Northwest Chemistry Teachers Association: On July 15th about thirty teachers of chemistry in the Northwest representing the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, met at the University of Washington and took initial steps towards organization. The feeling is very general that such an organization would be of great benefit and during the year, efforts will be made to get in contact with all the teachers of chemistry in these states. Mr. Clarence Wassberg of Queen Anne High School, Seattle, Washington, was elected temporary president and Mr. Philippi, head of the department of chemistry of Bellingham Normal School, was elected temporary secretary. A committee was appointed to draw up constitution and by-laws.

It was suggested at the meeting that dues of about $2.50 be charged each member. Out of this amount, 50c should be kept for the organization for running expenses and the $2.00 go towards the subscription to the Journal of Chemical Education.

The meeting was preceded by a dinner and the program afterwards was as follows: "The Aims of the Average High School Teacher in Chemistry," by Mr. H. F. Cope of the Medford, Oregon High School; "The Preparation of High School Teachers of Chemistry," by Mr. O. A. Baarson of Burley, Idaho High School; "Coördination of High School and College Chemistry," by Mr. C. S. Van Vleet, Vancouver, Washington, High School; "Application of Psychology to Chemistry," by Mr. Philippi of Bellingham Normal School, Washington; "The Prize Essay Contest as an Aid to High School Teachers," by Dr. W. Semon, University of Washington; "Coöperation of the Department of Chemistry with the High School Teachers," by Dr. H. K. Benson, head of the Department of Chemistry, University of Washington.

News from Wisconsin. In memory of their son, Carl G. Kremers, Professor and Mrs. Edward Kremers have given the sum of $1000 to the University. Professor Kremers is Director of the Pharmacy Course and of the Wisconsin Pharmaceutical Experiment Station. The money will be added to other funds, the income of which is to be used by the Station for carrying on studies in Chemotherapy.

The honorary degree of Doctor of Science has been conferred upon Dr. O. P. Watts, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering by his Alma Mater, Bowdoin College. The degree was conferred in recognition of his investigations in the field of Electrochemistry.

Drs. Homer B. Adkins and Farrington Daniels

have been advanced from assistant to associate professorships.

Dr. Glenn S. Skinner has resigned his position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry. He has not announced his plans for the future.

Dr. Joel B. Peterson and Stanley L. Chisholm have given up their instructorships in Chemistry to enter the commercial field. Dr. Peterson has joined the laboratory staff of the American Medical Association at Chicago.

Nineteen Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Chemistry were conferred at the 71st annual Commencement of the University of Wisconsin. Thirty-one graduate students in chemistry received the degree of Master of Science. Four of this number were women.

Noted New Professors at Hopkins: Dr. F. O. Rice has been appointed in the field of physical organic chemistry. Dr. Rice received the B.Sc. from the University of Liverpool in 1907, the M.Sc. in 1912 and D.Sc. in 1916 from the same university. In 1914 he was awarded the 1851 Exhibition travelling fellowship to continue work at the University of Berlin. He has been spending most of his time during the vacation abroad on research work in the laboratory of Professor Bodenstein.

The second appointment is that of Dr. F. Russell Bichowsky in thermodynamics. Dr. Bichowsky received his A.B. from Pomona College in 1912 and M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California in 1914 and 1916, respectively. From 1916-19 he was assistant chemist at the Geophysical Laboratory, Washington. From 1919-1923 he was National Research Fellow and Research Associate at the University of California. At the present time he is assistant editor in charge of the thermochemical data for the International Critical Tables. This work will either be completed before fall or after his arrival in Baltimore. Dr. Bichowsky also has to his credit a number of articles on his researches and has given most of his time to the subject of thermodynamics and its applications to chemistry.

A third appointment, in the field of photochemistry, is yet to be made. The chemical department is giving careful consideration to the appointment of the man for this important place and is not yet prepared to make any an

nouncement.

It is expected that all of these men will give short courses of lectures to the graduate students in their respective fields but will give most of their time and effort to their own researches and to the guidance of graduate students in problems

Head of the Department of Agriculture Chem. istry.

Honors: Miss Mildred Grafflin who received her M.S. degree in chemistry at the University of Maryland last June, won the Van Meter $1000 fellowship which entitles her to carry on her graduate work at Yale University during 1924-25. The fellowship is given by Goucher College where Miss Grafflin took her undergraduate work.

Dr. M. Kharasch who has been in Chicago during the summer doing work in connection with the International Critical Tables expects to return to the University of Maryland on Sept. 15 when he will resume his duties as Head of the Division of Organic Chemistry.

Eminent American Chemists, by D. H. KILLEFFER, Associate Editor, Industrial & Engi

neering Chemistry. Published by D. H. Killeffer, 19 East 24th Street, New York City, 1924. 33 Portraits. Price $6.00.

It seems to the reviewer that Mr. Killeffer has started a present day need among Chemistry teachers. The history of the Americans who have helped to make our chemical science is a recognized phase of Chemical Education.

The thirty-three portraits selected for inclusion in this book are portrayed in a most modern manner 41/2 by 6 inches in size with sufficient margin for framing (on 8 x 10 inch sheets). Each portrait is on a separate sheet. The alternate sheets contain brief sketches of the works of each man. The whole is bound in such a manner as to give an attractive form for the library, and at the same time in a manner which permits the removal of any or all of the portraits. I understand from the author that only the complete portfolios are available, that a separate selection of prints cannot be made.

