The authors state in their prefncc that this book is intendctl to combine tlic good points of csltnustivc trcatiscs 011 qmlitntivc annlysis nnd of smnll niniiuals whicli necessarily omit ninny points of intcrcst ; nnd 1111 cxnminiitiou of tlic ~ollitIic slio\.s that t,licy I I ~V C succccdcd very wcll in t.heir purpose. Whilst oinitting soiiic pliy&~-cheiiiicnl theory, t.he authors wisely statc thc funilaincntal 1)riiiciplcs of t,ltc subject. It is questionable, however, whether t,liey hnvc not gone too fnr in scntteriiig equations over t.licir pngcs. Aftcr all, in ti Iiiborntory guidc prncticnl inst,ructions sliould talcc tlic prior place, and it iiiiglit ltnvc I~ccn bcttcr to rclcgatc cqiiatioiis to footnotes.
The inctliotl followed by the iiuthors tnny be illustrntcd by group I. First tlic occiirrciicc and propertics of the nictals arc givcn, tlicii tlic reactions of tlicir salts wittiout reference t o nnnlysis. This is follo\vctl by n syiiopsis of tlic reactions involvcd in the scpiirlttiolt of tltc nictals, : i d :in outlitic of tltc tnctliod of nnnlysis with a t,nblc, wlticli is rcpcatcd in sliglttly differcnt foriii at tlic cnd of tbe book. Tliis is all very thorough and good ; but iigiiin t.lic qucstion nriscs ivlictdicr clicinistry nnconncctctl with nnnlysis sliould not tokc it sccondiiry plncc. Rcgiirtling this clicniistry tlic reviewer lias no crit.icisni to offer ; it is worthy of t.lic Uiii\wsity froin irliicli thc lwok cmnnntcs.
Tlicrc is oiic proccss, Iio\vcvcr, wliich sccitis IIIIII~CCSsnrily tedious ; it is that for itlctitifying cliloridc \vlica niisctl with 1)rotnidc. Tlie stndcnt is directed t o ciirry cnit fractioiiiil pxcipitation wit11 silver nitrntc, ntitl look for the whitc Imciipitntc of tlic niorc solulJlc silver cliloridc iiftcr :ill tltc l~rotnidc lins bccn 1)rccipitiLtctl i i n d rciiioved. Surely this is n tedious business ; is tlierc 110 risk of inissiiig cliloridc riltogctlicr if i t is prcsctit, in only siiiall proportion, iintl is i t ccrtiiiii tltnb cliloritlc cnit d \ w y s bc distiiigoislicd froiii broniidc in nrtificinl liglit 1 IVliy not climiniitc bromide by I)rcfcrcntinl ositliitioti ?
Altogether, lio\vc~er, this little 1~001~ 011 qiiiilitiitivc ;iiialysis accnis to ~J C onc of tlic best.
H. 11, c.