NOTICES OF BOOKS. Organic Compounds of Mercury, by FRANK C. WHITMORE, PH.D. Pp. 397. New York: Chemical Catalog Co., Inc., 1921. Price $4.50.

The American Chemical Society has arranged to publish a series of scientific and technological monographs on chemical subjects, and as one, Prof. Whitmore has written an able account of the extensive work done upon the organic mercury compounds, which, he states, is probably greater than that done upon the arsenicals, although it has hitherto received less publicity.

The author only briefly mentions the organic compounds containing the groups -O-Hg and S-Hg, and has largely confined his attention to true organic mercurials in which the metal is directly attached to carbon. Nevertheless, a great variety of bodies are described with discrimination. Matter of minor importance receives mention in the bibliography, and although experimental details are omitted, enough is included to indicate the methods and to serve as a guide for preparations or for repetition of any particular work on the subject. The apparent ease and variety of methods for preparing these substances is very impressive and should stimulate further researches.

Some Organic mercury compounds have been used for the preparation of organic derivatives of phosphorus and arsenic. Others have found a limited application in medicine.

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The word mercuration has been coined to indicate the introduction of the metal into an organic substance (cf. bromination, etc.).

There are several appendices, one of which is devoted to the analysis of these bodies and incorporates the author's valuable experiences in this direction.

The

method of his choice for the estimation of mercury, viz., amalgamation of the volatilised metal with an inverted gold crucible, can scarcely be adopted universally.

This well thought out book constitutes a valuable addition to the scanty literature of organo-metallic chemistry. J. G. F. D.

Industrial Hydrogen, by HUGH S. TAYLOR, D.Sc. New Pp. 210. York: Chemical Catalog Co., Inc., 1921. Price $3.50.

This technological monograph, also issued by the American Chemical Society,

outlines the fundamental principles of the industrial production of hydrogen.

In the preface it is pointed out that modern chemical industry demands the intelligent co-operation of the chemist and engineer.

Attempts at elimination of the one or the other in the development of a new process, such as the large scale production of hydrogen, would be disastrous. But in treating this subject, neither chemist nor engineer can advantageously intrude upon the domain of the other. Prof. Taylor has therefore emphasised with care and lucidity the essential chemical details of hydrogen manufacture.

All the practical methods for its preparation are adequately described. They in. clude the various ways for decomposing steam with iron; water by electrolysis, and by employing alkali metals, alloys and hydrides; aqueous alkalis with ferro-silicon, and aluminium. Methods for the production of hydrogen from water-gas by liquefaction, etc., and from hydrocarbons by thermal decomposition, and others of less importance are also described.

The chemical aspects of these processes are clearly and fully stated. This is particularly noticeable in the case of the methods using steam and iron. The special utility of some processes which are restricted to local or transport convenience or emergency needs is indicated by such a case as the hydrolith process, whereby it is possible to make 1,000 cu. ft. of the gas from about 65 lbs. of calcium hydride (with water).

Hydrogen for filling dirigibles and balloons is now extensively made by the interaction of ferro-silicon and aqueous alkalis, and this process may be developed considerably in the future.

The monograph deals with the manufacture of hydrogen in a general and comprehensive way, and will therefore be widely read and consulted by industrialists.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Roger Bacon, The Father of ExperimenH. tal Science and Medieval Occultism. STANLEY REDGROVE. First Edition, 1920. Messrs. William Rider & Son, Ltd., 8, Paternoster Row, E.C.4. Price 1s. 6d. net. Pp. 63.

am

German and American synthetic monia plants. (Design and operation of apparatus used for synthesis of ammonia: description of different processes for removing the ammonia; comparison of costs of construction and production in America and Germany.) R. S. Tour.-Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, New York, Vol. 26, March 1, 1922, pp. 411-15; March 8, 1922, pp. 463-5. 25c.

Contributions to the study of ammonia catalysts: a series of articles from the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory. (Description of apparatus for the small-scale testing of ammonia catalysts at atmospheric pressure.) A. T. Larson, W. L. Newton, and W. Hawkins.-Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, New York, Vol 26, March, 15, 1922, pp. 493-7. 25c(From Bulletin No. 212 of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy).

Specifications Published This Week. 158882-Rosthorn, O. von.-Process for the manufacture of copper-alloys.

181058-Deutsche Gold and Silber-Scheide-Anstalt vorm. Roessler, and Liebnecht. Dr. 0.Manufacture of prussic acid.

181062-Cumberland Coal and Chemicals, Ltd.. West, J. H., and Jaques, A.-Methods and apparatus for the production of hydrogen. 181198-Courtaulds, Ltd., and Lloyd, L. A.-Manufacture and production of compounds mixtures of starch and sulphuric acid.

ΟΥ

181247-Napp, H. R.-Process for the manufacture of cc.-isopropylallyl barbituric acid.

Abstract Published This Week.

