REVIEWS. 319 
“ (4) A system of tables for the detection of unknown 
substances with the aid of the blowpipe. 
“ (5) Short instructions upon the purchase and prepara- 
tion of the tests, intended for those who have not access to a 
laboratory.” 
On the whole the book is systematically arranged, clearly 
written, and, in many respects, well adapted as an introduc- 
tion to the more comprehensive works on general and analy- 
tical chemistry. As an accompaniment to lectures and 
writings on general chemistry, however, its value will, we 
fear, be lessened, from its possessing two defects, the adop- 
tion of a nomenclature which is rapidly becoming obsolete, 
and, 2, an inconsistency in the implied theoretical views of 
the constitution of salts. In explanation of the latter defect 
we may give the following example. In the Preface, p. vii, 
the Author states that “ a given salt contains potassium and 
nitric acid.” Now, this statement does not accord with any 
doctrine of the constitution of salts, and it is, moreover, 
absolutely incorrect. Por most assuredly the thing called 
nitric acid, whether it be HNO s , N 2 0 5 , or N0 5 , according to 
the old view, which we believe Professor Bloxam still adheres 
to, cannot be demonstrated to exist in nitre. Mr. Bloxam, 
in the above quotation, implies either that nitre contains 
hydrogen, which is untrue, or ignores the presence of, taking 
the view he adopts, the sixth atom of oxygen which ana- 
lysis can prove to be in the compound. The principle in- 
volved in this by no means unimportant defect obtains 
throughout the book. 
In the next edition of f Laboratory Teaching 3 it would be 
well to introduce methods for detecting lithium, and a descrip- 
tion of its carbonate, as this salt is extensively employed 
as a solvent for uric acid by the practitioner of human medi- 
cine. 
Tables of Tests for the Metals and Acid-Radicals occurring 
in Solutions of the Salts most commonly met ivith in 
Medicine. Arranged by Richard Y. Tusox, F.C.S., 
Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica at the Royal 
Veterinary College, &c. London : J. E. Adlard. 1870. 
Professor Tuson having found that his pupils, in conse- 
quence of being deprived of the advantage of laboratory prac- 
tice, experienced great difficulty in learning and remembering 
the tests necessary for the identification of the common 
