Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
-     October,  1895.  / 
Reviews. 
543 
urine,  which  are  based  on  the  reducing  action  of  glucose,  are  more  or  less 
vitiated  by  the  presence  of  other  reducing  bodies,  a  special  reagent  for  glucose 
has  an  exceptional  value.    This  reagent  exists  in  phenyl-hydrazine." 
In  reference  to  albumin,  the  author  states:  "Normal  urine  is  almost,  if  not 
entirely,  free  from  any  trace  of  albumin  or  other  of  the  allied  substances  classed 
together  under  the  generic  name  of  'proteids.'  But  under  particular  condi- 
tions of  fatigue  or  disease,  albumin  may  appear  in  the  urine." 
The  total  nitrogen  is  estimated  by  a  process  worked  out  in  the  author's  own 
laboratory,  and  the  amount  of  urea  is  determined  by  a  modification  of  Squibb's 
process. 
Creatinine  is  very  fully  considered,  and  the  fact  is  pointed  out  that  its  be- 
haviour with  picric  acid  gravely  affects  the  value  of  that  reagent  as  a  test  for 
small  quantities  of  sugar  in^ urine. 
It  also  reduces  Fehling's  solution  on  boiling,  the  blue  liquid  changing  to  yel- 
low, but  no  cuprous  oxide  separates.  In  view  of  these  statements,  it  is  all  the 
more  remarkable  that  most  works  on  the  analysis  of  urine  say  nothing  about 
preparing  a  urine  by  removing  this  and  other  bodies,  before  applying  the  ordi- 
nary tests  for  glucose. 
The  illustrations  of  the  book  are  well  executed  and  useful.  The  appendix 
contains  a  number  of  valuable  tables.  On  the  whole  we  are  prepared  to  say 
that  this  is  the  best  book  on  this  subject  that  has  ever  been  written,  and  all 
those  physicians  and  pharmacists  who  have  occasion  to  analyze  urine  should 
give  it  the  closest  study. 
Theoretical  Chemistry.  From  the  standpoint  of  Avogadro's  ru'e  and 
thermodynamics.  By  Prof.  Walter  Nernst,  Ph.D.,  of  the  University  of  Got- 
tingen.  Translated  by  Prof.  Charles  Skeele  Palmer,  Ph.D.,  of  the  University 
of  Colorado,  with  twenty-six  woodcuts  and  two  appendices.  Macmillan  & 
Co.,  London  and  New  York,  1895.    697  pages.    Price,  $5.00. 
When  the  German  edition  appeared,  about  two  years  ago,  it  was  at  once  rec- 
ognized as  filling  a  demand  created  by  the  recent  developments  of  physical 
chemistry.  It  might  be  argued  that  the  two  excellent  treatises  of  Ostwald 
cover  the  whole  field,  which  they  do,  but  the  comprehensive  "Manual  of 
Chemistry  "  is  too  exhaustive  for  the  average  student  and  can  only  be  grasped 
completely  by  the  specialist  in  physical  chemistry,  and  the  "  Outlines  "  is  too 
brief  for  those  who  desire  to  extend  their  knowledge  beyond  the  mere  elements 
of  the  subject.  Prof.  Nernst,  with  his  timely  volume,  has  happily  supplied 
the  existing  deficiency. 
A  brief  enumeration  of  the  subjects  treated  will  give  the  reader  a  fair  idea  of 
its  contents.  The  introduction  treats  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  modern 
investigations.  Book  I  considers  the  universal  properties  of  matter,  such  as 
the  gaseous,  liquid  and  solid  states  of  aggregation  ;  physical  mixtures  and 
dilute  solutions.  Book  II  treats  of  the  atomic  theory,  determination  of  mole- 
cular weights,  kinetic  theory  of  the  molecule,  constitution  and  absolute  size 
of  the  molecules,  colloidal  solutions,  and  physical  properties  of  salt  solutions. 
In  Book  III,  the  transformation  of  matter  is  discussed.  This  includes  the  law 
of  mass  reaction,  chemical  statics  of  homogeneous  and  heterogenous  systems, 
chemical  kinetics  and  chemical  equilibrium  in  salt  solutions.  Book  IV,  the 
transformation  of  energy  or  thermo-chemistry,  electro-chemistry  and  photo- 
