PHURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1912. 
TECHNICAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 
Technical Methods of Chemical Analysis.. Edited 
by Prof. George Lunge. English translation 
from the latest German edition, adapted to 
English conditions of manufacture. Edited by 
Dr. C..A. Keane. Vol. ii. Part i., pp. xxvii+ 
610. Part ii., pp. xii+6r11-1252. (London: 
Gurney and Jackson, 
43 3S. net. 
“THIS work, in its English form, is the result 
of a cooperation of German and English 
chemists, who have together sought to adapt the 
latest German edition to English conditions of 
manufacture. The entire volume extends to 
upwards of 1200 pages, but it is divided into two 
parts, presumably to suit the convenience of 
technical chemists who may be mainly interested 
in special branches of manufacture. Generally 
speaking, part i. is concerned with inorganic pro- 
cesses, and for the most part deals with the 
metals and their compounds, although it includes 
also methods of examining artificial fertilisers, 
feeding stuffs, explosives, matches, fireworks, 
and calcium carbide. Part ii. mainly deals with 
the products of the destructive distillation of coal, 
illuminating gas and ammonia, coal tar, the 
synthetic organic dyes, and naturally occurring 
organic dye-stuffs. The work, we think, might 
have appealed to a wider circle of readers if it 
had been still further subdivided. The consulting 
analytical chemist will no doubt find the entire 
volume of use, but the metallurgical _ works 
chemist is seldom, if ever, concerned with the 
subject of fertilisers and feeding-stuffs, and has 
but’ a very limited interest in matches and fire- 
works. ; 
Part i. opens with the section devoted to iron, 
due to Dr. Aulich, chief instructor at the Mining 
School of Duisberg, the translation being revised 
by Mr. Wesley Lambert, of the Royal Gun Fac- 
tory, Woolwich. It deals very fully with the 
analysis and dry assay of iron-ores, and with the 
determination of the various constituents of the 
different forms of manufactured iron. 
The section on “Metals other than Iron” is 
written by Prof. Pufahl, of the Royal School of 
Mines, Berlin, and the English translation has 
been revised by Mr. C. O. Bannister, the head of 
the metallurgy department of the Sir John Cass 
Institute. It is, of course, almost exclusively 
concerned with metals of technical importance, 
and the established methods of assay, wet and 
dry, are given in sufficient detail. There is not 
much opportunity for novelty of treatment, and 
NO. 2223, VOL. 89| 
1911.) 2 parts price 
NA uP ORI ? 341 
both author and editor wisely prefer to deal with 
methods which experience has shown to be 
accurate and sufficiently rapid for technical work 
rather than with processes which may have the 
merit of novelty, but which have still to stand the 
test of time. A commendable feature, however, 
is the prominence given to electrolytic methods. 
The article on artificial manures is by Dr. 
Béttcher, a former director of the Agricultural 
Experiment Station, Méckern. The methods 
described are mostly of German origin, and some 
of them have only an academic interest to Eng- 
lish chemists, who, as regards fertilisers and 
feeding-stuffs, are required, in pursuance of the 
provisions of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs 
Act, 1906, to make the necessary determinations 
in accordance with the regulations prescribed by 
the Board of Agriculture. , 
The section on explosives was written by the late 
Dr. Guttmann, and was revised by him for the 
English translation in 1910. It differs in many 
respects from that in the last German edition, 
which was revised by Dr. E. Berl. The modes 
of carrying out the stability and heat tests are 
shortly described, and the possibility of these 
tests being modified in the case of gun-cotton 
preparations by the use of mercuric chloride is 
| referred to, and methods are mentioned by which 
the presence of this compound may be detected, 
although the details are scarcely sufficient to make 
them of much practical use. 
The section relating to matches and fireworks is 
from the pen of Dr. Bujard, of Stuttgart, and the 
| English translation has been edited by Mr. E. G. 
Clayton. It mainly deals with the examination 
of the raw materials employed by the manufac- 
turer and of the “compositions” with which the 
splints are tipped. Since, by the Act of 1905, 
which came into force at the beginning of 1910, 
the use of ordinary phosphorus in the manufac- 
ture of matches is prohibited in this country, and 
the importation of matches so made is illegal, it is 
of importance to have a ready method of detect- 
ing the presence of white phosphorus in the 
igniting composition of a lucifer match, »and 
various methods more or less serviceable for this 
purpose are described. 
The section on calcium carbide and acetylene is 
by Prof. Lunge and Dr. Berl, and the English 
translation has been revised by Dr. Conroy. In 
some respects this is the most original portion of 
the book, and it constitutes a striking exemplifica- 
tion of the mode in which German technical 
analysts apply scientific methods to the analytical 
control of a comparatively new industry. 
The first section of part ii. is concerned with 
illuminating gas and ammonia. It is written by 
P 
