Notices  respecting  Sew  Books.  (511 
preface  is  contributed  by  Professor  Lippmann.  Little  need  be 
siid  in  praise  of  the  French  edition  ;  the  translation  is  well  done, 
and  we  can  only  express  the  hope  that  it  will  serve  to  make  this 
charming  book  better  known  to  the  English-speaking  public. 
Chemie  der  AlicyMischen  Verbindungen.  Von  Ossian  Aschats", 
A.O.  Professor  au  der  TTniversitat  Helsingfors.  Mit  vier 
eingedruckten  Abbildungen.  Braunschweig:  E.  Vieweg  &  Sohn. 
1905.     Pp.  xlv  +  1163. 
The  enormous  growth  of  organic  chemistry  during  the  last  two 
decades  has  necessitated  the  subdivision  of  the  subject  into  a 
number  of  branches,  of  which  one — the  chemistry  of  the  so-called 
alicyclic  compounds  (a  term  due  to  E.  Bamberger) — forms  the 
subject  of  the  present  exhaustive  treatise.  This  class  of  organic 
compounds  includes  a  large  number  of:  substances  of  considerable 
technical  importance,  and  is  of  special  interest  to  students  of 
pharmaceutical  chemistry.  The  mere  bulk  of  the  volume  before 
us  bears  ample  testimony  to  the  immense  amount  of  material 
accumulated  in  this  department  of:  organic  chemistry  ;  there  are 
over  5000  references  to  original  sources  of  information.  The 
necessity  of  some  sort  of  systematic  account  of  the  large  amount 
of  work  done  in  this  direction  is  therefore  amply  evident,  and  it  is 
fortunate  that  this  extremely  laborious  task  has  been  undertaken  by 
an  author  whose  scientific  activity  has  contributed  to  the  advance- 
ment of  this  particular  branch  of  organic  chemistry.  The  present 
volume  fills  a  gap  and  will  earn  for  its  author  the  gratitude  of 
all  advanced  students  of  organic  chemistry. 
The  work  is  divided  into  two  parts,  Part  I.  being  general,  and 
Part  II.  special.  Part  I.  consists  of  au  introduction  in  which  the 
author  defines  the  limits  of  his  subject,  and  deals  with  homology, 
isomerism  and  nomenclature;  and  of  four  sections,  dealing  respec- 
tively with  the  theoretical  development  of  the  chemistry  of 
alicyclic  compounds,  the  effect  of  the  ring  structure  on  the 
chemical  nature  of  such  compounds,  its  effect  on  some  of  their 
physical  characteristics,  and  the  stereo-chemistry  of  alicyclic  com- 
pounds. Considering  next  the  special  Part  II.,  we  have  in 
Section  I.  a  systematic  account  of  the  modes  of  formation  and 
preparation  of  alicyclic  compounds,  in  Section  II.  an  account  of 
monocyclic,  in  Section  III.  of  bicyclic,  and  in  Section  IV.  of  tri- 
and  poly-cyclic  compounds.  A  copious  index  closes  this  most 
valuable  aud  exhaustive  work  of  reference. 
Spectroscopy.  By~E.  C.  0.  Balt,  F.I.C.,  Lecturer  on  Spectroscopy 
and  Assistant-Professor  of  Chemistry,  University  College, 
London.  With  163  illustrations.  London:  Longmans,  Green 
&Co.     1905.     Pp.  xi  +  568. 
The  enormous  development  of  spectroscopy  and  spectroscopic 
methods  has  for  some  time  past  rendered  the  appearance  of  a  com- 
prehensive and  up-to-date  text-book  on  this  subject  highly  desirable. 
