April 21, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



589 



metallurgy of individual metals, the few books 

 on general metallurgy were arranged as text- 

 books and made no pretence of thoroughness of 

 detail or treatment. With these facts in mind 

 the present work was compiled, with the stated 

 object of giving a complete account of the 

 metallurgical treatment of every one of the 

 metals ordinarily employed, together with the 

 recent improvements in the art, stating the un- 

 derlying scientific principles and illustrating by 

 actual practice. 



This object is highly commendable, but the 

 statement is rather misleading, as iron and 

 steel have been entirely omitted and no men- 

 tion made of the omission or of a subsequent 

 volume upon this all-important branch of 

 metallurgy. This fact should have been stated 

 plainly by the author in the preface and by the 

 publisher in the advertisements. 



Dr. Percy's historic work was selected as the 

 basis, and on this are grouped many facts from 

 the works of modern writers, notably Hofman, 

 on lead ; Peters, on copper ; Egleston, on gold 

 and silver, and Borchers on electro-metallurgy. 

 The work is quite exhaustive in character, as 

 the grand total of 160S pages indicates, but, 

 unfortunately, the exhaustion is not limited to 

 the subject-matter of the book and ofttimes ex- 

 tends to the reader, as much of the material 

 is vague and unnecssarily verbose. The work 

 lacks that clearness of description, lucidity of 

 arrangement and concisement of statement so 

 needful in the treatment of a large subject and 

 so appreciated by American readers with whom 

 time is an object. 



It is to be regretted that much ancient ma- 

 terial is perpetuated in excruciating detail, 

 particularly as it is so interwoven with modern 

 practice that the general reader is left in doubt 

 what is in use at the present time. To illus- 

 trate this, under the chapter on silver, barrel 

 amalgamation is quoted as now in use at the 

 Pelican Mill, Georgetown, Colo., while, as a 

 matter of fact, it was there abandoned twenty 

 years ago. Another instance, under the chapter 

 on zinc, the furnace used in the old English 

 process — that rare bird of antiquity — shows 

 forth resplendent in full detailed illustration. 

 As to this furnace. Dr. Percy, in 1869, failed to 

 find even the ruins of its foundation. 



The large amount of material collected in 

 these two volumes contains much of value to 

 the specialist, but it is too encyclopedic in char- 

 acter to be of any marked assistance to the 

 general reader. Its main value is for reference 

 in a scientific or technical library. 



A few minor errors, such as the location of 

 Boston in Vermont (Vol. 1, p. 115) and Orford 

 in New Jersey (Vol. 2, p. 104), may be over- 

 looked in a work of this large size. 



The criticism of this work may be considered 

 harsh, but the eminent position occupied by 

 Dr. Schnabel leads one to expect the highest 

 standard of work and to be disappointed if it is 

 not attained. 



J. Steuthees. 



BOOKS EKCEIVED. 



Organic Chemistry. Edited by R. ANSCHtJTZ. Au- 

 thorized translation by Edgar F. Smith. Vol. I., 

 Chemistry of the Aliphatic Series. Philadelphia. 

 P. Elakiston's Son & Co. 1899. Pp. xviii + 625. 

 $3.00. 



Commercial Organic Analysis. ALFRED H. Allen, 

 Philadelphia, P. Blakiston 's Son & Co. 1899. Vol. 

 II., Part I. Pp. x + 337. $3.50. 



The Spirit of Organic Cliemistry. ARTHUR Lachman". 

 "With an introduction by Paul C. Freer. New 

 York, The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp- 

 xviii -f 299. $1.50. 



The Arithmetic of Chemistry. John Waddell. New 

 York and London, The Macmillan Company. 1899- 

 Pp. viii + 133. 90 cents. 



Algemeine Erdkunde. J: Hann, Ed. BeIjcknee and 

 A. Kiechhoff. III., Abteilung Pflanzen-und 

 Tierverbreitung. Alfred Kirchhoff. Prague. 

 Wien und Leipzig, F. Tempsky. 1899. Pp. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES- 

 The Botanical Gazette for March contains the 

 following papers: D. H. Campbell: 'Notes 

 on the structure of the embryo-sac in Sparga- 

 nium and Lysichiton,' ip-p. 153-166, with one plate. 

 This is a continuation of the author's studies of 

 the primitive monocotyledons. The discovery 

 of special interest is the extraordinary develop- 

 ment of the antipodal cells in Sparganium, an- 

 other evidence of the variable nature of the 

 antipodal region. H. C. Cowles : ' The ecolog- 

 ical relations of the vegetation on the sand 



