162 
NATURE 
[APRIL £8, .1912 
APPLIED CHEMISTRY. 
A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry. By Sir 
Edward Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. Assisted by 
Eminent Contributors. In five volumes. Vol. i. 
Revised and enlarged edition. Pp. vili+758. 
(London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1912.) 
Price 45s. net. 
T will be remembered that the first edition of 
Thorpe’s ‘“‘ Dictionary of Applied Chemistry ” 
appeared in 1890, when the great ‘‘ Watts” was 
at the same time abridged and edited by Dr. 
Foster Morley and Mr. Pattison Muir. Since that 
time it has served as a standard reference book, 
and has had a most useful life. But in a subject 
so progressive as applied chemistry, twenty-two 
years are a very long period, and the call for 
this new edition has heen imperative. It is very 
characteristic of Sir Edward Thorpe’s  inex- 
haustible energy and enterprise, that on the eve of 
his retirement from his official position—a time 
when most men would be looking for some 
leisurely occupation—he should undertake a task 
which might daunt the most vigorous of his 
juniors. We have reason to know that his editor- 
ship has been of the most active and real kind. 
We have heard from many sides of an almost 
inexhaustible flow of autograph letters of 
courteous but insistent character, addressed to 
gentlemen who, in some cases, were looking with 
unstable resolutions on approaching holidays; 
and we have seen on proof-sheets the track of the 
same pen constraining the exuberance of a con- 
tributor’s verbosity. We feel sure that all 
chemists will unite their admiration of Sir 
Edward Thorpe’s achievement, and in acknow- 
ledgment of the latest of many great services 
which he has rendered to his time and generation. 
We may be permitted to anticipate that on his 
retirement he will return to the field of scientific 
biography, where he has accustomed us to look 
to him for work of such rare excellence. 
The new edition of the dictionary is both re- 
vised and enlarged, and the five volumes, which 
are to replace the original four, will evidently 
constitute, as the editor says, practically a new 
book. The scope of the work has also been ex- 
tended so as to include articles on important topics 
that are not strictly those of applied chemistry. 
The list of contributors to the first volume fully 
justifies the satisfaction which the editor expresses 
in regard to the collaboration he has secured, and 
certainly the chief value of a dictionary of applied 
science must arise from the cooperation of genuine 
experts who are able and are at liberty to speak 
from personal knowledge and experience. In the 
NC 2216, .V 01. | 89)| 
in 
present volume we have this very notably before — 
us. Dr. G. H. Bailey writes on aluminium, Mr. 
Bertram Blount on cement, Dr. Colman on am- 
monia, Dr. Hiibner on bleaching, Prof. Lewes on | 
acetylene, and Dr. T. KX. Rose on assaying. 
L. J. Spencer deals with a number of minerals. 
Among the organic subjects we have various 
series of colouring matters dealt with by Prof. 
Mr. 
W. H. Perkin, Mr. A. G. Perkin, and Dr. Cain. | 
Mr. A. D. Hall writes on cereals, Dr. E. Bam 
Armstrong on bread and carbohydrates, Mr. C. Pe 
Cross on cellulose, Mr. John Heron on brewing, 
Dr. Lewkowitsch on various oils and fats, and 
Mr. Stubbs on butter. Prof. Senier treats of a 
number of drugs, and there are also articles on 
topics of chemical physiology by Prof. Halliburton, 
and of agricultural chemistry by Mr. Herbert 
Ingle. 
Germany is represented by Dr. O. N. Witt, who | 
has an article on azines. Miss Beatrice Thomas 
and Dr. M. A. Whiteley are important lady con- 
tributors. 
the main current is an admirable one on chemical 
Among articles lying a little ical 
affinity by Dr. J. C. Philip, whilst the old and | 
valuable article on the balance by the late Prof. 
Dittmar is reprinted. 
Special mention must be made of an article on 
analysis by Dr. G. T. Morgan, with a supple- 
mentary one on electrochemical analysis by Dr. 
I. M. Perkin. These occupy a hundred pages, 
and constitute, indeed, an excellent, compact 
treatise. The only fear is that it may be rather 
lost in a dictionary, and this is the only important 
case where the present writer has been struck with 
any disproportion in the allotment of space. 
It is, of course, not to a general dictionary that 
anyone engaged in a branch of applied chemistry 
will go for detailed information on his own subject, 
fi 
but it is of great service to have concise and ~ 
authentic summaries of other people’s subjects, 
and this requirement is admirably met in the worl: 
under review. A comparison of the new articles 
with those of the original edition has convinced 
the reviewer, in those cases where he is at all 
competent to form an opinion, that the revision 
has been thoroughly carried out. Such a com- 
parison gives a vivid impression of the great 
advances which have been made in chemical in- 
dustry; see, for example, the manufacture of 
aluminium and acetylene. 
In concluding this notice with renewed con- 
gratulations to the editor on his success in pro- 
ducing a most serviceable dictionary, we must — 
| allow a word of acknowledgment to the rank and 
who have contributed a vast 
on minor 
file of workers, 
amount of indispensable information 
