Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
December,  1920.  ) 
Book  Reviews. 
945 
are  the  atoms  of  the  molecule."  "When  a  chemical  molecule  is 
broken  up,  its  component  energy  is  liberated  along  with  its  atoms  in 
exactly  the  same  amount  as  that  which  was  required  for  its  forma- 
tion." He  claims  originality  in  the  formulation  of  "these  three 
chemical  laws."  The  statement  is  further  made  that  elemental 
atoms  can  eternally  combine,  separate  and  recombine  into  new 
compounds  under  varying  conditions.  Also,  the  physical  laws  of 
force  are  stated  to  have  "the  same  integral  effect  precisely  in  chemical 
combinations  forming  molecules  as  ....  in  mechanics." 
All  of  these  are  more  or  less  well  proven  facts.  The  forms  in 
which  the  author  has  expressed  them,  however,  are  very  much  in- 
volved. One  can  easily  agree  with  Dr.  Weber  that  "These  basic 
natural  laws,  by  their  correlation,  conclusively  prove  that  there  is  a 
creative  power,"  residing  in,  or  evolved  from  the  disintegration 
going  on  in  the  universe.  It  would  seem  that  only  a  simple  elucida- 
tion of  this  correlation  would  be  required  to  give  the  answer  to  the 
problem  under  consideration. 
A  good  part  of  the  thesis  is  given  over  to  an  ingenious,  but 
probably  not  original,  discussion  of  the  form  of  the  atom.  This  is 
based  upon  the  idea  of  geometric  forms.  The  hypothesis  is  ad- 
vanced that  valency  depends  upon  the  number  of  plane  surfaces 
possessed  by  the  atom  having  any  particular  form.  The  atom  of  the 
hypothetical  interspacial  ether  is  considered  as  having  a  spherical 
form.  The  radium  atom  is  pictured  as  a  coiled  spring,  the  uncoiled 
spring  being  the  helium  atom. 
Just  why  the  author  cannot  accept  the  usual  theory  that  gravity 
is  an  attractive  or  pulling  force,  but  must  inject  his  idea  of  it,  as  a 
"pushing  force,"  into  the  discussion  is  not  clear.  Apparently  the 
usual  conceptions  regarding  gravity  would  have  served  all  the 
needs  of  his  argument.  He  gives  no  satisfactory  proof  in  support 
of  his  contention. 
As  one  progresses  in  the  study  of  the  essay,  what  appears  to  be 
lack  of  mental  clarity  and  of  scientific  exactness  on  the  part  of  the 
author  becomes  more  and  more  apparent.  The  following  quotations 
will  illustrate. 
"Here  on  this  axiomatic  basis,  rests  the  fact  that  every  known 
vScience  is  an  integral  component  of  the  sun  of  himian  knowledge, 
comprised  within  the  entire  range  of  the  natural  laws  of  the  universe, 
so  far  as  the  human  mind  has  discovered  them.  It  is  on  this  axio- 
matic basis  that  all  natural  laws  act  in  perfect  harmony,  based  on  the 
