Notices of Books. 
573 
879-1 
With regard to the manner in which Col. Bolton (who acknow- 
edges the valuable assistance rendered him by Prof. Ayrton) has 
lerformed his irksome and laborious task we can only agree 
nth Major Webber, who proposed the vote of thanks customary 
n such occasions, “ that the Paper may be looked upon as an 
poch on the question of eleCtric lighting.” Electricians who 
re ambitious of discovering the light of the future have now a 
•oint from which to start, and Col. Bolton’s Paper will not only 
irevent them from re-inventing abandoned inventions, but will 
timulate discovery by showing where, and possibly why, their 
Tedecessors have failed. 
The Paper is illustrated by eighteen figures. 
in Introduction to the Practice of Commercial Organic Analysis, 
&c. By Alfred H. Allen, F.C.S., &c. Vol. i., Cyanogen 
Compounds, Alcohols, and their Derivatives, &c. London : 
J. and A. Churchill. 1879. 
Ar. Allen deserves the thanks of chemical students for having 
rought together within a small compass a large amount of 
^formation relating to the proximate analysis and detection of 
be better-known organic products used in every-day life, such 
s glycerin, carbolic acid, quinine, &c. 
The Introduction gives instructions for the preliminary exam- 
nation of organic substances in general. The body of the work 
egins with the particular examination of such substances as 
be cyanogen compounds ; methylic, ethylic, and amylic alcohol, 
nd their derivatives, acid, alkaline, and neutral ; glycerin ; the 
hlorals and chloroform ; the vegetable acids ; and, lastly, the 
henols and their acid derivatives. 
The general method in which Mr. Allen treats each substance 
3 to first give its formula, and then its method of preparation, 
:s physical and chemical properties, and the characteristic tests 
Dr distinguishing its presence and estimating its quantity. We 
bink, however, that Mr. Allen has unnecessarily added to the 
ulk of his book by giving a number of details respecting the 
ubstances of which he treats, which are to be found either in 
be worker’s memory or in any of our common text-books. He 
eems to have forgotten that his book is a working manual of 
nalysis, and not a descriptive treatise. The four pages on 
Jltimate Organic Analysis, too, might have been replaced by a 
iw lines giving the bibliography of the subject. There is an 
xcellent table showing the fusing- and boiling-points, specific 
ravities, &c., of over fifty of the better-known organic sub- 
tances. A copious index ends the volume. 
