138 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 56. 



of classifying the elements may be abandoned 

 and recourse again had to Dumas' system of 

 grouping the elements in natural families — of 

 course, with modifications suggested by recent 

 advances in chemistry. 



In discussing the ion theory of Arrhenius, 

 the author declares the idea of ion movements in 

 fluids to be but a form of the kinetic hypothesis, 

 advanced by Bernouilli about the middle of the 

 last century; the ion playing the part of the 

 gaseous molecule. 



The attempt to cover so wide a range in so 

 narrow a compass as Etard has chosen has, of 

 course, necessitated an exceedingly terse mode 

 of treatment. Although exception may be 

 taken to some minor points, the author is evi- 

 dently thoroughly abreast of the times, and has 

 certainly succeeded in presenting the essential 

 features of the numerous and varied themes he 

 considers clearly and concisely. 



Ferdinand G. Weichmann. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 



AMERICAN CHEMICAL JOURNAL, JANUARY. 



On the constitution of Phenoquinone : By C. 

 LoRiNG Jackson and Geo. Oenslager. As 

 a result of their work on the hemiacetals, com- 

 pounds of the phenoquinone group, the authors 

 suggest structural formulae for phenoquinone 

 and quinhydrone. They have determined the 

 structure of the hemiacetals and base the pres- 

 ent hypothesis on the great similarity between 

 these substances and phenoquinone, the former 

 being formed (theoretically) by the addition of 

 two molecules of alcohol to quinone, and the 

 latter by the addition of two molecules of 

 phenol to quinone. They find the properties 

 and reactions of the phenoquinone can be 

 readily explained by this structure, and that in 

 most cases the properties are those of the hem- 

 iacetals. 



The Chemical Kinetics of Oxidation: By H. 

 ScHLUNDT and B. B. Warder. Warder re- 

 views the work of a number of investigators on 

 oxidation processes and discusses the results 

 obtained by Schlundt, treating his curves mathe- 

 matically, and drawing some general conclusions 

 as to the theory of oxidation processes. 



Composition of Ohio and Canadian Petroleums : 



By C. F. Mabery. The author continues the 

 report begun in the last number of this journal. 

 He finds that both Ohio and Canadian petroleum 

 contain small quantities of benzol, toluol and 

 xylols. Both these oils resemble the Russian 

 oil more closely than they do the Pennsylvania, 

 and the Canadian oil has a smaller quantity of 

 substances belonging to the methane series than 

 the Ohio oil. The author refers to the various 

 views as to the origin of petroleum and the 

 difficulty of obtaining evidence on this point. 



This number also contains reviews of the fol- 

 lowing books : Chemical Analysis of Oils, Fats 

 and Waxes, E. Benedikt and S. Lewkowitsch ; 

 Analytical Chemistry, N. Menschutkin ; Solu- 

 tion and Electrolysis, W. C. D. Whetham ; 

 Grundriss der Elektrochemie, H. Jahn ; Grund^ 

 ziige der wissenschaftlichen Elektrochemie auf 

 experimenteller Basis, R. Liipke ; Practical 

 Proofs of Chemical Laws, V. Cornish. 



J. Elliott Gilpin. 



THE MONIST, JANUARY. 



Prof. Mach, in the opening article (his inau- 

 gural lecture delivered on assuming the profes- 

 sorship of the History and Theory of Inductive 

 Science in Vienna) discusses the part which 

 chance, or rather accident, has played in inven- 

 tion and discovery. He considers the general 

 relations of science to philosophy, gives practi- 

 cal examples of the devious ways by which 

 knowledge has been accumulated, and formu- 

 lates the conscious and unconscious methods 

 employed by scientific discoverers in their search 

 for truth. 



In Pathological Pleasures and Pains Prof. Th. 

 Ribot applies the pathological method of ampli- 

 fication, as furnished by disease, to the study 

 of abnormal pleasures, with interesting results. 



Dr. Carus gives an exhaustive study of Chinese 

 Philosophy, accompanied by numerous tables, 

 diagrams and ideographic characters. He has 

 interspersed his discussions with sufficient his- 

 tory to make the science and philosophy of the 

 Chinese intelligible, and to exhibit the causes 

 on which their intellectual stagnancy rests. He 

 has considered thoroughly the Chinese theory 

 of permutations (a theory of philosophy which 

 is mathematical in its character), their supposed 

 employment of the binary system of numera- 



