LECTURE DEMONSTRATIONS IN GENERAL CHEMISTRY. Paul Arthur, Assistant Professor of General and Analytical Chemis- try, Oklahoma Agriculturaland Mechanical College. McGraw- Hill Bwk Co., Inc.. New York and London, 1939. xvi + 455 pp. 14 X 21 cm. $400. This hook is an actual laboratory manual for the lecture demon-

strator in general chemistry. Specific and detailed directions for almost a thousand experiments are grouped under one hundred seventy-five headings; an extended system of cross references readilv adaots the material to anv textbook. Often the orocedure , . is preceded by a brief stntcmrnt of I he rhirf principle to ire demon- strated; other rules ur theories which ran he reviewrd or inrro- duced are also mcntionrd along with lahoratory operations and industrial applications.

The value of the hwk is enhanced by a rather complete bihli- ography of articles on lecture demonstrations which have ap- peared in this JOURNAL and in School Science and Mathnnatics. References to a few other journals and books are included.

Experienced teachers of general chemistry should be grateful to Dr. Arthur for this careful compilation and presentation of widely scattered material. For younger teachers the haok is in- valuable. The manual should prove especially worth while for those who have to offer survey courses or courses with greatly curtailed laboratory periods. I t is the hope of the reviewer that this hwk will inspire the publication in this JOURNAL of new and improved demonstrations.

Attention should be called to the companion volume. "Demon- stration Experiments in Physics." edited by Dr. R. M. Sutton and published by the same company, which includes many ex- cellent demonstrations of physico-chemical phenomena.

EDWARD L. HAENIS- VILL*"OV* CO'LBOB

V~LANOVA, PBNNSYLVANI*

A HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY. F. I. Moore, Ph.D., Late Professor of Organic Chemistry in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Revision prepared hy William T. Hall, Asso- ciate Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Third Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York and London, 1939. 14 X 20 cm. xxi + 447 pages. $3.00. The third edition of Moore's hook is a great improvement aver

the earlier editions. I n the second edition certain errors and infelicities of the first were rectified, and the second was interest- ing and sound as far as i t went. In the third Professor Hall has incorporated much new material, with the cesult that nothing of importance on the history of chemistry after the Middle Ages is omi t t edand the attractive textbook is probably the best within its field in the English language. Its account of early chemistrv is correct. hut still too brief. For a camolete course ~~ ~

in the history of chemistry a second text, which treats more fully of early chemis:ry and alchemy, is ncedcd in addirion.

PYROTECENY, A PRACTICAL MANUAL POR MANUPACTURERS OP

FIREWORKS, SIGNALS, FLARES AND PYROTECRNIC DISPLAVS. George W . Weingar;. Chemical Publishing Co.. Inc.. New

. York City. 1939. 182 pp. 85 figs. 4 full-page colored illustrations. 14 X 21 cm. $5.00. This hwk, which describes methods m d recipes for making

numerous types of ikeworks in small and large amounts, un- doubtedly represents an important contribution to the art of o ~ o t e c h n v and can he recommended as a reference book and &de for anvhadv interested in this subiect. I t is sueeested.

~ ~~~ , . -" however, that the hook can he made morc attractive by the usc of berter paper, better illustrations, elimination of archaic tcrms, thorough revision of certain grammatical constructions and more careful proofreading.

LEOPOLDSCEEPLAN PYEBNB M A N ~ I C T Y ~ N D COXPANI

Nmw&a=, Nsw Jsaseu

INTERMEDIATR C H E ~ C A L CALCULATIONS. I. R. Partinglm, M.B.E., D.Sc., Professor of Chemistry, and Kathleen SlraUa, M.Sc., Lecturer in Chemistry, in the University of London, Queen Mary College. First Edition. Macmillan and Co., Ltd., London, 1939. x + 239 pp. 2 figs. 13 X 20 cm. $1.65. The title and preface of the book imply that a course of

chemical calculations is provided, "intermediate in standard between the [English] General School Certificate Examination and the examination far the B.Sc. degree"; it being generally understood that the working of numerical problems is practi- cally indispensable to the clear understanding of chemical prin- ciples.

In order not to duplicate the explanatory material available in many textbooks, such material is here reduced to a minimum. After a hrief statement of a law or principle, examples are worked out, followed by a set of problems, the answers to which are given in the appendix. Mare difficult problems are starred, in order that they may he omitted if the scope of the course makes this advisable.

The twelve chapters include such topics as the gas laws and solubility of gases; vapor density and molecular weights of gases; volumetric composition of gases and gas analysis; equivalent and atomic weights; gravimetric analysis; volumetric analysis; organic analysis; molecular weights in solution; thermochemis- try; law of mass action and chemical equilibrium; electrolysis and electrolytic dissociation; equilibrium in solutions of elec- trolytes. The appendix contains directions for the drawing of a nomogram for the reduction of gas volumes, tables of normal densities and vapor pressures, atomic weights, logarithms, and antilogarithms.

The hook should prove useful as a supplement to classroom instruction, and its numerous problems with answers should he of value to the teacher of classes in introductory courses as well as in later courses of analytical and physical chemistry, whether or not the methods of calculation presented will be approved in all instances by the instructor. In particular, in the chapter on volumetric analysis including oxidation reactions, those who employ methods of calculation based upon the concepts of milli- equivalent weights and valence chadge may consider the pro- cedures here recommended somewhat circuitous. An explana- tion of the balancing of chemical equations by the method of valence change would have been a desirable adjunct to this part of the haok. Taken as a whole. the book is to be recommended ~ ~~~~ ~

as of definite valuc, particularly as an aid to the teacher in the assignment of home problcms and to the student in rl:arifying the principle. expounded to him in lecturer and 'recitotiuns.

INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. Frederick George Mann, Trinity College, Cambildge, and Bernard Charles Snundws, Magdalene College, Cambridge. Longmans, Green and Co., New Pork City. 1939. ix + 191 pp. 36 figs. 13.6 X 21.7 cm. $1.50. This manual is an abridged version of the authors' larger text,

PRACTICAL ORGANIC CABMISTRY, the second edition of which was published late in 1938. After describing methods and manipula- tion in Part I (26 pp.), directions for 42 preparations are given in Part I? (64 pp.). Part 111 (57 pp.) describes some of the re- actions useful in characterizing organic compounds and Part IV (24 pp.) gives afewmacro quantitativemethods. The appendix (10 pp.) gives directions for the preparation of reagents, first aid information, and numerical tables. A good index is provided.

This hrief manual is intended for students who are not pro- ceeding on to more advanced work, and to provide a source of information for certain types of examinations given in Great Rritain.