26 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 210. 



word in reference to the circumstances under 

 wliicla this book was written. It is well known 

 among his many friends that Professor Hol- 

 man's active participation in the work of the 

 Rogers Laboratory of Physics was arrested two 

 or three years ago by the development of an 

 illness from which, unfortunately, he has not 

 yet recovered. During this time he has been 

 confined to a reclining chair, and, in his own 

 characteristic words, ' even the familiar utili- 

 zation of the convenient gamut of ether waves' 

 has been denied. Although unable to move 

 and unable to see, his courage has never fal- 

 tered. There has been no loss in his power of 

 thought, and he has gone on thinking the many 

 fine tilings which he has put into this book, for 

 which, even if it had not been prepared under 

 conditions that would have defeated most men, 

 all physicists, friends and strangers alike, will 

 ever be his debtor. 



T. C. M. 



A Brief Course in Qualitative Analysis. By Er- 

 nest A. CONGDON, Ph.B., Professor of Chem- 

 istry in the Drexel Institute. New York, 

 Henry Holt & Co. 1898. 

 The method of treatment adopted in this 

 book consists in giving, first, a clear, concise 

 statement of the most important reaction for 

 each metal and acid, and then tables giving one 

 or more schemes of analysis for each group. 

 The tables are supplemented by explanatory 

 notes. At the end of the book a series of ques- 

 tions, well designed to test the student's grasp 

 of the subject, are given. While the tabular 

 form always has the advantage of presenting 

 the scheme for analysis very clearly, in the 

 opinion of the writer, the same object is better 

 attained by a tabular record prepared by the 

 student. Because of their concise form, tables 

 necessarily omit many details which are essen- 

 tial for the successful execution of an analysis, 

 and the notes which follow do not entirely over- 

 come this difiiculty. 



The selection of reactions and of schemes for 

 analysis is excellent, and in the hands of good 

 teachers the book will prove a useful one. 



A Short Manual of Analytical Chemistry, Quali- 

 tative and Quantitative, Inorganic and Organic, 

 following the Course of Instruction given in 



the Laboratories of the South London School of 

 Pharmacy. By John Muter, Ph.D. Second 

 American Edition. Illustrated. Adapted 

 from the Eighth British Edition. Philadel- 

 phia, P. Blakiston's Sons & Co. 1898. Pp. 

 xiii+ 228. Price, $1.25. 



As the title implies, a very large amount of 

 information is compressed into comparatively 

 little space in this volume. In the qualitative 

 portion the statements giving the deportment of 

 metals and of acids toward reagents are given 

 consecutively and are followed by tables of 

 schemes for analysis. Then follow directions 

 for the identification of alkaloids and of a num- 

 ber of common organic compounds. The quan- 

 titative portion includes volumetric and gravi- 

 metric analysis, ultimate organic analysis, and 

 directions for the examination of air, water, food, 

 alcoholic liquors, etc. It is in this portion that 

 American chemists will find most to criticise ; 

 Gooch crucibles are nowhere described, not 

 even for the cases where they should be used 

 in place of weighed filters. Directions for the 

 determination of ' citrate soluble phosphoric 

 acid ' are not given under the analysis of ' ma- 

 nures, ' and no reference is made to the ' offi- 

 cial methods.' The old uranium acetate 

 method is given for the volumetric estimation 

 of phosphoric acid instead of the more satis- 

 factory methods with a reductor or with a 

 standard alkali. Metaphenylene diamine is 

 recommended for the detection of nitrites in 

 water analysis, although the reagent is not suffi- 

 ciently sensitive to be of any practical use in 

 many cases. But, while the authors do not 

 appear to be conversant with the best Ameri- 

 can practice in these and some other cases, and 

 while some of the directions appear to be too 

 much abbreviated for the satisfactory use of a 

 beginner, it would be difficult to find another 

 book which compresses so much information 

 about analysis into so small a space and for so 

 moderate a price. W. A. Noyes. 



W^ild Animals I have known. By Ernest 

 Seton Thompson. New York, Charles Scrib- 

 ner's Sons. 1898. Square 12mo. Pp. 359. 

 200 illustration?. Price, $2.00. 

 Rarely are the qualities of naturalist, writer 



and artist combined in one person, but Mr. 



