December 22, 1S05.1 



SCIENCE. 



829 



Son & Co. Pp. xiv + 554. 8vo. $3.50 

 net. 

 A Compendium of Chemistry, Including Gen- 

 eral, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry. By 

 Dr. Carl Arnold, Professor of Chemistry 

 in the Eoyal Veterinary School of Hanover. 

 Authorized translation from the eleventh 

 enlarged and revised German edition by 

 John A. Mandel, Sc.D., Professor of Chem- 

 istry, Physics and Physiological Chemistry 

 in the University and Bellevue Hospital 

 Medical College. Nev? York, John Wiley 

 & Sons. Pp. xii + 627. 8vo. $3.50. 

 A Text-hooh of Organic Chemistry. By 

 William A. ISToyes, formerly Professor of 

 Chemistry in the Rose Polytechnic Insti- 

 tute, now Chief Chemist in the Bureau of 

 Standards, Washington, D, C. New York, 

 Henry Holt & Co. Pp. xvii + 534. 12mo. 

 $1.50. 

 PraMische Uehungen zur Einfiihrung in die 

 Chemie. Von Dr. Alexander Smith, Pro- 

 fessor fiir Chemie an der Universitat Chi- 

 cago. Nach einer vom Verfasser besorgten 

 Umarbeitung der zweiten amerikanischen 

 Auflage ins Deutsche iibertragen von Pro- 

 fessor Dr. F. Haber und Dr. M. Stoecker. 

 Karlsruhe, Druck und Verlag der G. Braun- 

 schen Hofbuchdruckerei. 

 Experiments Arranged for Students in Gen- 

 eral Chemistry. By Edgar F. Smith, Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry, University of Penn- 

 sylvania, and Harry F. Keller, Professor 

 of Chemistry, Central High School of Phila- 

 delphia. Fifth edition, enlarged, with 40 

 illustrations. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's 

 Son & Co. Pp. 92, with blank pages inter- 

 bound. 12mo. $0.60. 



■Conversations on Chemistry. — This is the 

 authorized translation of the first volume of 

 Ostwald's ' Die Schule der Chemie,' which 

 was published in 1903. The book has attracted 

 wide attention, not only because of the renown 

 of its author, but also because of the novel 

 way chosen for presenting the subject. In 

 his ' Grudlinien,' translated under the title 

 of ' The Principles of Inorganic Chemistry,' 

 Ostwald has presented the subject to the ma- 

 ture student. In his ' Conversations,' how- 

 ever, the author addresses himself to distinctly 



elementary pupils. The form chosen for pre- 

 senting the subject is the dialogue, ' because 

 after several attempts it appeared to me the 

 most suitable; moreover, I have come to the 

 conclusion that it occupies no more space than 

 an ordinary description, while the impression 

 it makes is much more penetrating and lively.' 

 The conversation takes place between the 

 master and the pupil. The topics of conver- 

 sation include such subjects as substances, 

 properties, solutions, melting and freezing, 

 density, compounds, elements, oxygen, hydro- 

 gen, nitrogen, air — thirty topics in all. The 

 following will give an idea of the method of 

 discussion : 



Master. Have you ever looked at a candle 

 burning? Yes? Then describe to me what you 

 saw. 



Pupil. When you light a candle it burns down 

 till it is all gone, and during this it has a hot, 

 bright flame. 



M. Right. What is necessary for burning? 



P. Well, the candle. 



M. Nothing else? 



F. Not that I know of. 



M. If you put the burning candle in water — 



P. It goes out. 



M. Why? What is different from before? 



P. It has no more air. 



The master then shows by simple experi- 

 ments and judicious questions that air is 

 necessary for the combustion and that carbon 

 dioxid is formed in the process. The interest 

 and enthusiasm of the pupil lead to many 

 expressions that the translator no doubt had 

 difficulty in rendering in English; thus when 

 the master explodes a mixture of hydrogen 

 and air, the pupil exclaims, 'By jove! what 

 a thundering crack ! ' and again when the soap 

 bubble inflated with hydrogen rises like a 

 balloon, ' Oh, how ripping ! ' 



The book is not adapted as a text for stu- 

 dents; neither could teachers follow it liter- 

 ally. On the other hand, no teacher could 

 read it carefully without gaining much that 

 would be helpful to him in presenting the 

 subject of elementary chemistry. No one who 

 has the knowledge of the ' master ' and the 

 happy way of presenting it could fail to at- 

 tract and interest the pupil. The chief value 

 of the book must lie, therefore, in showing 