The following is a list of those whose portraits are included: Baekeland, L. H. Baltwood, B. B. Bancroft, W. D. Booth, J. C. Chandler, C. F. Chittenden, R. H. Clarke, F. W. Cottrell, F. G. Cooke, Josiah P. Franklin, E. C. Gibbs, J. Willard Gibbs, Wolcott

Gomberg, Moses Hare, Robert Hillebrand, W. F. Hunt, T. Sterry Langmuir, Irving Lewis, G. N. Mallett, J. W. Morley, E. W. Noyes, A. A. Noyes, W. A. Priestley, Joseph Remsen, Ira

It is interesting to note the sources from which some of the portraits have been copied. That of Priestley is a reproduction of the Stuart portrait which now hangs in the National Museum in Washington, the gift of the American Chemical Society to the Museum. Those of J. Lawrence Smith and T. Sterry Hunt have been enlarged from the group of American chemists who gathered at the grave of Priestley at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, on the centenary of the discovery of oxygen in 1876. The portraits of Booth, Hare, Rumford and Silliman are reproductions of contemporary prints. All the others are reproduced from photographs.

Chemistry teachers may be at first disappointed to find certain men omitted whom they feel should be numbered with the great, but the author acknowledges the seriousness of this selective problem, and believes that he has made only a start in the right direction.

NEIL E. GORDON.

College Chemistry Companion, by JAMES KenDALL. The Century Co., New York, 1924. xiii+233 pages. 13 X 20 cm.

This is something new in the way of texts for the beginner in Chemistry. In fact it is not a text at all, but rather a series of informal explanations of the more formal text, such as would be obtained, ordinarily, only through personal consultation-a sort of teacher ever at the student's command. Its sole purpose is to teach

the student how to study what he is apt to consider a difficult subject. Although "For use in conjunction with the revised editions of Smith's 'College Chemistry' and 'A Laboratory Outline of College Chemistry,' it could quite as well be used with almost any of the standard texts."

Professor Kendall has accomplished his purpose by picking out the high spots in each chapter of the text mentioned, analyzing and explaining them in a fashion impossible to the formal text and nearly so to the average lecture. Bad misapplications of certain chemical truths are carefully pointed out so that the neophyte may not be lead astray by his enthusiasm. A science capable of being expressed in mathematical terms can be properly taught only through the extensive use of problems. This book abounds in such problems. There is a large number of well selected types at the end of each chapter, and the student is repeatedly urged to try as many as possible. A careful reading of the chapter will have given him all the assistance necessary. It must be emphasized, however, that this is not fundamentally a "problem" book.

To anyone reading Prof. Kendall's book for the first time, the rather radical departure from the dignified language of the average text is startling. The author justifies this by saying, "The human touch is almost indispensable in undergraduate chemistry, and the teacher who scorns to stoop cannot complain if he fails to conquer." With this we agree heartily. However, it seems, in a few instances, as if the author had allowed his sense of humor to carry him beyond the necessity of making the subject human.

Introductory Chapter II is most excellent. It is entitled "Hints on Lecture and Laboratory Work." We are convinced that far more students become discouraged from simply not knowing how to study than for any other

College for Women, State University of New Jersey. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1924.

To quote from the preface, "The purpose of this book is mainly to provide a textbook for college students who have taken a course in general chemistry and who are further interested in the applications of chemistry and the manner in which it functions in modern life." The purpose of the work is admirable; it attempts to fill a wide gap in our available works on chemistry, but the reviewer doubts if it could be understood and appreciated by those for whom it is intended.

The tendency throughout the book is to use terms and refer to complex compounds, which would be new to the sophomore reader, before giving an explanation. The subject matter covers so wide a field, and introduces so many complex conceptions that the reviewer fears that the second-year reader would require many extra explanations.

As a book of suggestions to teachers, Dr. Garard's book should prove invaluable. The information given appears to be quite correct, and could readily be modified, or simplified to be given to the students in lecture form.

JOHN H. Gardner.

What Industry Owes to Chemical Science, by RICHARD B. PITCHER, O.B.E., and FRANK BUTLER-JONES, B.A. (Cantab), A.I.C. With an introduction by Sir George Beilby, LL.D., F.R.S. Second edition, revised and enlarged, D. Van Nostrand Company, New York, 1924. xv+ 158 pages. Price $2.00.

This book is a partly successful attempt to describe, in a manner understandable to the general reader, the indebtedness of all industries to pure scientific research, and particularly to chemistry. It contains the greatest mass of information compressed into a small space that the reviewer has ever seen, but, unfortunately, much of it is misleading, although there are few positive mistakes.

In many places, obsolete, or obsolescent, processes are emphasized more than their more modern successors. The reader would be left with the impression that the Weldon and Deacon processes for chlorine are more generally used than the electrolytic.

The book is better suited to British than to American readers as it stresses the development of the British industries and the work of British scientists, although it is not noticeably unfair to those of other nations.

As a book for supplementary reading for chemistry students, this work might well find a place, particularly if the instructor were to accompany his recommendation with an explanation of its nature.

JOHN H. GARDNER.