830 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 573. 



something of the spirit and the methods best 

 adapted for arousing the interest of young 

 pupils in elementary science. 



The second and final volume of the ' Die 

 Schule der Chemie ' appeared in 1904. In 

 this volume the author discusses in the same 

 style some of the more important elements 

 and compounds. The translation of this is 

 promised soon. 



Neivell's Descriptive Chemistry.- — This book 

 is true to its title^ — a descriptive chemistry. 

 In the preface the author tells us that the 

 ' book is intended for teachers who wish to 

 emphasize the facts, laws, theories and appli- 

 cations of chemistry.' The order of treatment 

 is that which has recommended itself to most 

 authors of elementary texts, no attempt being 

 made to follow strictly the periodic classifica- 

 tion; in fact the discussion of the periodic 

 law is postponed until the next to the last 

 chapter in the book. The book is divided 

 into two parts. The first part consists of 436 

 pages of text with an appendix of 15 pages. 

 The second part (100 pages) contains the ex- 

 periments. There is an index of 36 pages. 



The general subject is treated in a compre- 

 hensive and interesting way. As the title 

 would indicate, considerable space is given to 

 the applications of chemistry. Thus nearly 

 four pages are devoted to the manufacture of 

 coal gas. The theoretical side, however, has 

 not been neglected. The experiments are well 

 chosen and are such as can be performed 

 readily by elementary students. But few 

 quantitative experiments are included. At 

 the end of each chapter is a complete list of 

 questions on all the topics discussed in the 

 chapter. 



The book is a companion volume to the 

 author's ' Experimental Chemistry.' These 

 two books, ' The Experimental Chemistry ' 

 and ' The Descriptve Chemistry,' seem to the 

 reviewer to represent rather the extreme views 

 of the advocates of the two methods of teach- 

 ing chemistry. It is a question whether the 

 good features of the two could not be com- 

 bined, making a text which would meet the 

 approval of a larger number of teachers. It 

 is doubtful whether the complete lists of ques- 

 tions appended to each chapter add to the 



value of the book. It is certain that many 

 students will turn at once to these lists and 

 the book then degenerates into a sort of cate- 

 chism. 



A number of full-page cuts of distinguished 

 chemists add to the appearance and value of 

 the book. 



Muir's Elements. — According to the preface, 

 the objects of the book are : " To present some 

 of the fundamental facts, generalizations, 

 principles and theories of chemistry, lucidly, 

 methodically and suggestively, to train the 

 student in a few of the methods of investiga- 

 tion and reasoning which have been used in 

 the past and some of the methods which are 

 used to-day, for discovering and coordinating 

 the connections between the properties and 

 the compositions of systems of homogeneous 

 substances; to attempt to lay the foundations 

 of chemistry in such a way that the student 

 may be prepared for going more deeply into 

 the science, if he wishes so to do." The atithor 

 also adds : " I hope I have not merely added 

 one more illustrated catalogu.e of chemical 

 odds and ends to the many which have already 

 appeared under the title of ' A Text -book of 

 Chemistry.' " Surely the author has ' hitched 

 his wagon to a star.' 



The book is divided into twenty-six chapters. 

 Of these the first five are devoted to the defi- 

 nitions of chemical terms, the statement of 

 the laws of combination, the determination of 

 the combining weights of elements and the 

 reacting weights of compounds and the repre- 

 sentation of interactions by means of formulas 

 and equations. Then follows a study of hy- 

 drogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, potassium, 

 sodium, iron (note the order) and other ele- 

 ments, with chapters interspersed on oxidation 

 and reduction, the molecular and atomic the- 

 ory, the periodic law and the measurement 

 of thermal values of chemical changes. 



The text is- similar to Ostwald's 'Grudlinien' 

 in that the molecular and atomic theories are 

 given comparatively little prominence. Thus 

 while the first half of the book abounds in 

 formulas and equations, these are all explained 

 from the standpoint of combining weights 

 and reacting weights, the latter term being 

 defined as ' the quantity by weight of the com- 



