June 26, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



943 



afterwards came to be known as the compound 

 blowpipe. The communication is entitled 

 " Memoir of the Supply and Application of 

 the Blow-pipe, Containing an Account of the 

 l^ew Method of Supplying the Blow-pipe either 

 with Common Air or Oxygen Gas ; and also 

 of the Effects of the Intense Heat Produced 

 by the Combustion of the Hydrogen and Oxy- 

 gen Gases." Of this Dr. Smith justly re- 

 m.arks, " It is a real landmark in scientific 

 discovery." 



Hare later became professor in the Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania which position he held 

 until his resignation in 1847. 



Due reference is made to Benjamin Silli- 

 man, John P. Norton, Evan Pugh, Robert E. 

 Eogers and Theodore Wormley. James C. 

 Booth is spoken of as probably the first Amer- 

 ican to study analytical chemistry in Ger- 

 many. " With an education probably un- 

 equalled at that time by any chemist in Amer- 

 ica, he returned to the United States, and, in 

 1836, established in Philadelphia a laboratory 

 for instruction in chemical analysis and ap- 

 plied chemistry." 



Of T. Sterry Hunt (1826-1892) the author 

 speaks as " an active participant in the up- 

 building of chemistry in America." J. Law- 

 rence Smith (1818-1883) was active about the 

 same time. His paper on a method of analy- 

 zing silicates by the use of calcium carbonate 

 and chloride " was a very valuable contribu- 

 tion to analytical methods." 



Frederick A. Genth (1820-1893) was a Ger- 

 man by birth. He came to this country in 

 1848. After " conducting a laboratory for 

 commercial analysis and the instruction of 

 special students in chemistry, he became pro- 

 fessor of chemistry in the University of Penn- 

 sylvania in 1872. 



" His earliest contributions were upon geo- 

 logical subjects. Later he devoted much time 

 to mineralogical problems. The chemical re- 

 search by which he is best known relates to 

 the ammonia cobalt bases (the cobaltamines) 

 developed jointly with Wolcott Gibbs. His 

 original memoir was published in 1851 and 

 contained the first distinct recognition of the 

 existence of perfectly well defined and crystal- 



lized salts of the ammonia cobalt bases. The 

 joint monograph of Genth and Gibbs appeared 

 in 1856. This elaborate and extended research 

 has always stood among the finest chemical 

 investigations ever made in this country." 



" Wolcott Gibbs (1822-1908) for years held 

 the most commanding position among the 

 chemists of the United States." 



" It was Gibbs's peculiar merit, that he, 

 more than any other man, introduced into the 

 United States the German conception of re- 

 search as a means of chemical instruction." 



His investigations covered a wide range of 

 subjects in organic, analytical, organic and 

 physical chemistry. " It was in the great 

 research upon the ammonia cobalt bases, to 

 which reference has already been made, that 

 Gibbs finally found himself." 



His most important contribution to analy- 

 tical chemistry was the electrolytic determina- 

 tion of copper now universally used. " The 

 entire field of electro-analysis was thus thrown 

 open by him." His remarkable series of re- 

 searches upon the complex inorganic acids, the 

 publication of which began in 1877, continued 

 well into the 'nineties. 



Gibbs undoubtedly exerted a powerful influ- 

 ence upon the development of chemistry in 

 this country. His sympathy with young men, 

 his enthusiasm, his absolute fidelity to the 

 highest ideals deeply affected many a young 

 worker and helped to hold him on a true 

 course. 



Others whose work is discussed in the book 

 before us are Albert Benjamin Prescott, 

 Samuel W. Johnson (1830-1909), a pioneer 

 in agricultural chemistry, John W. Mallet 

 (1832-1912) of the University of Virginia, 

 M. Carey Lea (1823-1907) and Josiah Parsons 

 Cooke (1827-1894) of Harvard. 



The book closes with some account of J. 

 Willard Gibbs (1839-1903) of Tale, whose 

 contributions to physical chemistry " are fun- 

 damental in nature and of broad application." 



Dr. Smith has wisely refrained from speak- 

 ing of those who are still alive. In conclu- 

 sion he says : " It is not the writer's purpose 

 to discuss the investigations which have come 

 from the many working centers of the United 



