摘要:

184 INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY REVIEWS. WATEB SUPPLIES. By S. RIDEAL and E. RIDEAL. London: Crosby, Lockwood, There are twelve chapters in this useful book, the illustrations are excellent, and The first chapter deals with the Inorganic Constituents of Water, and is clearly In Chapter II., Animal and Vegetable Impurities are fully discussed. A good and Co. 1914. Price 7s. 6d. net. the index carefully compiled, and well written.REVIEWS 185 deal of consideration is devoted to the “plankton ” of waters, with good reason, as this is a subject which is now attracting widespread attention.The next chapter deals with the Sources of Water Supply : Wells, rain water, springs, streams, and rivers. In Chapter IV., the Distribution of Water is fully considered, and much attention is devoted to the important question of Corrosion.Chapter V. deals with Storage at considerable length. I t is pointed out that storage reduces greatly the number of bacteria and B. coli, and is antagonistic to the vitality of pathogenic bacteria. I t also improves the physical and chemical characters of the supply. One of the most important chapters (Chapter VI.) in the book is that devoted to Special Methods of Purification required by some waters, in place of, or supplementary to, the ordinary processes of storage, filtration, and sterilisation. The following subjects receive adequate consideration : Chemical Coagulants, Treatment of Iron- containing Water, Nuisance from Living Growths in Reservoirs, etc.Much information of a useful kind is given in Chapter VII. (Sand Filtration), The following quotation is of interest : About 1810 slow sand filter-beds were beginning to be installed in Lancashire and Scotland, and in 1828 a Royal Com- mission conducted an inquiry into the condition of the :London water, and recom- mended that steps should be taken to improve it.Mr. James Simpson, engineer to the Chelsea Waterworks Company, made a tour of inspection of the northern works, and on his return installed the first filters in London for the Chelsea Company.He provided decmting basins in duplicate, and a sand filter of about the same area as each-ie., 1 acre. ‘‘ The results were 80 good that the method was soon adopted for the whole Qf the London supplies, I t rapidly spread over the world, and is often known as the English system.’ ” The next chapter (Chapter VIII.) deals with Mechanical Filtration, and the subject is fairly and well treated.Chapter IX. is devoted to the Softening of Water, and the reader will welcome the lucid manner in which so technical a subject is considered. I t includes a good description of the (‘ permutit ” system of softening and purification of water.Chapters X. and XI. deal with Sterilisation, and those who know how much work Dr. Rideal has devoted to this subject will welcome the exhaustive way in which the problem has been considered. The scope of these chapters may be judged by the matters dealt with-for example, physical methods of sterilisation (heat, cold, action of light), chemical methods (acids and acid salts, alkalis, compounds of heavy metals, fluorine methods, peroxides and per-salts, the halogens, hypochlorites, etc., and electrical methods (ozone, ultra-violet light).The following quotation is of intereBt : ‘ I One of the most striking examples of improvement by filtration and sterilisation was at Pittsburg, which before the installation of the Water Filtration Works in December, 1907, had a typhoid mor- tality far in advance of other American cities.The introduced treatment included sterilisation of the filtrate by calcium hypochlorite. As a, consequence, registered186 RE VIEWS typhoid death-rates were: 1906, 141; 1907, 135; 1908, 5 3 ; 1909, 13; 1910, 12 1911, 10.” It is unsafe to conclude that this result was directly and wholly attributable to improvement in the water-supply.Other important factors may have been at work, and it has often been observed that coincidently with an improvement in water supplies, a more enlightened policy as regards sanitary matters generally has been adop ted. The last chapter (Chapter XII.) deals briefly with analysis and interpretation of results. A hypercritical attitude is distasteful to the writer of this review.It may, however, be pointed out that the epidemiological and bacteriological aspects of water-supply have not received their fair share of attention. There are 274 pages in the book, yet the highly important subject of bacterial tests and interpretation of results has only been allotted 9 pages. Nor can it be said that these few pages are likely to prove of very material assistance either to the experienced or inex- perienced reader.Nevertheless this handbook can be thoroughly recommended to all those who have to deal with water-supply. Dr. S. Rideal has for long been known as an authority on the subject, and the associating of his son’s name with the authorship will please everyone. A. C. HOUSTON. GLI INCHIOSTRI DA SCRIVERE. By R. GUARESCHI.Milan: V. Hoepli. 1914. This is a compact compilation upon the history, chemistry, manufacture, and examination of writing inks, but it is nothing more than a compilation. The author has culled widely from previous works on the subject, but with the exception of a few references to the books of Schluttig and Newrnann and of Hinrichsen, he appears to have forgotten the source of his information.A striking instance of (‘ lifting ” is found on p. 76, where there is a table giving the different proportions of tannin materials to be used with ferrous sulphate to make a stable black ink. From the context it would appear as though this had been worked out by the author, and no hint is given that it has been transferred bodily from a publication of the present reviewer. Many other instances of unacknowledged borrowing might be quoted, and throughout the book there is a lack of the personal touch. As no publication upon writing inks has y.et appeared in Italy, the manufacturers and the chemists in that country will find much useful information in this book of abstracts, but it offers nothing new to the English chemist. Pp. viii + 162. Price 2.501. C. A: MITCHELL.

ISSN:0003-2654    

DOI:10.1039/AN9154000184

出版商:RSC    

年代:1915

数据来源: RSC