摘要:

158 INSTITUTE OP CHEMISTRY INSTITUTE: OF CHEMISTRY. THIRTY-NINTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. TEE Thdy-ninth Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Chemistry was held yesterday at Russell Square, Sir James J. Dobbie, Pmsident, in the Chair. In the course of his Addrew, the President referred to the services of profes- sional chemists in connection with the War. The high rank which many of the Mem- bers and Students had attained and the distinctions they had won gave the Institute every reison to be proud of the part they had taken in the conflict. The Institute had acted as a chemical clearing-house, aseisting public departments and firms engaged on Government work to obtain the chemical service they required.Apart from that, the researches on glass initiated by the h t i t u t e , particularly the work of Professor Herbert Jackson, had proved of great value, and had been specially recognised by the President of the Board of Trade.Progress had also been made with raising tbe fund for the new premises of the Institute, for which a further sum of €2,250 was yet required. In mentioning the losses sustained. by British chemistry during the year, the President referred especially fo Sir William Ramsay and his work on rare gases, and &Ti.David Howard, Past-President, one of the leaders of British chemical industry. After indicating a number of new industrial developments which called for the help of practical chemists, the President advocated the extension of the training of chemists, particularly in higher physics and physical chemistry, and, therefore, the adoption of a four instead of a three yeara’ course. He emphasised the importance of mechanics to chemists who intended to practise in industry, and recommended a training as wide as possible for chemists generally. Dealing with the recent dis- cussions on general education and the reform of the school curriculum, he criti- cised what was termed “ generalised science,” by which he supposed was meant a composite course, including a little physics, a little chemistry, a little biology, and a little of everything else, and suggested that school science should be as simple asREVIEW 159 possible, and that the first place should be given to mechanics experimentally trea+ted as being essential to the study of all other experimental science.The Officers and Members of Council for themensuing year were duly elected.

ISSN:0003-2654    

DOI:10.1039/AN9174200158

出版商:RSC    

年代:1917

数据来源: RSC

摘要:

REVIEW 159 REVIEW. THE BAUTERIOLOGIICAL EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND WATER. By W. G. SAVAGE, While the bacteriological examination of water has been fully treated in numerous textbooks, there has hitherto been no English work dealing with the bacteriol+cal investigation of the commoner articles of food. The present book admirably fills the gap, and, though confined within modest limits, deals in a thoroughly prmtiaal manner with the subjects within its scope.The first two chapters discuss the objects with which water and the va,rioUs foods have t o be investigated and the general methods in use for the identification and de- tection of “ indicator ” organisms; following which come sections on water, soil and sewage, shell-fish, milk and its products, meat and meat preparations, air, and, h d l y , the determination of germicidal and antiseptic power. The media recommended, or which are in common use, are described in appendix, and there is an addendum bringing this, which is the second edition, np to date. A general acqurtinhnce with bacteriological technique on bhe part of the reader is assumed, but the practical details of the methods employed are set forth clearly and fully enough to satisfy the most exacting.The author is no bacteria-maniac, and fully recognises bhe limitations of bac- teriological examination. Thus, in the case of water, he points out the absolute necessity of taking into consideration all the other factors bearing on the problem, such as the source and its surroundings, the results of chemical analysis, etc., and very properly insists on the danger of drawing conclusions from isolated bacteriological examinations.It is satisfactory to fmd also that he gives no countenance to that slovenly technique which is adopted in some academic laboratories, and may be attributed to a large extent to the fact that bacteriology has fallen into the hands of the medico1 man, instead of those of the chemist, whose training and experience in delicate manipulation render him much better fitted for work which demands such scrupulous attention to minute details.The chapter dealing with baoterial food infections and food-poisoning, although very short, is an excellent statement of the present condition of OW knowledge of this still somewhat contzoversbl subject, and we entirely agree with the author’s suggestion that the term, ‘‘ ptomaine-poisoning,” SO useful to the medical man in di&ulties, “ shoukl be abandoned as incorrect and misleading.” Dr. Savage is equally emphatic in his caution as to the value of the determination of antisvtic end germicidal power, though we think he might have gone even further Cambridge University Press, 1916.Price 8s.net.160 REVIEW in making clear the fundamenfal weakness of all the processes hitherto suggested, in so far as they seem tacitly to assume that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander-ie., that daerent organisms are affected in the same way by the same antiseptics. The varying degrees of susceptibility of different organisms and of diff merit strains even of the same organism, together with the influence of the foreign subb+&nces with which, under the conditions of actual practice, the organisms are nece sarily mixed, must tend in many cases to rob laboratory determinations of any value whatever.The book as a whole is very clearly written, excellently arranged, and well printed and illustrated, though some of the illustrations, such as that of a, row of bottles and a pipette, might well have been dispensed with. It contains numerous references to recent literature, and should prove of great value to all concerned with the subject with which it deals. C. H. CRIBB.

ISSN:0003-2654    

DOI:10.1039/AN9174200159

出版商:RSC    

年代:1917

数据来源: RSC