186 Notices respecting New Books, 



Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards. Vol. I. No. 1. Issued Nov. 1, 

 1904. Washington : Government Printing Office. 1904. 

 Pp. 124. 

 The results of the researches " and other work of importance to 

 the scientific, technical and manufacturing interests of the country," 

 conducted by the Bureau of Standards at Washington, are to be 

 in future published at intervals, as frequently as the number of 

 papers ready for publication may require. The best idea of the 

 contents of the opening number of the Bureau's Bulletin will be 

 obtained from the titles of the papers : " Becomparison of the 

 United States Prototype Meter," by L. A. Fischer ; " A Studv 

 of the Silver Voltameter," by K. E. Guthe; "The So-called 

 International Electrical Units," by F. A. Wolff ; " The Spectra of 

 Mixed Gases," by P. G. Nutting ; " On Secondary Spectra," by 

 P. G. Nutting; "Some New Eectifying Effects in Conducting 

 Gases," by P. G. Nutting ; "On Fibres resembling Quartz in 

 their Elastic Properties," by K. E. Guthe ; and " On the Tempera- 

 ture of the Arc," by C. W. Waidner and G. K. Burgess. The 

 systematic publication of this Bulletin, which is well printed and 

 illustrated, is an important step, as it will render easily accessible 

 to the scientific public the important work done by the Bureau. 



Avogadro and Bolton. The Standing in Chemistry of their Hypo- 

 theses. By Andeew N. Meldeum, D.Sc. Edinburgh : W. F. 

 Clay. 1904. Pp. 113. 



This is a most interesting and stimulating essay, in which the 

 author critically examines the relations of Avogadro's hypothesis 

 and Dalton's atomic theory to the fundamental principles of 

 chemical science. It is no uncommon thing for highly-trained 

 specialists to so far lose sight of the foundations on which their 

 own subject is built as to retain only the haziest perception of the 

 exact relation of the law and hypothesis, and of their logical 

 connexion with the great principles which, once accepted, by dint 

 of familiarity only too frequently come to be regarded in the light 

 of self-evident axioms of the science. The author is to be con- 

 gratulated on having, by his cautious and masterly treatment of 

 a difficult subject, shed a flood of light on a region which up to 

 the present has been shrouded in much obscurity. 



Practical Methods of Electro- Chemistry. By F. Moll wo Peekin, 

 Ph.D. Loudon : Longmans, Green & Co. 1905. Pp. xh-p-322. 

 Foe some reason or other, electro-chemistry has, until compara- 

 tively recently, attracted but little attention in England, though 

 both on the Continent and in the United States it has been making 

 rapid progress. The neglect of this important branch of science 

 in England is evidenced by the poverty of English electro-chemical 

 literature, most of the important works dealing with the subject 

 having, until quite recently, been represented by translations from 

 foreign languages. We are glad to note that this defect is gra- 

 dually being made good. By far the best elementary introduction 

 to the subject is Dr. Lehfeldt's little treatise, which we had occasion 



