Reviews.  95 
Lexikon  der  Kohlenstoff-Verbindungen,  von  M.  M.  Richter.  Zweite 
Auflage  der  "  Tabellen  der  Kohlenstoff-Verbindungen  nach  deren  empirischer 
Zusammensetzunggeordnet."  Hamburg  and  Leipzig:  Verlag  von  Leopold  Voss. 
1899.  London:  Williams  &  Norgate  ;  Paris:  H.  Le  Loudier  ;  New  York: 
G.  E.  Stechert. 
This  work  consists  of  35  Lieferungen,  which  are  published  in  the  form  corre- 
sponding to  Beilstein's  Handbuch  der  organischen  Chemie,  3  Aufl.,  and  it  may 
be  said  that  it  can  be  employed  as  an  index  of  this  valuable  book.  In  1883  M. 
M.  Richter  published  his  "  Tabellen  der  Kohlenstoffverbindungen,"  which  con- 
tained the  mention  of  about  16,000  compounds.  It  is  estimated  that  io  Beil- 
stein's Handbuch  there  are  about  57,000  organic  compounds  described,  whereas, 
in  the  present  edition  of  Richter,  the  title  of  which  has  been  changed  as  above 
noted,  67,000  organic  compounds  are  considered. 
In  the  consideration  of  all  the  carbon  compounds  known  up  to  date, the  author 
has  arranged  them  in  a  manner  conforming  to  the  arrangement  recommended 
by  the  Council  of  the  German  Chemical  Society,  and  introduced  into  the 
Berichte  in  1898. 
The  arrangement  of  .the  compounds  depends  first  upon  the  number  of  carbon 
atoms  in  them  and  then  upon  the  number  of  elements  which,  in  addition  to  car- 
bon, are  contained  in  the  compounds.  The  succession  of  the  elements  combined 
with  carbon  is  determined  by  their  frequency  of  occurrence  in  some  cases,  as 
with  H,  O,  N  ;  CI,  Br,  I,  F  ;  S,  P  ;  whereas  the  others  are  arranged  in  alphabeti- 
cal order,  as  Al,  As  .  .  .  Zr.  So  that  if  one  is  desirous  of  looking  up  cocain  one 
turns  to  the  C17  group  with  three  elements  and  under  C17H2104N  are  given  the 
melting  points,  derivatives  and  important  references  to  literature,  includingBeil- 
steiu.  But  here  is  also  given  corresponding  comparative  information  of  no  less 
than  sixteen  isomeric  compounds,  as  atroscin,  i-scopolamine,  hyoscin,  etc.  The 
literature  to  which  references  are  given  is  that  which  relates  particularly  to  the 
preparation,  properties  and  decomposition  of  the  carbon  compounds.  No  ref- 
erence is  made  to  purely  theoretical  papers,  nor  those  with  analytical,  mathe- 
matical, crystal lographic  or  medico-physiological  information.  The  literature 
is  fully  treated  up  to  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  for  1899,  and  the  publishers 
propose  to  edit  yearly  supplements  to  the  Lexikon.  The  work  is  not  only  to 
be  regarded  as  an  index  par  excellence  to  Beilstein,  but  is  also  an  index  to  the 
important  chemical  literature  on  the  preparation  and  properties  of  the  carbo  1 
compounds,  as  well  as  treating  tersely  of  properties  of  the  compounds  them- 
selves. The  book  is  such  as  one  continually  desires  in  laboratories  where 
organic  chemical  work  is  being  carried  out,  and  no  manufacturing  plant  or  chem- 
ical laboratory  or  library  is  complete  without  this  well-digested  and  conven- 
iently arranged  Lexikon,  which  is  published  at  such  a  reasonable  price,  being 
M.  1.80  for  each  Lieferung. 
A  System  of  Instruction  in  Qualitative  Chemical  Analysis.  By 
Arthur  H.  Elliott,  Ph.D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Physics,  and 
George  A.  Ferguson,  Ph.B.,  Professor  of  Analytical  Chemistry  and  Director  of 
the  Laboratory  in  the  College  of  Pharmacy  of  the  City  of  New  York.  Third 
Edition,  1899.  Published  by  the  authors  at  115  West  Sixty-eighth  Street,  New 
York.    Price,  $1.50. 
The  first  and  second  editions  of  this  manual  were  reviewed  in  this  JOURNAL 
(February,  1893,  and  March,  1894).    The  authors  state  that  in  this  edition  the 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
February,  1900.  J 
