed, in a few years, 

 48,000/. as a fermier-gdneral. This and similar 

 items might with advantage have been replaced 

 by such genuinely chemical matters as Rev's work 

 on the calcination of metals, and Graham's re- 

 searches on the diffusion of gases. The former 

 of these investigators is not mentioned in con- 

 nection with the anti-phlogistic theory, and the 

 latter's experiments are dismissed in half a sen- 

 tence (p. 39). A statement regarding the lique- 

 faction of helium (p. 29) is contradicted by the 

 facts cited on p. 312. y 



The descriptive portions (Parjy 2 and 3) con- 

 tain those distinctive features of the work which 

 justify its translation into English. Here the 

 NO. 2254, VOL. 90] 



author has indicated the industrial processes in- 

 volved in the preparation of the more common 

 elements and compounds, and in those cases 

 where the manufacture has assumed considerable 

 proportions, full details are given in order lo 

 emphasise the commercial importance of the sub- 

 ject. The manufacture of ordinary and fuming 

 sulphuric acid, the utilisation of atmospheric 

 nitrogen, and the production of hydrogen on a 

 large scale are examples of these topics. A new 

 departure consists in giving the commercial price 

 of each substance, as well as a complete summary 

 of its industrial applications. Statistics are em- 

 ployed to compare the past and present import- 

 ance of the commoner chemicals. 



In the case of manufactures carried on to a 

 considerable extent in Italy, such as the produc- 

 tion of sulphur and calcium carbide, the authjr 

 gives interesting details on the influence of local 

 conditions on the development of the industry. 

 The section devoted to metals includes full 

 accounts of the industrially important compounds 

 of the alkali metals, the production of super- 

 phosphate fertilisers, the modern smelting of 

 copper, and the manufacture of Portland cement. 

 Even the less common elements are briefly men- 

 tioned, and their industrial applications indicated. 

 The micrography of iron and steel is described 

 in some detail, and illustrated by two phototype 

 plates. 



There are a number of minor typographical 

 errors scattered through the book (e.g. pp. no, 

 113, 153, 192, 265, 287, 317), some of vi'hich 

 are not devoid of unconscious humour. Ruther- 

 ford's name is effectively Germanised to Ruther- 

 dorf by the simple expedient of transposing two 

 letters. Sulphur is said to be used in the wine- 

 growing industry against a cryptogram (si:) 

 which attacks the young bunches of grapes. 



G. T. M. 



THE PRODUCTION OF CANE SUGAR. 

 The World's Cane Sugar Industry, Past and 

 Present. By H. C. Prinsen Geerligs. Pp. xvi 

 + 399 -I- maps. (Altrincham : Norman Rodger, 

 1912.) Price 125. net. 



ABOUT the middle of the nineteenth century 

 nine-tenths of the world's sugar was ob- 

 tained from the sugar cane. At the close of the 

 century the proportion had fallen to about one- 

 half, and the industry was considered by many to 

 be dying out. Then there came a revival; the 

 quantity began to increase, and has since grown 

 continuously. The proportion, however, remains 

 much about the same as before, for there has been 



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