Dyeing cellulose acetate.-Patent No. 179384.A process of dyeing Acid, basic, mordant, substantive, vat, and sulphuretted dyes, has been devised by Burgess, Ledward & Co., Ltd., Wardly Mills, Walkden, and Harrison, W., Beechwood, Walkden Road, Worsley, both in Lancashire. The material is dyed with colloidal dye solutions prepared by adding to a solution of dye or lencocompound a protective colloid (gelatine, casein. saponin, starch, &c.) and a precipitant (except metallic chlorides); preferably the precipitants are bodies which are themselves absorbed by the cellulose acetate. Suitable precipitates are:-For basic dyes, a weak alkali such as ammonia, a salt of an acid metallic oxide such as molybdates, tungstates, or stannates, or an organic compound of acid character such as tannic acid or salts of phenols, napthols, aromatic acids, hydroxacids. sulphonic acids, &c.; for acid or direct cotton dyes, a salt of an organic base such as aniline, benzidine, dianisidine, phenylenediamines. napthylamines, &c. Sulphur dyes are dissolved in sodium sulphide. hydro-sulphite. &c., and v dyes in sodium hydro-sulphite, the same precipifants being used as in the case of direct dyes. Examples are given of dyeing triacetate silk in baths containing: Methylene blue, glue, and sodium stannate; magenta, saponin, and tannic acid; tsional navy blue R. sodium sulphide, glue, dianisidine, and acetic acid; ciba blue 2B or indigo, caustic soda, sodium hydrosulphite, glue, condianisidine, and acetic acid. Mixed goods taining cotton may be dyed with sulphur or vat dves as described above, the cotton threads being subsequently dved with direct dyes. The Provisional Specification describes also the use of salts of aluminium, barium, magnesium, &c., as precipitants for direct or acid dyes, and of oxidizing agents such as air, or metal salts as precipitants for vat or sulphur dyes: it also refers to the use of alizarin dyes using metallic salts or mordants or organic bodies as precipitants.

Messrs. Rayner & Co. will obtain printed copies of the published specifications, and forward on post free for the official price of 1s. each.

THE CHEMICAL NEWS,

CHEMICALS REVIVE.

FREE TRAINING FOR OUR SILENT DEFENCE CORPS.

An all-round revival of the chemical trade is expected in the immediate future by Mr. Max Muspratt, of the United Alkali Company, Liverpool, who has just succeeded Sir John Brunner as chairman of the Association of British Chemical Manufacturers.

He points out in an interview that the heavy chemical industry "undoubtedly turned the corner at the beginning of the year, and the alkali portion of it, at any rate, has enjoyed real prosperity, shipping to all parts of the world. The acid side of the industry is slowly recovering from the most difficult period in its existence.

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At every turn the signs are promising. With much better reports from the textile industry, I expect that the dye ind will shortly get a real chance to show what it can do, and I am not afraid of its power of making good.

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one

There is no branch of the chemical industry in which more excellent work has been done than Fine Chemicals, and one of the greatest triumphs of the Association of British Chemical Manufacturers has been the manner in which the fine chemical makers have co-operated both with another and with other branches of the chemical industry. kind of support from the public at large They deserve every because they are conducting at their works schools of practical chemistry which are of vital importance to the nation both peace and war.

in

Sir Alfred Mond; Mr. Shortt, the Home Secretary; and Mr. Stanley Baldwin, President of the Board of Trade, guests at the annual dinner of the Associawere all tion, which was held in private at the Holborn Restaurant, London.

INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Journal and Proceedings, June, 1922. LIVERPOOL AND NORTH-WESTERN COUNTIES. At the 35th meeting of the Section, held at the Bear's Paw Restaurant on 6th April,

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33

a paper was read by the Hon. W. Hulme Lever on The Value in Business of Scientific Training," Mr. H. J. Evans in the chair.

of

Mr. Lever said that some measure scientific training was useful to the business man-not so much on account of the actual facts learned, as that it taught him to think scientifically.

Modern business was necessarily a large field employing a great many varieties of people. In modern commerce the chemist was employed as a chemist, the engineer as an engineer, the mineralogist as રી mineralogist, and so on, but very often the ideal and most successful business combinations had been between a purely commercial man and a purely scientific man.

On the ideal board of directors there should be one scientific or technical brain, one legal brain, and one accountancy brain, with the addition of purely commercial brains.

Where did this vague, indescribable "something" called the commercial man come from? He had passed no special examinations to qualify him for his post. Frequently his sole graduation had been in the school of hard knocks, in the university of everyday life. Although it was becoming increasingly common to receive a University training, there would always be many in business who had not received this training; but, provided some form of training could be given, the question arose as to what form was the best. Undoubtedly any study followed systematically was good for the brain, but there was no training better than a scientific one. In his own case he

had decided to take the Natural Science Tripos at Cambridge, and had never regretted his choice. No doubt he thought that to learn something of chemistry would be of direct use in the soap-making industry. It was not, however, for this reason that he found the training to be of use. Enough chemistry to enable a man to understand the principles of soap-making, in so far as they were required to be known by the commercial side of the business, could be learnt in a very short time. was of value because it induced a scientific The training mode of thinking.

The aim of study should not be the storing of facts ad nauseam, but the understanding of principles according to which these facts might be applied. In studying chemistry the aim was not to learn off by heart the list of atomic weights or to mem