802 Notices respecting New Books. 



literature is the thoroughly interesting and readable character of 

 the text. Unlike the majority of text-books, which give but the 

 dry bones of the science, Mendeleeff's ' Principles ' can be opeued 

 anywhere, from the first page of the preface to the last page of the 

 appendix, and the reader, even if he has but a spark of that some- 

 what rare gift in this country, the chemical faculty, will find his 

 interest arrested by the wealth of ideas and suggestions abounding 

 on every page. To quote the author's own remarks : — " Thus the 

 desire to direct those thirsting for truth to the pure source of the 

 science of the forces acting throughout nature forms the first and 

 most important aim of this book. The time has arrived when a 

 knowledge of physics and chemistry forms as important a part of 

 education as that of the classics did two centuries ago. In those 

 days the nations which excelled in classical learning stood foremost, 

 just as now the most advanced are those which are superior in the 

 knowledge of natural sciences." 



Before giving an account of the contents of the two volumes 

 especial attention must be called to the footnotes, which are printed 

 in smaller type than the text but often run to the length of two or 

 more pages. The author modestly suggests in the preface that the 

 study of these notes should be postponed till the more important 

 matter of the text has been mastered. So far as the elementary 

 student is concerned this advice is sound, but we do not imagine 

 that many of " those who are commencing to study chemistry " 

 are likely to begin with Mendeleeff's 'Principles.' If they do 

 adopt this work at the beginning of their studies — and there is 

 certainly no better course open to them — they will find it 

 impossible to avoid the fascination of these notes, which often 

 contain some of the most suggestive passages in the work. It is in 

 these notes, in fact, that the author most frequently gives his own 

 views on the many important questions now being debated in the 

 chemical world. Thus, in notes occurring in the Introduction 

 there are discussed such questions as the composite nature of the 

 elemonts, the chemical origin of electricity, the value of therm o- 

 chemical data, the mechanical nature of chemical forces, contact 

 action, and many other topics of general interest and importance. 

 It will interest those who have followed recent speculations as to 

 the elements being evolved from tome primordial form of matter, 

 to learn Mendeleeff's views: — "All labour in this direction has 

 as yet been in vain, and the assurance that elementary matter is 

 not so homogeneous (single) as the mind would desire in its first 

 transport of rapid generalization is strengthened from year to year. 

 At all events there are as yet no experimental or theoretical 

 evidences of the compound nature of our elements. With the 

 methods and evidence now at our disposal, it is impossible to even 

 imagine the possibility of a method by which the different 

 elements could be formed from one elementary material " (Vol. I. 

 p. 20, note 26). 



The first chapter, dealing with water and its compounds, 

 contains all that is known about water, and serves to introduce 

 (in the form of notes) all that the chemical student may le 



