5i6 
Book  Reviews. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1920. 
and  will  be  of  especial  value  to  those  chemists  engaged  in  teaching 
general  chemistry,  as  it  gives  methods  of  performing  a  large  number 
of  interesting  and  instructive  experiments.  H.  L. 
Treatise  on  General  and  Industrial  Inorganic  Chemistry. 
By  Dr.  Ettore  Molinari.  Second  edition,  translated  from  the 
fourth  revised  and  amplified  Italian  edition,  by  Thomas  H.  Pope, 
B.Sc,  F.I.C.,  A.C.G.I.  8vo.,  xix-858  pages  and  index,  328 
illustrations  and  two  phototype  plates.  Philadelphia,  P.  Blakis- 
ton's  Son  &  Co.    $12.00  net. 
This  handsome,  well  printed  and  well  bound  volume  contains  an 
immense  amount  of  information  on  a  wide  range  of  subjects.  It 
differs  from  most  books  within  the  field,  by  having  a  considerable 
space  devoted  to  the  history  of  chemistry  and  to  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  the  science  as  now  taught.  In  fact,  some  statements  are 
made  in  regard  to  early  civilizations,  going  back  to  the  ancient 
Egyptian  and  Babylonian  periods.  It  is  doubtful  if  so  extensive 
a  treatment  of  the  history  is  a  profitable  use  of  time  and  space  in  a 
book  of  this  character.  So  much  of  our  knowledge  of  the  earlier 
civilizations  rests  upon  scanty  data  that  it  is  unwise  to  express 
positive  opinions  about  them.  An  examination  of  Dr.  Molinari 's 
statements  shows  that  claims  are  made  for  discoveries  that  are 
hardly  so  well  established  as  to  form  basis  for  argument  as  to  the 
development  of  science  in  those  days.  The  interpretation  of  the 
Confucian  philosophy  in  terms  of  modern  ethics  is  rather  rash. 
One  hundred  and  thirteen  pages  are  devoted  to  an  exposition  of 
the  principles  of  modern  chemistry,  especially  the  physico-chemical 
features  which  bulk  so  largely  now  in  all  text-books  and  teachings 
of  the  science.  While  even  in  this  field  the  critic  may  doubt  the 
wisdom  of  the  introduction  of  such  matter,  it  can  be  said  that  it  is 
well  done  and  the  perusal  of  these  pages  will  be  of  much  use  to  the 
beginner  in  chemistry. 
Turning  to  the  main  feature  of  the  book,  the  description  of  indus- 
trial processes  in  the  inorganic  field  we  find  a  very  large  amount  of 
interesting  and  valuable  data.  The  classification  is  by  elements 
beginning  with  hydrogen  and  following  with  groups  mainly  in  the 
now  fashionable  order  of  the  periodic  system,  but  broken  here  and 
there  on  account  of  special  relationships.  Thus,  the  so-called 
"noble"  gases  are  taken  up  in  connection  with  nitrogen  on  account 
of  their  regular  existence  in  the  atmosphere.    In  this  connection  it 
