462 Scientific Intelligence. 



widely used sodium carbonate method.— Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 

 xxxiii, 727. h. l. w. 



5. JVetb Element Associated with Thorium. — By treating an 

 ordinary thorium chloride solution with sulphurous acid and boil- 

 ing, Charles Baskerville has found that a precipitate is pro- 

 duced which gives an oxide of lower specific gravity than a part 

 of the earth not precipitated by this means. By other processes 

 of fractionation he has obtained similar results, and he believes 

 that the heavier oxide contains a new element for which he pro- 

 poses the name Carolinium with the symbol Cn. It is to be 

 hoped that at last a well-characterized new element is to be 

 described in this country, but we must wait for further details 

 before deciding whether this is a new element or a mixture of old 

 ones. — Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc. y xxiii, 761. h. l. w. 



6. A Laboratory Guide to the Study of Qualitative Analysis, 

 by E. H. S. Bailey and Hamilton P. Cady. 8vo, pp. 234. 

 Philadelphia, 1901 (P. Blakiston's Son & Co.). — The importance 

 of teaching the ionic theory to some extent in connection with 

 the facts observed in the study of qualitative analysis is 

 now widely recognized. The book under consideration begins 

 by giving in an introduction an elaborate explanation of elec- 

 trolytic dissociation and the mass law. If a student could 

 understand this introduction, he would be far beyond the need of 

 a course in qualitative analysis; for here are introduced the equi- 

 librium of "phases" and many quantitative conceptions, includ- 

 ing a mathematical treatment of the mass law, which it would be 

 better to present to the student after an extensive course in both 

 qualitative and quantitative analysis, rather than as an introduc- 

 tion to the first of these subjects. The ionic idea is carried to 

 the utmost limit throughout the book, and the language would 

 appear like mere jargon to those who are not versed in the mod- 

 ern theories of solutions. For instance, the usual test for phos- 

 phoric acid is described as follows : " The orthophosphate ion 

 forms with the molybdate ion, MoOj~, from ammonium molyb- 

 date, in nitric acid solution, a phosphomolybdate ion, which com- 

 bines with the ammonium ions present to form a canary-yellow 

 precipitate of ammonium phosphomolybdate. . . . This precip- 

 itate dissolves in ammonium hydroxide because under these con- 

 ditions the phosphomolybdate ion is changed to the molybdates 

 and orthophosphate ions." (No formula is given either for the 

 phosphomolybdate ion or the yellow salt.) It may be mentioned 

 that the unsightly spelling of certain chemical words, such as 

 "iodin," "sulfid," and "hydroxid," is used in this book. The 

 number of pages gives a wrong idea of the size of the work, for 

 half the pages left blank for notes are counted. h. l. w. 



7. The Elements of Qualitative Analysis; by Wm. A. 

 Noyes. 8vo, pp. 101. New York, 1901 (Henry Holt and Co.). 

 — This is the fifth edition of this little book, the first of which 

 appeared in 1887. It is evident from the rapidity with which 

 the editions have appeared that the work is extensively used. 



