398 Scientific Intelligence. 



par Louis Duparc. Pp. viii, 188. Geneva, 1904 (Grebel, Wendler 

 & Cie., l^diteurs). — French students are to be congratulated in 

 having placed before them this translation of Professor Groth's 

 admirable work, a work which occupies a unique place in minera- 

 logical literature and which has exerted a great influence upon 

 the progress of the science since the publication of the first edition 

 thirty years since. 



9. A n Introduction to the Study of Meteorites, with a list of the 

 Meteorites represented in the Collection of the British Museum 

 of Natural History on January 1, 1904; by L. Fletcher. Pp. 

 109, London, 1904. — The last edition of this guide to the meteo- 

 rite collection of the British Museum, with its interesting intro- 

 duction, was issued in 1896. Siuce that time the collection has 

 increased notably, the total number of specimens recorded at the 

 beginning of the present year being 55V. 



10. Manual of the Chemical Analysis of Hocks ; by H. S. 

 Washington. Pp. 183, 8vo. New York, 1904 (John Wiley & 

 Sons). — The author states that the object of this book is to pre- 

 sent to chemists, mining engineers, penologists and others who 

 have not made a particular study of quantitative analysis, a 

 selection of methods for the chemical analysis of silicate rocks 

 and especially those of igneous origin. There are probably few 

 branches of science in which a greater amount of earnest, well 

 intentioned work has been done in the last twenty-five years, with 

 so much that is inaccurate and of little value in results, as in 

 petrography in the making of rock analyses. They have, in 

 large part, been made by beginners or by those having little skill, 

 experience or knowledge of correct methods, with a correspond- 

 ing loss of time and effort. A particularly bad feature of the 

 case is, that it is not always evident or possible, contrary to what 

 generally obtains in pure mineral analysis, to determine how inac- 

 curate the results are. In these later years, however, a change 

 has taken place in this respect and as high a standard of analytical 

 excellence is now demanded in petrography as in any other 

 branch of science. 



Several causes have contributed to this result, especially the 

 efforts of a number of earnest workers, among whom are to be 

 chiefly mentioned the chemists of the United States Geological 

 Survey as well as the author of this book. 



On the other hand it may be said that there are not many 

 things, when one considers the number of elements to be deter- 

 mined and the length of the processes involved, which demand 

 greater skill and experience in analysis from the chemist than 

 that of silicate rocks. 



All this makes the appearance of this work a very timely one 

 and it will be henceforth an almost indispensable adjunct to the 

 library of every analytical chemist and petrographer. The 

 author gives in full detail a description of the necessary appa- 

 ratus, reagents, etc., and of the proper method of selecting 

 material. The analytical processes selected are those which long 



