The theory of the

ical description of the occurrence of shale. process of manufacture is then discussed: it is shown that the oil does not exist in the shale as such but is formed by destructive distillation. This gives rise to oily bases and phenols which have to be removed. The refining of shale oil is therefore a much more difficult and delicate process than that of petroleum. The main part of the book is taken up with the practical treatment the operations of distilling, refining, treating, and pressing are minutely described and discussed, the size of the apparatus, the yield, and the costs being given. The by-products and recovered products, ammonia, soda, acid, and waste water, are next detailed.

The last chapter deals with the tests applied in the process, from time to time, and the laboratory method of testing wax, oil, and ammonia. The work closes with an appendix giving an abstract of all the patents which have been obtained in connection with this industry.

A. H. GILL.

A SHORT HANDBOOK OF OIL ANALYSIS. BY AUGUSTUS H. GILL, S.B., PH.D. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co. 1898. Cloth. 139 pp. Price, $1.50.

This little volume is evidently written with the idea of furnishing students with brief outlines of the best methods of oil analysis known at the present time, and also short descriptions of the oils in common use, their properties and the sources from which they are derived.

As an introduction to the study of oils, and for practical use in the laboratory, it will be found an admirable text-book, while the copious reference notes will enable the student to readily follow the subject further, if he so desires.

Part I is devoted to the physical and chemical tests used to identify the various oils, determine their purity, and ascertain their fitness for a given purpose. Petroleum products are first discussed, one chapter being devoted to burning oils and the tests commonly applied to them, and another to lubricating oils. Then follows a chapter on animal and vegetable oils, and the tests used to identify them, determine their purity, and detect adulterants.

The author has rightly emphasized the desirability of having

samples of undoubted purity with which to compare the oil under process of identification, as even the so-called "constants" are so variable in the case of oils, that one may be easily misled, especially where only a small amount of an adulterant is present. On the general subject of lubrication the author is a little too brief to leave a clear impression in the mind of the student.

The rank which is given mineral oils as having greater adhesion and less cohesion than animal and vegetable oils is open to question, for while this may be true at ordinary temperatures, it will not be found the case when the parts requiring lubrication become warm from any cause, and the lubricant is most needed. At high temperatures nothing but the most viscous fat oil we can obtain will adhere to the heated surfaces, and it is for this reason that a percentage of an animal or vegetable oil is added to cylinder oils-in order to give the adhesiveness which is wanting in petroleum products at cylinder temperatures. This emphasizes the desirability of determining the viscosity of an oil at the temperature at which it is to be used.

Part II contains brief descriptions of the various oils in common use, giving their source, preparation, constants, adulterants, and uses, in a concise and comprehensive manner.

The appendix contains much valuable information in tabulated form. O. S. DOOLITTLE. AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE IN QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS. BY PERCY W. EVANS, PH.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, Purdue University. Boston: Ginn & Co. 1897. iv + 83 pp. Price, 55 cents. The little book of Prof. Evans offers within a scope of eighty pages a very instructive course in quantitative analysis, including gravimetric and volumetric methods, together with a discussion of the various manipulations with which every student of this branch should become familiar as a preliminary. The exercises are well chosen and the explanations clear and comprehensive. As a handbook it might well find use in many college. laboratories. F. C. PHILLIPS.

EXERCISES IN PRACTICAL PHYSIOLOGY. PART III. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGY. By Augustus D. Waller, M.D., F.R.S. London, New York, and Bombay: Longmans, Green & Co. 91 pp. Price, 90 cents.

As the title indicates, this is a practical or laboratory hand

book and is intended to accompany the third edition of the author's well-known "Introduction to Human Physiology." In ninety-one pages of matter the student, who is supposed to have had a year's training in general physiology, is given careful directions for performing a large number of important experiments relating to the physiology of the nervous system. The book makes no pretense to being anything more than a laboratory guide, and from this standpoint the selection of exercises it presents must be considered excellent and well chosen. Most of the experiments are adapted to the needs and understanding of that growing class of students in our medical schools which demands thorough training in physiology and chemistry as preliminary to a proper appreciation of clinical demonstrations, and to such students the book can be recommended.

J. H. LONG. THE CHLORINATION PROCESS. BY E. B. WILSON, E.M. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1897. 12 mo. cloth. v+125 pp. Price, $1.50. This book was evidently written to meet the present demand for information regarding gold. It is mild to say that the work was poorly done. It is mainly an undigested mass of citations tied up with confused and misleading statements which injure the utility of even the best quotations.

