All!& 1, 10% CHEMISTRY AND IXDUSTRY 70 1

later rcfcreiiccs arc quoted in a foot-note, tlic aut.Ii0r.s account of tlic application of iuctliylated cclluloses to coilstitutioniil quest,ioils is bnsccl ~uerely on prc- liiiiiiinry cspcrinients and rcvcals inciclcntnlly an inipcrfcct acqunintancc with tlic propert.ies of nlct~llylntccl sugars. TllC tcnchlcy of the autl1or to limit his rcntlcrs to tlic work of C4eriiinii inrcsti- gators rcaches n cliiiins in tlic co~istitutiorial tli+ cussion in Chaptcr \'I ivhcre lie is courteously cor- rcctcd by his trniislntors who have iiuertcd n sgnopsh of 13ritisli niitl Aiiicriciin rcsciirclies wliicli c i i ~ i c ~ l ~ out practically tlic wliolc of tlic cliiipter in question.

Profcssor Hcuser's 1~001; 1ici.i ~leser~-ecLly rcacliecl a secoiitl edition, nntl furtlicr issues will cloubtlcss be fortliconiing. A I ~ e~cclleiit stiirt hi= 1JCCIl iiiade in rcntlering tlic litcraturc of ccllulosc accessible in a form in which it eiin bc st,utlictl iiitclligciitly, but tlic aiitlior will probably bc tlic first, to nthiiit tlint. i t is 110 iiiorc than n start nntl thnt tlierc is rooin for ninny iniprovcnicnts. Tlic trai~s1ntor:i 1 1 i i \ ~ cnrrictl out tlicir tnsk accuriitcly and, altliougli iitllicriiig closoly to tlic originiil, hn\-c not. hesitatecl to. insert notcs \vlierc CorrectioiLs \wrc necessary.

J. C. IRVISE

WOODFIBRES OF Som AUSTRALIAS TIMBERS. By R. 'l'. BAKER nnd H. G. SMITH. Pix 159, 64 pliitcs. Sythicy : Co\-crnmcnt Printer, 19%. Publislictl l)y tlic Authority of tlic Coiiinionwenltli Co\.erIlmcnt.

During tlic war a shortage of paper wns esiwrieiicccl in Austnilin, and in 101G a coiiiniittcc was nppointctl by the Go\-crnnicnt of Xcw South to enquire into the prospccts of innking paper 1ocnll~- from intligaious tiiubcrs. In tlic publication untler notice Jlcssrs. Ikkcr and Smith record the rcsultv of in- \-estigatiom 1)cgun (luring their mcnibciuhip of this coiuiiiittcc and contiiiiied for some time subscqucntly. Tlic films of tibout sisty " forest " ant1 *' brush " tiiiibers of Eastern Austrulin havc bceii clinractcrimi arid illustrittcd, niitl tlic yield of ccllulosc ctctcrniiried for each wood. Eucalyptus timbers ~iaturnlly figure Iiwgel~ in tlic \ v d i , and tlic results obtnincd for the " A h " group of this ~ C I ~ U S , tiilicn i l l conjiuictioii with u survcg of otlirr ninnufiicturhig rcyrrisitcs, lead to tlic conclusion tlint a paper niill producing 13,500 tons of pulp per iiiinuni, cqiiiviilent to one- fifth of tlic niuiunl Austriilinii prc-wir coilsumption of ncwspi1)er, iiiiglit well be crected aiid iiinhitainccl in full cniployiiicnt in tlic Butltlong Fdls district of XCW Soutl1 \\'tllCS. In a11 I1SSCSSI11CILt of 2S,oOc) acres of Crown 1tincLs availiible in this cliotrict i t is estiuintetl that out of 33 twcs per ncrc usclcss for lunibcring purposcs tlic greater portion (includhig 1G of E. L)ulr!itqileri~in and IS of E . Delegnletisis) could bc uscd for pidp productioii. Ail i1mplc sup )ly of \vator of tho rcquisitc piirity is n\wiliible in t I ic curen coiiccrncd.

