Chemistry. 165 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



I. Chemistry. 



1. Organic Agricultural Chemistry ; by Joseph Scudder 

 Ciiamiu:rlain. 12mo, pp. 319. Ne w York, 1916 (Tlie Mac- 

 millan Company. Price, $1.60). — This is a text book of general 

 agricultural chemistry or of elementary biochemistry for use in 

 colleges. A companion volume on inorganic agricultural chemis- 

 try covering the subject of soils and fertilizers is being prepared 

 by an associate of the author in the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 College. The volume under consideration is interesting in being 

 novel in its scope and in its manner of treating the subject. It 

 aims to give to students of practical agriculture a general scien- 

 tific knowledge of organic and physiological chemistry, but it 

 does not attempt to present agricultural analysis. The first sec- 

 tion of the book, comprising nearly one-half of it, deals systemati- 

 cally with organic chemistry. The treatment is confined to 

 fundamental principles and a discussion of the more important 

 compounds occurring in plants and animals. In spite of this 

 limitation the course appears to be an excellent one, and to be 

 very modern in its presentation. The second section dealing with 

 physiological chemistry gives a "very satisfactory discussion of 

 enzymes and fermentation, the composition of plants and animals, 

 the living cell and its food, animal food and nutrition, digestion 

 and absorption, milk, blood and urine, and plant physiology. 

 The last section, which is the most practical one from the point 

 of view of the student of agriculture, deals with the food con- 

 stituents of plants, and animal food and feeding. As a whole the 

 book seems to be very well devised for its purpose. h. l. w. 



2. Outlines of Industrial Chemistry • by Frank Hall Thorp, 

 with Assistance in Revision from Warren K. Lewis. 8vo, pp. 

 665. New York, 1916 (The Macmillan Company. Price, $3.25). 

 — This is the third edition of a well known and widely used text 

 book which made its first appearance in 1898. The rapid progress 

 that has been made in chemical industry in recent years has made 

 necessary considerable changes in the present issue, so that many 

 sections have been re-written. The book is elementary in its 

 character, and the processes are usually described quite briefly in 

 connection with their fundamental principles and their important 

 features. The number of topics taken up, however, is very large, 

 so that the book gives an extensive view of the industry, includ- 

 ing the inorganic, the organic, and the metallurgical branches. 

 The work is not only a useful text book for students in colleges and 

 technical schools, but it should be of interest to many general 

 readers, who need have only a moderate knowledge of general 

 chemistry in order to understand nearly all of it, as it is largely 

 descriptive, contains no extended mathematical and theroretical 

 djscussions, and is clear in stjde. . h. l. w. 