The author's statements are often inexact and frequently contrary to fact. For instance, he uses I chlorine" as synonymous with chloride" and "chlorination" with "chloridizing roasting." Also, page 23, he makes this astounding statement: Copper sulphides can be readily freed from their sulphur by slow roasting at a moderate heat, with or without salt." And, page 87, he gives the reaction on bringing hydrogen sulphide gas into acid auric chloride solution as "2AuCl,+H,S+ 2H,O =2Au+6HC1+ SO,."

One looks in vain for any critical discussion of the chlorination process and its particular field of application, or for any tests to determine whether a given ore would be suitable for this process. In fact, Dr. Godshall's article in the Engineering and Mining Journal, Jan. 6 and 13, 1894, is a far better guide in investigating the chlorination process than Wilson's book. FREDERIC P. DEWEY.

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY FOR THE LABORATORY. BY W. A. NOYES, PH.D. Illustrated. xii +257 pp. Easton, Pa.: The Chemical Publishing Co. Price, $1.50.

Several excellent works on the preparation of organic compounds have recently appeared and it can no longer be said that the absence of comprehensive guides of this kind is a cause for complaint. Some of these have been kindly received by the critics and now this latest addition seems to be wholly worthy of equal praise. After an examination of this volume one feels that it may without apology be placed beside the best of similar efforts, although it is not intended to occupy precisely the same field as other laboratory guides.

Professor Noyes has done this work in a systematic form and evidently with great care; he has made it comprehensive enough to include the best methods of preparing the principal classes of carbon compounds, not confining himself to single examples in any class. The result is a reference book which can be used by the student but which also presents much more than the average student will attempt to accomplish. It does not outline a course of study nor are the various preparations presented in the order which a student would be likely to follow. The work is essentially for reference, adapted to the needs of advanced workers and instructors, although no part is beyond the capacity of the ordinary student who may wish to select certain of its contents for his own use.

There are twelve chapters, dealing in the order named, with acids; acid derivatives; halogen compounds; nitro compounds; amines; hydrazo, azo, and diazo compounds; alcohols and phenols; aldehydes and ketones with their derivatives; sulphonic acids; hydrocarbons; miscellaneous compounds; and qualitative reactions and reagents.

The method of treatment of these subjects follows a uniform order. Each chapter opens with a general discussion of the principal methods relating to the group of compounds under consideration, and then follows the discussion, in detail, of typical compounds within the group. Under acids, nineteen distinct examples are fully discussed and other groups are treated with appropriate fulness. Each preparation is described systematically, beginning with a statement as to the general character of

the method, and the specific character of the preparation to be undertaken. Then comes a summary of the literature bearing upon the subject; an exact statement of the kind and amounts of the materials required; and finally a careful description of the operation to be performed. Graphic formulas are freely employed, and the author frequently takes occasion to point out some historical significance or some general application of the particular experiment under discussion. Cross references are numerous and the book is well indexed. In all, ninety-six separate preparations are fully described.

The mechanical work of the book has been well done, although the illustrations can hardly be called elegant. This criticism applies so frequently to scientific literature that it suggests the possibility of the employment of conventional designs for the representation of common forms of apparatus like flasks, burners, coolers, receivers, supports, washing and drying vessels, etc., which would admit of common use, would be inexpensive and would serve for illustration in a simple and understandable way. The book is not wholly free from typographical errors and an occasional "chemical idiom," but these detract in no way from the highly creditable character of the work, which will without doubt be well received and successfully realize the author's purpose. W. E. STONE.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Laboratory Experiments on the Class Reactions and Identification of Organic Substances. By Arthur A. Noyes, Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Samuel P. Mulliken, Instructor in Organic Chemistry in Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Second, Thoroughly Revised Edition. Easton, Pa.: The Chemical Publishing Co. 28 pp. Price, 50 cents.

The Freezing-point, Boiling-point, and Conductivity Methods. By Harry C. Jones, Instructor in Physical Chemistry in Johns Hopkins University. Easton, Pa.: The Chemical Publishing Co. vii + 64 PP. Price, 75 cents.

Twenty-first Annual Report of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station for 1897. Part II. Fertilizers. 93 pp. Part III. Mildew of lima beans; Prevention of leaf-blight and leaf-spot of celery; Cause and prevention of a fungus disease of the apple; Investigations on a disease of carnations; Literature of fungus disease. 64 pp. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Conn.