Tlic pulp from E . Dnlryttiplea,lcc.uit~ is stiitccl to rcsciiiblc

giivc a 47.8 per ccnt. yield of a vcry satisfactory grntlc of pulp, wliicli could be cnsily blcaclicd. " Tho acciuiiulntcd evidcnco sliowm that cortain

CllCStllUt \\.OOd pulp ; and tho cucalyptus \voocl \v1.1en coolccd for four hours by tho sulphntc process

cucalyptus spccics having light coloured timber, and growing in consiclcrnhle quantity on t.lic enstern port.ion of Australia, in close prosirnit? to abuiidant it-atcr supplies, arc ivell suitecl for tlie product,ion of clieniicnl pulp for tlic iiiniiufacturc of pnpcr." Furtheriaore, tlic nscertahicd rnte of reprocluction of t,liese spccics upon rmfiorestntion is OIIC of the most, rapid li1io~\-Ii.

Eucalypt~us wootl fibres do not usnnlly iuucli escccd oiic miilitiictrc in length, but long-fbretl pnlp has been proctucecl coluiiicrcially from t,he Qucci~slancl Pinc (=lrciticririct. ~ ~ i ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ t ~ f ~ / t t t i i ) , tlic t~raclieicl~ of \vhicli reach as much ns 9 iiiillinietres in length, altliougli they most.ly range betit*ccn 3 and 4 niillinietrcs. In atltlition, the autliors indicntc that several of tlic acrul) '' tinibcrs groiving nt the lientl of the Clarcnce River sliow consitlernble proiiiise as sources of 1ong-fil)retl pulp. Among n group of 13 of the hest species tire Grccilleu robaat~ (silky on];), Dorypli.orci. sri-wcifru.s (snssiifrns), C'erdopetalii tlt upclciltitti (coacliicood), and Evge,tia sp. (water g11111).

the paticntly coliipiletl reports of iiiorc tliaii one coininittcc, lit,tle or 110 clfort has yct been made to

resources of Austriilia which nrc dcalt with in this investigation. By t,liis publicatio~i, liou~ewr, Alessrs. Balicr iilid Siuitli lint-e n(ldcd a further notc\r-orthy contribution to tlicir lciigtliy series of botanical iiiitl chemical iiivwtiption5 on the unique and \vonderful flora of ..iustralia, and liavc indicated oiiec ngiihi an important liiic of prospective ecoiiouic

111 spite of the \ -nl~i i l ) l~ W O ~ I ; liere I ' C C O ~ ~ C ~ , alitI

t le \~lop 011 11 coiiiniercid sciilc the lntclit 11at~raI

clc\-elopluellt.. SOWS READ

PRISCIPLEY OF ELECTROPLATISG ASD ELECTRO- FORJIISG (ELECTROTPPISG). By W. BLUJI and G. B. HOGABOOJI. 1'1). siif35G. London: i\IcGraw-Hill Publkliiiig Co., Ltd., 1924. Price 20s.

This volu~ue appcars to have bccn directly inspkecf by tlic activitics of t l i c Aiucricnii Elcctro-Plnters Society, a socicty wvliicli has s1101w great activity and undoubtcdly accomplislied vnluablc work in the United States of America in raising, not only the status of tlie clcctro-plater hiinself, but the standard of his work. The book is, therefore, of considernble interest, sincc for this reasoii it uiny be talteii as ciubodyiiig the bcst of Auicricaii practice in tlic a r t

A very wiclc field is covered in the twenty-one chaptcrs of which tlic book consists. Tlic lirinciples of chciuistry, elcctro-clicmistry and cliciuical analysis arc clcalt with, not aiiytliing liko adequately, but sufticicntly so perhaps to iueet tlic rlcctls of the great majority of iiitcrcstecl readers.

Sonic of tlie clefiilitioiLs given are not su~ciei i t ly clear for iuorlerii stanclnrds of ticcuracy, and indeed are riot nlivays correct LLS, for csaiuplc, tho dofinition of till electrolyte as " t,lic solution through ~vliicli the currcnt piisses " (SCC pRgQ 83). !h? book SUfferS

niucli matter in coin mrativcly limited space, and

of the 1)rcsent clay.

to son1e cstent, also, fro1u t.110 attcmpt to ero\vd too

0 tlicrc is a wtmt of ba \ iuicc, SOIUC iiintters of ininor