﻿Notices 
  respecting 
  New 
  Books. 
  199 
  

  

  other 
  text-books, 
  such 
  as 
  Mascart's 
  TraiU 
  cVOptique 
  or 
  Preston's 
  

   Light. 
  But 
  we 
  recommend 
  him 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  to 
  complete 
  the 
  

   purpose 
  of 
  the 
  book 
  by 
  himself 
  conducting 
  an 
  experimental 
  

   enquiry, 
  and 
  thus 
  extend 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  this 
  recondite 
  subject. 
  

  

  Text-boohs 
  of 
  Physical 
  Chemistry. 
  Edited 
  by 
  Sir 
  ¥m. 
  Ramsay, 
  

   K.C.B. 
  : 
  Thermochemistry 
  by 
  Jtjlius 
  Thomsen, 
  translated 
  from 
  

   the 
  Danish 
  by 
  Katharine 
  A. 
  Burke, 
  D.Sc. 
  Pp. 
  xv-f-495. 
  

   Longmans, 
  Green 
  & 
  Co. 
  : 
  London, 
  1908. 
  Price 
  9s. 
  

  

  Eyery 
  student 
  and 
  other 
  worker 
  in 
  physical 
  chemistry 
  will 
  

   welcome 
  this 
  translation 
  of 
  Thomsen's 
  classical 
  treatise. 
  Although, 
  

   of 
  course, 
  great 
  advances 
  have 
  been 
  made, 
  both 
  experimentally 
  and 
  

   theoretically, 
  since 
  the 
  fourth 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Thermochemische 
  

   TJntersuclmngen 
  ' 
  appeared 
  (1886), 
  yet 
  in 
  it 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  founda- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  all 
  subsequent 
  work 
  in 
  connexion 
  with 
  heats 
  of 
  com- 
  

   bustion 
  in 
  their 
  chemical 
  bearing. 
  This 
  treatise 
  was 
  unique 
  

   inasmuch 
  as 
  every 
  conclusion 
  was 
  based 
  exclusively 
  upon 
  measure- 
  

   ments 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  author 
  himself. 
  The 
  measurements 
  were 
  all 
  

   carried 
  out 
  in 
  a 
  uniform 
  manner, 
  with 
  the 
  same 
  apparatus 
  and 
  

   under 
  the 
  same 
  external 
  conditions 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  results 
  were 
  all 
  

   calculated 
  for 
  the 
  same 
  temperature 
  and 
  physical 
  condition 
  in 
  

   order 
  that 
  they 
  might 
  be 
  directly 
  comparable. 
  This 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   characteristics 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  which 
  render 
  it 
  of 
  permanent 
  value. 
  

   With 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  translation, 
  we 
  congratulate 
  Miss 
  

   Burke 
  on 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  her 
  work. 
  The 
  translation 
  does 
  not, 
  as 
  

   is 
  so 
  often 
  the 
  case, 
  bear 
  unmistakable 
  evidence 
  of 
  passage 
  from 
  

   one 
  language 
  into 
  another. 
  It 
  has 
  also 
  been 
  most 
  carefully 
  edited 
  ; 
  

   we 
  have 
  detected 
  no 
  serious 
  slip, 
  typographical 
  or 
  otherwise. 
  We 
  

   have 
  only 
  one 
  criticism. 
  As 
  stated 
  in 
  the 
  preface, 
  certain 
  state- 
  

   ments 
  have 
  been 
  modernised 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  represent 
  more 
  correctly 
  

   the 
  current 
  conceptions. 
  We 
  think 
  that 
  this 
  plan 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  

   mistake, 
  especially 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  carried 
  out 
  uniformly. 
  In 
  

   a 
  volume 
  which 
  has 
  great 
  historic 
  interest 
  it 
  is 
  most 
  important 
  to 
  

   preserve 
  the 
  original 
  thought. 
  The 
  student 
  who 
  is 
  anxious 
  to 
  

   trace 
  out 
  the 
  historical 
  development 
  of 
  physical 
  chemistry 
  must 
  

   not 
  take 
  the 
  existing 
  translation 
  as 
  a 
  guide. 
  We 
  think 
  this 
  is 
  so 
  

   important 
  a 
  point, 
  that 
  we 
  venture 
  to 
  express 
  the 
  hope 
  that 
  in 
  

   a 
  future 
  edition 
  (may 
  it 
  be 
  soon 
  called 
  for 
  !) 
  every 
  modernised 
  

   phrase 
  will 
  be 
  recast 
  into 
  the 
  equivalent 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  form 
  ; 
  and 
  

   that 
  where 
  any 
  explanations 
  are 
  necessary, 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  the 
  

   modern 
  student 
  may 
  interpret 
  the 
  statement 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  modern 
  

   conceptions, 
  these 
  should 
  be 
  reserved 
  for 
  footnotes 
  or 
  appendices. 
  

   One 
  other 
  slight 
  criticism. 
  The 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  volume 
  is 
  so 
  

   exceediugly 
  different 
  from 
  the 
  other 
  volumes 
  in 
  the 
  series 
  that 
  we 
  

   hardly 
  know 
  why 
  it 
  is 
  grouped 
  with 
  them. 
  These 
  are 
  emphatically 
  

   critical 
  collections 
  and 
  expositions 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  many 
  observers, 
  

   especially 
  of 
  those 
  whose 
  work 
  is 
  most 
  recent. 
  Thomsen's 
  treatise, 
  

   as 
  we 
  have 
  indicated, 
  is 
  individual 
  and 
  classical. 
  It 
  would 
  have 
  

   been 
  better, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  able, 
  to 
  stand 
  by 
  itself. 
  

  

  