Am.  Tour.  Pharm. 
Sept.  1919. 
Book  Reviews. 
635 
and  ceilings  is  at  once  apparent.  The  sodium  compound  of  algin  is 
soluble  in  water,  a  five  per  cent,  solution  thereof  being  so  viscous 
that  it  can  hardly  be  poured  from  a  vessel.  The  compounds  of  the 
heavy  metals  with  algin  are  insoluble  in  water,  some  of  them  being 
soluble  in  ammonia,  which  solvent  is  used  in  their  application  as  a 
waterproofing  material  in  textiles. 
BOOK  REVIEWS. 
Opportunities  in  Chemistry.    By  Ellwood  Hendrick.    102  pages. 
75  cents.   Harper  and  Brothers,  Xew  York. 
This  is  said  to  be  "  a  book  answering  the  first  question  of  a  man 
who  thinks  he  wants  to  be  a  chemist.  It  tells  him  in  simple  straight- 
forward language  what  possibilities  chemistry  offers  and  how  to 
make  a  success  of  it." 
The  Introduction  tells  us  that  all  of  the  good  chemists  known  by 
the  author  have  been  full  of  curiosity,  that  the  chemist  must  be 
imaginative,  and,  in  order  to  have  joy  in  chemistry,  must  be  able  to 
have  "a  good  time  by  himself,  just  wondering,  and  thinking  about 
things,  and  guessing  out  as  best  he  can,  how  they  happen."  '  The 
author  disavows  any  desire  to  advise  men  to  take  up  chemistry  as  a 
means  of  support,  but  he  strives  to  show  men  engaged  in  many 
varied  lines  of  business  how  a  knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of  the 
things  they  handle  may  be  a  big  asset  to  them. 
He  says  "  a  knowledge  of  chemistry  is  something  like  a  good 
wife.  It  will  help  a  man  along  in  his  work,  but  he  must  not  count 
on  it  to  support  him.  We  have  not  yet  arrived  at  the  time  when 
chemistry  is  made  as  welcome  as  it  should  be.  It  is  a  good  servant 
but  a  poor  master,  except  to  the  man  who  is  himself  a  master." 
The  book,  which  may  be  easily  read  in  a  couple  of  hours,  con- 
tains many  practical  and  interesting  suggestions,  both  for  the  man 
whose  knowledge  of  chemistry  is  nil  and  the  one  who  is  more  or  less 
familiar  with  the  subject,  and  is  written  in  a  pleasing  style. 
It  is  a  pity  that  preparation  of  copy  and  proofreading  were  not 
more  carefully  done,  so  that  a  number  of  errors — not  very  serious, 
it  is  true,  but  errors  nevertheless — might  have  escaped  appearing 
within  the  covers  of  the  volume.    Several  of  them  are  here  noted. 
On  page  9,  "sulphite  (instead  of  sulphide)  of  Cadmium"  is  said 
