C28 Notices respecting Sew Boohs. 



active aud enthusiastic exponents of recent advances in phvsical 

 chemistry, and as the auihop of one or two books which have done 

 a good deal towards popularising modern electro-chemical theories 

 amongst his fellow-countrymen. The publication ob' the new book 

 under review will, we feel convinced, add largely to his growing 

 reputation. It is a text-book brightly and clearly written, thoroughly 

 up-to-date, and well within the mental reach of any reader with a 

 good general education. 



One of the most striking features in connexion with almost all 

 recent advances in chemistry lies in the fact that this science is 

 daily becoming more and more mathematical. The days when the 

 teaching of chemistry consisted in the enumeration of a certain 

 number of chemical facts, whose dreariness was only relieved by the 

 possibility of devising striking lecture experiments in illustration 

 of some of them, are now gone for e\er. Such iJ:eneralizations 

 as Gruldberg and Waao:e's Law of Mass Action, Willard Gribbs's 

 Phase Eule, and the theory of Electrolytic Dissociation, have 

 invested chemistry with an interest and a vitality which no mere 

 collection of experimental facts can ever possess. 



It was v^ith the object of familiarisiug the ordinary student 

 with the fundamental conceptions of modern chemical theories that 

 the book under review was written, aud one cannot help admiring 

 the skill with which the author has inter^voven the new theories 

 with the standard methods of treatment followed by the older text- 

 books. It is unnecessary to give any detailed account of the 

 contents of the volume ; in its general features, it does not differ 

 essentially from any other similar text-book on the subject. Its 

 main feature, as we have already pointed out, lies in the method 

 of treatment rather than in the arrangement of the subject-matter, 

 and we do not know of any other elementary text-book which we 

 could more confidently recommend to anyone wishing to gain some 

 insight into recent advances in chemical theory. As is the case 

 with all American books, an excellent index at the end of the volume 

 greatly enhances its value for purposes of reference. 



II Moto dei loni nelle Scariche EUltricJie. Con tre tavole e nove 

 figure intercalate nel testo. Bologna : Ditta Xicola Zanichelli. 



1903. Pp. m. 



This pamphlet contains the substance of a lecture delivered by 

 Prof. Augusto Eighi at the Bologna meeting of the Italian Elec- 

 trotechnical Society. It is a most interesting general account of 

 the electron theory and allied matters, and will be found useful by 

 those who, while interested in the recent developments of electrical 

 theory, cannot afford the time for a detailed study of this fascinating 

 subject. 



