January 12, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



67 



this respect, Dr. Schnabel has attained success. 

 The second edition has been largely re- 

 written, as may be appreciated by the increase 

 of pages, from 873 to 1,123, and of illustra- 

 tions, from 569 to Y15. As a whole, the book 

 is reliable and should be in the hands of all 

 students of metallurgy or metallurgical chem- 

 istry and all earnest workers in the practise of 

 the art. The material is sufficiently compre- 

 hensive to give a thorough review of present 

 metallurgical practises and the history of their 

 development from early times. 



Joseph Struthees. 

 New Yobk, 



December 23, 1905. 



SOME RECENT BOOKS RELATING TO ANALYTICAL 

 CHEMISTRY. 



A Text-iooh of Chemical Arithmeiic. By 

 H. L. Wells, M.A., Professor of Analytical 

 Chemistry and Metallurgy in the Sheffield 

 Scientific School of Tale University. New 

 York , John W iley & Sons. Pp. vii + 169- 

 12mo. $1.26. 

 A Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. 

 By J. F. McGregory, Professor of Chem- 

 istry and Mineralogy in Colgate University. 

 Boston, Ginn & Co. Pp. siv + 133. $1.00. 

 Techno-Chemical Analysis. By Dr. G. Lunge, 

 Professor at the ' Eidgenossische Polytech- 

 nische Schule ' at Zurich. Authorized trans- 

 lation by Alfred I. Corn, author of ' Indi- 

 cators and Test Papers,' etc. New York, 

 John Wiley & Sons. Pp. vii + 135. 12mo. 

 $1.00. 



Wells's Chemical Ai-ithmetic. — The subject 

 is treated under three general heads : ' Calcula- 

 tions Relating to Weights,' ' Calculations Re- 

 lating to Gases ' and ' Calculations Relating 

 to Volumetric Analysis.' These chapters are 

 divided into sections according to the special 

 character of the problems, and the solution of 

 each kind of problem is illustrated by ex- 

 amples. In addition, a number of problems 

 to be solved are added, the answers to which 

 are placed in the back part of the book. One 

 of the most important features is the first 

 chapter on approximate numbers. Those who 

 have watched the average student carry out 

 the calculations to eight or ten decimals when 



the result is defined to one or two decimals 

 will appreciate this excellent presentation of 

 the subject. Indeed, all through the book this 

 matter is kept before the student and in many 

 cases the last significant figure of a result is 

 underscored to call attention to its being af- 

 fected with uncertainty. There are also to be 

 found in this chapter several pages on ab- 

 breviated multiplication and division and on 

 the use of logarithms. 



The book is designed for students of quan- 

 titative analysis and contains little that does 

 not bear directly on analytical calculations. 

 Arithmetical methods are used almost entirely. 

 This the experience of the reviewer is against, 

 as he has always found algebraic methods 

 clearer and more concise. There is no section 

 devoted to calculations involving the density 

 of solutions, which must be looked upon as a 

 serious omission in a work of this sort. 



An appendix contains a small list of the 

 usual tables and a table of five-place loga- 

 rithms. 



McGregory's Qualitative Analysis. — In the 

 preface the author states that his aim is to 

 strike between the larger works of the Fre- 

 senius type and the abbreviated texts. This 

 would seem to be the aim of most authors of 

 recent treatises on qualitative analysis, for the 

 book at once impresses one as being of the 

 same general size and shape as half a dozen 

 others. 



The treatment of the subject is also the con- 

 ventional one as opposed to some of the later 

 works that embody physical-chemical facts 

 and speculations in explanation of the reac- 

 tions involved. In arrangement, however, 

 some special features are to be seen. For 

 instance, the usual characteristic reactions 

 are given for all the metals and non-metals 

 before any analysis proper is reached. The 

 usual schematic tables for the systematic ex- 

 amination are omitted, the author considering 

 this better pedagogically. 



For those who may prefer this peculiar ar- 

 rangement the book is to be recommended. 



Lunge's Technical Analysis. — A wide range 

 of subjects is presented by this little book, 

 there being chapters on technical gas analysis, 

 fuels and heating and on inorganic chemical 



