Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
October,  1914.  J 
Book  Reviews. 
477 
drug  business  makes  him  unusually  well  qualified  to  handle  manu- 
facturing processes  in  a  practical  way. 
For  the  purpose  of  adding  interest  to  the  study  of  individual 
prescriptions,  some  225  prescriptions  from  State  Board  examinations 
have  been  added  in  a  systematic  way.  This  compilation  will  be 
found  to  be  of  great  value  to  the  apprentice  in  his  study  of  the  methods 
of  mixing  and  conditions  suitable  for  their  compounding.  A  valuable 
chapter  on  biological  products  has  been  added  and  will  prove  of  great 
interest  to  pharmacists.  The  new  developments  in  the  pharmaceutical 
applications  of  sterilization  are  noted  in  several  portions  of  the  book. 
The  Electrical  Conductivity  and  Ionization  Constants  of 
Organic  Compounds.  A  bibliography  of  the  periodical  literature 
from  1889  to  19 10  inclusive,  including  all  important  work  before  1889 
and  corrected  to  the  beginning  of  19 13.  Giving  numerical  data  for 
the  ionization  constants  at  all  temperatures  at  which  they  have  been 
measured ;  and  some  numerical  data  of  the  electrical  conductivity. 
By  Heyward  Scudder.  New  York :  D.  Van  Nostrand  Company,  25 
Park  Place.    1914.   $3  net.  1 
This  is  a  very  valuable  compilation,  containing  all  of  the  valuable 
data  on  the  electrical  conductivity  and  ionization  of  organic  com- 
pounds, practically  everything  of  value  being  included,  with  very  few 
exceptions.  The  references  to  subjects  of  biological  interest,  as 
albumin,  blood,  sap,  etc.,  are  complete  only  for  the  last  few  years 
(roughly,  the  last  five  or  ten),  but  afford  a  means  both  of  knowing 
where  to  get  at  the  important  work,  which  is  all  recent,  and  where  to 
start  in  any  more  thorough  search  of  the  literature.  Neither  are  the 
references  to  the  resistance  of  substances  such  as  rubber,  wood,  etc., 
given,  as  they  are  of  value  chiefly  in  connection  with  the  question  of 
electrical  insulation,  although  they  have  some  biological  interest. 
References  to  the  conductivity  of  inorganic  compounds  in  organic 
solvents  have  not  been  looked  up  specially,  though  in  cases  where  salt 
formation  is  to  be  expected  they  have  been  taken.  In  addition,  a 
number  of  references  are  given  on  the  conductivity  of  molten  salts 
as  well  as  certain  inorganic  compounds.  In  the  tables  a  number  of 
references  are  given  to  the  work  on  the  comparative  strength  of 
different  compounds  (measured  in  various  ways),  because  to  many 
chemists  the  chief  value  of  the  ionization  constant  of  a  compound, 
or  of  a  measurement  of  its  electrical  conductivity,  is  to  determine  its 
strength  as  an  acid  or  a  base. 
