Feb., 19611 BOOK REVIEWS 121 Book Reviews QUANTITATIVE ULTRAMICROANALYSIS. By PAUL L. KIRK, Ph.D. Pp. vii + 310. New York: Professor Kirk has published papers on microchemical investigations at frequent intervals during the last twenty years or so and his original work in this field is well known. To this experience must be added his close association with the applications of ultramicrochemistry by the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission. It is with great interest, therefore, that one welcomes his recently published book. At first, the reader is disappointed to find that none of the atomic energy applications are mentioned because of the now familiar, and apparently inevitable, security restrictions. Further consideration and a closer examination of the book, however, lead to the conclusion that the text gives a very good account of the present state of the subject.The book is most valuable because the author describes the various techniques and methods from personal practical experience of their operation ; his statements are both critical and authorita- tive. This feature leads to somewhat uneven treatment; for example, the construction of a quartz microgram balance, the Cartesian Diver respiroineter and the Beckman spectrophotometer are dealt with in greater detail than any other subjects. However, the first two of these are not discussed adequately in any other textbook, nor is the application of the spectrophotometer to 200 or 20-4 samples described so effectively elsewhere. Not only does the author detail clearly the methods he recommends, giving full precautions for accurate working, but he also points out their limitations and shows where satisfactory procedures have yet to be devised.The most obvious of these gaps is due to the paucity of gravimetric methods in the ultramicro range, so that most routine determinations are volumetric. The technique for these is carefully described and John Wiley & Sons Inc. London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 1950. Price 40s.122 BOOK REVIEWS [Vol. 76 specific examples are given in full. Besides the techniques mentioned earlier in this review, Prof. Kirk also includes chapters on volumetric gas analysis and selected physical determinations. The book is recommended for providing sound instruction in existing ultramicrochemical methods and for showing the investigator where he may profitably direct his attention to expand the applications of the subject.At the end of each chapter are lists of critically selected literature references, which clearly reveal the neglect of the subject in this country: of more than three hundred references barely a score are to British journals. G. H. WYATT ANALYSE QUALITATIVE MIN~RALE A L’AIDE DE STILLIREACTIONS. By R. DELABY and J. A. GAUTIER. Second Edition. Pp. 229. Paris: Masson et Cie. 1950. Price 820fr. In their opening chapter, the authors define stillianulyse as differing from classical inorganic analysis in two particulars; first, by a reduction in the scale of working and the employment of semi-micro techniques and, secondly, by the application of organic reagents for identification purposes wherever possible.The designation “stillireaction” or “stillianalysis” is derived from the Latin stidla, a small drop, and indicates both the use of drop reactions in solution on a plate or in a tube and spot tests on absorbent paper. The layout of the book follows closely on the paitern associated with textbooks on qualitative inorganic analysis. After a brief discussion of the principles of “stillianalysis” and the problems of sensitivity and specificity, there follows a chapter dealing with technique and the reagents required. The analytical characters of the principal cations and anions are now enumerated in some detail and here, in addition to the more usual reactions, tests involving organic reagents are described wherever they are applicable.The analysis of mixtures is dealt with fully; the separation of the cations into groups follows the classical procedure closely and each section is prefaced by a clear and concise statement of the theoretical principles involved. The elimination of phosphate before the separation of the iron - aluminium - chromium group is carefully described, preference being given to the ferric phosphate method of Villiers, although other procedures are mentioned, including the convenient and expeditious one using zirconium chloride as precipitant. The separation of the anions of a mixture is similarly described systematically, full notes on the theoretical principles being again given a prominent place. The various tests to be applied to the solid substance form the subject of the final chapter, which also_includes instructions for the preparation of a solution.Werner’s co- ordination theory of complex compounds is described in an addendum. Although the present book cannot be said to present anything really new in the field of inorganic qualitative analysis, there is a direct quality about the method of presentation that is attractive. It is designed expressly from a practical viewpoint and the theoretical sections do not intrude upon this purpose, while still amply providing the necessary background for a clear understanding of the tests carried out. The confirmatory tests with organic reagents are, for the most part, limited to well-tried reactions, and the restrictions of sensitivity and specificity are discussed. It is pleasant to find that in a book of this character the authors have seen fit to introduce many references to the originators of familiar methods; this gives a useful historical background to the work, although it is somewhat disappointing to find that the bibliography does not give the full references needed for amplifying the bald statements of the text. This is a pity, as the majority of the books quoted in the bibliography are standard textbooks. Printing and layout are good. The binding is in the French style. JOHN ALLEN