SCIENCE. 



" In no other elementary book in the English language will the student 

 find so many admirably chosen examples of the formation of structural 

 formulae. The important facts are noted ; then the inference is drawn ; 

 then the hypothesis is ventured upon ; analogous facts are recalled ; 

 the hypothesis is strengthened or weakened ; suggestions are made ; 

 experiments are conducted ; and all is finally summarized in the for- 

 mula. But the book is more than a selection of examples showing how 

 structural formulae ought to be gained. It is a systematic although 

 elementary treatise on organic chemistry. The student is first taught 

 about the two paraffins, methane and ethane ; then he learns how the 

 halogen derivatives of these are prepared, and what relations they bear 

 to the parent hydrocarbons. By this time he has had his first taste of 

 isomerism. Then he proceeds to the oxygen derivatives of methane 

 and ethane ; he learns what an alcohol is ; he becomes acquainted with 

 ether, aldehyde, formic, and acetic acids, some ethereal salts, and ace- 

 tone. This method of studying a few simple compounds in detail is 

 pursued until the student is more or less familiar with representatives 

 of all the principal groups of compounds derived from the paraffins. 

 He is now in a position to study these hydrocarbons as a group, and 

 to deal in some detail with the questions of isomerism. When the 

 paraffins and their derivatives have been thus studied, the more difficult 

 subject of the benzenes and their compounds is approached. And here 

 the author shows an admirable power of dealing with facts as facts, and 

 with theories as theories. 



" Many admirable illustrations of the scientific method of inquiry 

 are to be found throughout the book. I would especially draw atten- 

 tion to the simple but thorough-going treatment of the ' equivalency 

 of the hydrogen atoms ' in the molecule CH 4 (pp. 28, 29) and in the 

 molecule C 6 H 6 (pp. 234-236). It is on subjects such as are discussed 

 in the pages referred to that the chemical student so frequently suffers 

 shipwreck. If he will use this little book by Prof. Remsen as his pilot, 

 and will keep a good lookout as he proceeds, he may hope to pass the 

 shoals of the hexagon-formula and the shallows of the ortho-, meta-, 

 and para-derivatives of benzene. 



" The author of this book deserves the thanks of all chemical teachers 

 who have tried to teach organic chemistry to beginners for the clear 

 and short directions which he gives for preparing the important com- 

 pounds of carbon. The book may well be used as a laboratory guide 

 - no less than an introduction to the science of organic chemistry.*' 



