Notices respecting New Boohs. 75 



Cellulose by Mr. C. P. Cross, on Analysis by Prof. Dittmar, on 

 Diazo- Compounds by Mr. A. Gr. Greeu, on Chemical Change by 

 Dr. J. Hood, on Blood by Dr. Halliburton, on Benzil and allied 

 subjects by Dr. Japp, on Bacteria by Prof. Ray Lankester, on 

 Allotropy by Prof. Lothar Meyer, on Azo-Colouring Matters by 

 Prof. Meldola, on Affinity by Prof. Ostwald, on Arnylamines by 

 Dr. Plimpton, on Acids and Alloys by Prof. Bamsay, on Arabic 

 acid Ac. by Mr. C. O'Sullivan, on the detection and estimation of 

 Poisonous Alkaloids by Dr. Stevenson, on States of Aggregation by 

 Prof. J. J. Thomson, on Atmosphere by Prof. T. E. Thorpe, on the 

 Ash of Organic bodies by Mr. Warington, and on Caoutchouc by 

 Mr. C. J. Wilson. A portion of the article on Alcohols and many 

 minor articles are by the late Mr. Watts. 



It would be invidious to make any lengthy comments on these 

 special articles, but we cannot refrain from expressing satisfaction 

 at the co-operation of Continental chemists which the editors have 

 secured. We allude more especially to the valuable contributions 

 of Profs. Ostwald and Lothar Meyer. The article on Bacteria by 

 Prof. Lankester is an interesting example of the encroachment 

 of Biology into the domain of Chemistry, and serves well to illustrate 

 the mutual advantage arising from the contact of different branches 

 of science. The same principle is seen with respect to Chemistry 

 and Physics in the articles on Allotropy, Affinity, and States of 

 Aggregation ; but the interdependence of these two branches of 

 science is too well known to need insisting upon here. Perhaps 

 one of the most remarkable signs of the activity of research in a 

 special group of products is seen in the articles on Azo- and Diazo- 

 Compounds, which together fill over 36 pages. Some lengthy 

 articles which fully merit the title of " special " are written by the 

 editors, such for instance as Mr. Muir's very useful contribution 

 on " Atomic and Molecular Weights," which covers about 25 

 pages. 



One important difference between the present and the older 

 edition is the printing of the pages in double columns, an innova- 

 tion in which we must confess we fail to see any advantage from 

 the reader's point of view. Another innovation is the use of large 

 thick capitals for the words heading each article, and this is a 

 decided improvement, as on running down the columns the eye at 

 once catches the heading sought. Whilst on the subject of print 

 we should like to express dissent from the plan of inserting hyphens 

 into the names of compounds with the lavish profusion which the 

 editors have adopted. Opening the volume at random we find 

 such words as " Tetra-amido-iso-di-naplithyl " (p. 169), " wa-Di- 

 bromo-wo-di-nitro-ethyl-benzene" (p. 591), and so on throughout. 

 Our chemical names are surely sufficiently long as it is without 

 spreading them out into what an American humourist calls an 

 alphabetical panorama. We fully admit that the subject of 

 chemical nomenclature is a very difficult one to deal with in a 

 thoroughly systematic manner, and we protest equally against the 

 Continental custom of fusing up all the component syllables into 



