May 4, 1900.] 



SCm'NCE. 



Yll 



The author proposes the terms ' odorophore ' 

 and 'odorogen,' to be used in a manner anal- 

 ogous to the ' chromophore ' and ' chromogen ' 

 of the color chemists. Thus, he considers the 

 phenolic OH as an odorophore, which becomes 

 an odorogen when its H is replaced by an alkyl 

 or acyl group ; in support of which he cites the 

 following examples : 



HOC.CBHj.OH(paraoxybenzaldehyde) = little odor. 

 HOC.C6Hi.OCH3(anisic aldehyde) = odor. 



HOCCgHg^Qg ( protocateehuic aldehyde )=little 

 odor. 



HOC.C6H3<Q>CH2 ( piperonal ) = odor. 



The work is divided into the following chap- 

 ters : 



I. Halogen and Nitro Compounds. — Includes 

 the halogen derivatives of phenylethane, and 

 of styrol ; mirbane and Muse Baur. 



n. Aldehydes, Dialdehydes and Oxyalde- 

 hydes. — Among the more important aldehydes 

 listed are those of benzoic, phenylacetic, cu- 

 minic, cinnamic, salicylic, anisic and piperonylic 

 acids. Vanillin, however, is reserved for the 

 author's volume on 'Les Parfums Comestibles.' 



ni. Phenols and Phenolic Ethers. — Among 

 others the following are discussed : thymol, 

 carvacrol, anisol, diphenyl ether, anethol, be- 

 tanaphthyl ethers, eugenol and safrol. 



Each chapter begins with a few pages of ex- 

 planatory text, followed by a tabular classifi- 

 cation of the compounds belonging to that par- 

 ticular group. The column headings, for the 

 tables are as follows : trade name ; scientific 

 name ; formula, empiric and constitutional ; 

 method of preparation ; literature and patents ; 

 properties and characteristic reactions. The re- 

 ferences to the literature and patents are par- 

 ticularly valuable. 



Although the compounds are well arranged 

 in a logical chemical classification, an Index 

 would nevertheless be a desirable addition. 

 Marston Taylor Bogert. 



BOOKS received. 



Elements de paleoboianique. R. Zeiller. Paris, G. 

 Carr6 and C. Naud, 1900. Pp. 421. 



A Treatise on Zoology, edited by E. Eay Lankkstbe. 

 Part III.: Echlnoderma, F. A. Bather, J. W. 

 Gregory, E. S. Goodrich. London, Adams and 

 Charles Black, 1900. Pp. vl + 344. 



First Book, Home Geography and the Earth as a Whole. 

 Ealph S. Tare, Frank M. McMuery. New 

 York and London, The Macmlllan Company, 1900. 

 Pp. XV + 279. 



Prantl's Lehrbwch der Botanik. Ferdinand Pax. 

 Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann, 1900. Pp. viil + 455. 



Beinhardt's Teehnie of Mechanical Drafting. Chaeles 

 W. Eeinhardt. New York, The Engineering 

 News Co., 1900. Pp. 36. 10 Plates. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OP ST. LOUIS. 



At the meeting of the Academy of Science of 

 St. Louis, on the evening of April 2, the follow- 

 ing subjects were presented : 



A paper by Dr. H. von Schrenk, entitled ' A 

 Severe Sleet-storm,' and embodying the results 

 of a study of the injury to trees and shrubs by 

 an unusually severe recent sleet-storm, was 

 presented by title. 



Dr. W. H. Warren read a paper giving an 

 outline of recent progress in the chemistry of 

 perfumes. For the most part, these substances 

 are high boiling oils. Formerly these oils, 

 which are complex mixtures of several com- 

 pounds, were obtained exclusively from flowers, 

 but recently some of the essential principles 

 have been produced by chemical means, 

 whereas other artificial perfumes are mere imi- 

 tations. With a few exceptions the essential 

 principles, which give the perfumes their value, 

 belong to a complex class of organic com- 

 pounds known as the terpenes. The terpenes 

 are reduction products of cymol. The molecule 

 is characterized by the presence of an atomic 

 linking such as is found in the hydrocarbon 

 ethylene, and the determination of the exact 

 location of these ethylene Unkings constitutes a 

 difficulty in studying the terpenes. It is found 

 also that nearly every substance having the 

 properties of a perfume has in its molecule cer- 

 tain atomic groups whose presence exerts a 

 marked influence on the odor. Among the 

 more important of these may be mentioned the 

 aldehyde, ketone, ester, ether and alcohol 



