[Book Reviews]

Abstract

THE number of elementary books for students of chemistry has increased so greatly during the last ten years, that each new introduction gives rise to a question as to whether the author has justified his position in adding another But, however far the supply exceeds the demand, there is always room for what is thoroughly good, especially if it has improvements that its predecessors lack. Though every author is apt to think his pet methods are the very best, and more or less inclined to regard his fads as steps towards perfection, if not indeed its full realization, there are a few who take a sounder view of things, and care nothing for novelty for its own sake. The author of the volume before us has shown that he is one of the few. This book is of sterling value, and will be welcomed by the teacher of elementary chemistry as a guide for his students that he will have pleasure and full confidence in placing in their hands. The volume is well got up, printed in clear type, and illustrated with a sufficient number of excellent diagrams, many from original drawings made by the author. Its 272 pages are not crowded with information or anything else, but the facts included are clearly described in a readable and concise manner. In scope, the book includes the principal non-metallic elements and their chief compounds, followed by the more important metals and their salts. The selection is good and not novel. The periodic law is briefly referred to, and the last eighteen pages are occupied with the chemical physics that it is usually considered well for elementary students to master, such as the relation between specific heat and atomic weight, critical temperature, diffusion of gases, effects of temperature and pressure upon gases, and so on.

A Class-book of Elementary Chemistry.

By W. W. Fisher (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888.)