34  Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices.    {  A  ja^uaryfis™' 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Quantitative  Chemical  Analysis.  By  the  late  C.  Remigius 
Fresenius.  Authorized  translation  of  the  greatly  amplified  and 
revised  sixth  German  edition,  by  Alfred  I.  Cohn.  2  vols.,  8vo,  2,076 
pages,  280  figures.    Cloth,  $12.50. 
As  a  result  of  the  interest  in  analytical  chemistry,  new  methods  of 
analysis  are  quite  numerous,  and  improvements  of  older  methods  are 
continually  being  suggested.  It  is  becoming  more  and  more  appar- 
ent that  while  quantitative  analysis  is  based  upon  certain  basic 
principles,  as  understanding  the  "  properties  of  precipitates,"  and  the 
insidious  causes  of  error  are  being  eliminated,  nevertheless  there  is 
a  personal  element  that  enters  into  the  work  which  influences,  in  a 
measure,  the  result  of  different  workers.  Uniform  methods  of  analy- 
sis are  being  encouraged,  and  as  time  goes  on  there  will  be  more 
disposition  for  the  adoption  of  uniform  methods  as  are  at  present 
carried  out  by  the  agricultural  chemists. 
Many  books  on  quantitative  analysis  have  appeared.  Some  of 
these  have  excellent  features  which  commend  them.  We  have  not, 
however,  seen  a  book  on  this  subject  which  may  be  considered  to  be 
so  complete  and  so  essential  to  the  analyst  as  the  present  revision  of 
Fresenius.  It  is  so  full  of  methods  and  references  to  the  important 
literature  that  one  almost  wonders  that  it  has  been  possible  for  a 
single  individual  to  write  a  work  containing  so  many  of  the  results 
of  the  latest  researches  in  analytical  chemistry,  including  methods 
for  both  inorganic  and  organic  substances. 
A  brief  summary  of  the  more  important  subjects  treated  of  in  this 
work  is  as  follows  :  determination  of  quantity  and  measuring  ;  prep- 
aration ol  substances  for  the  processes  of  quantitative  analysis; 
general  procedure  in  quantitative  analysis;  reagents;  forms  and 
combinations  in  which  substances  are  separated  from  each  other,  or 
in  which  their  weight  is  determined,  including  basic  radicals  and 
acids ;  determination  of  basic  radicals  and  the  estimation  of  acids  ; 
qualitative  examination  of  organic  substances  ;  determination  of  the 
elements  in  organic  substances ;  determination  of  the  equivalent  of 
organic  compounds;  calculation  of  the  constituents  sought  from  the 
compound  obtained  in  the  analytical  process  and  conversion  of 
the  result  in  percents;  deduction  of  empirical  and  rational  form- 
ulas ;  calculation  of  the  vapor  density  of  volatile  substances ;  analysis 
