Apkil 1, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



467 



make certain analyses, and is referred to one of 

 the large text-books for details. A beginner is 

 bewildered by the complexity of the work, and 

 ends by becoming a mechanical agent, following 

 detailed directions without knowing or inquir- 

 ing why certain courses of procedure are neces- 

 sary. The author has arranged a course which 

 will serve as an introduction to the subject and 

 give the student an excellent working basis for 

 more advanced work in this line. He hfts se- 

 lected typical methods in both gravimetric and 

 volumetric analyses. In a section devoted to 

 miscellaneous analyses he gives general direc- 

 tions for the analysis of such things as silver 

 coins and rocks, and refers the student to larger 

 works for details. The directions are clear and 

 logical, and the reactions which take place in 

 each case are given ; but the author has pur- 

 posely omitted some details, as methods of fil- 

 tering and other manipulations, as he considers 

 that these should be learned by the student from 

 demonstration by the instructor. This book 

 will no doubt prove valuable to those beginning 

 work of this kind, and especially for those who 

 are desirous of obtaining a general idea of the 

 methods used in quantitative analytical work. 



J. E. G. 



A Laboratory Guide to the Study of Qualitative 

 Analysis. By E. H. S. Bailey, Ph.D., Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry in the University of Kan- 

 sas. Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Company. 

 1896. 



The author states in his preface that he can- 

 not hope to oifer anj'thing especially new or 

 original, but his aim has been to present the 

 subject in as concise a form as possible. The 

 general arrangement is similar to that of many 

 other works on this subject, and the author ac- 

 knowledges the assistance he received from 

 them. Each group is studied in detail, the 

 principal soluble and insoluble compounds be- 

 ing described and the methods given for the 

 separation of the members of the group. 



J. E. G. 



Bepetitorimn der Chemie, mit hesonderer Berilch- 

 sichtigung der fur die Medizin wichtigen Ver- 

 bindungen, sowie des ' Arzneibuches fiir das 

 Deutsche Reich ' und anderer Pharmakopden, 

 namentlich zum Gebrauche fur Mediziner und 



Pharmazenten. Bearbeitit von Gael Aenold, 



Professor der Chemie an der Koniglichen 



Tierarztlichen Hochschule zu Hannover. 



Achte verbesserte und ergantze Auflage. 



Hamburg und Leipzig, Verlag von Leopold 



Voss. 1898. 



The author, in his preface, says that this book 

 is chiefly intended to prepare medical students 

 for the government examination in chemistry. 

 The first edition was published in 1884. Eight 

 editions in thirteen years seem to. indicate that 

 the book fulfills its purpose. A careful exami- 

 nation fails to show why it is popular. The crude 

 facts of methods of preparation of chemical 

 substances, and the properties of the elements 

 and compounds, are carefully separated from 

 the chemistry which would make these facts in- 

 telligible and interesting. Under the title 

 ' Allgemeine Chemie ' the author gives forty- 

 two pages of bald, concise statement. He gives 

 in the next 230 pages dry facts concerning ele- 

 ments and inorganic compounds, with scarcely 

 an illustration or illuminating thought. The last 

 and longest section, 275 pages, is devoted to 

 organic chemistry ; the nature of the subject 

 compels the author to treat it more intelligibly 

 than the inorganic part, but light is admitted 

 sparingly and under protest. 



It is only fair to say that as a compend of 

 facts the book is both full and concise. The 

 student who could memorize it all, with some 

 explanation from a competent coach, would 

 have a mass of information which would be of 

 excellent service to him when he should begin 

 the study of chemistry. 



The popularity of this book suggests specula- 

 tion as to the nature of the German govern- 

 ment chemical examination for medical stu- 

 dents. To the lay mind it would seem that 

 when with at least one well-known and excel- 

 lent Repetitorium — Pinner's — written for the 

 same purpose, for sale everywhere in Germany, 

 this present compilation finds favor, the govern- 

 ment examiners must demand crude statements 

 of facts — not chemistry. Many of the well- 

 known English quiz compends on chemistry are 

 just as heavy and wooden ; but we know that 

 the universal cramming for government ex- 

 aminations in England is nowhere more con- 

 demned and deplored than by English chem- 



