By R. P. Williams, Instructor in Chemistry in the English High School, Boston. 12mo. Cloth. 216 pages. Mailing Price, 90 cents; for introduction, 80 cents; Allowance for old book in exchange, 25 cents.
In a word, this is a working chemistry—brief but adequate. Attention is invited to a few special features:—
1. This book is characterized by directness of treatment, by the selection, so far as possible, of the most interesting and practical matter, and by the omission of what is unessential.
2. Great care has been exercised to combine clearness with accuracy of statement, both of theories and of facts, and to make the explanations both lucid and concise.
3. The three great classes of chemical compounds—acids, bases, and salts—are given more than usual prominence, and the arrangement and treatment of the subject-matter relating to them is believed to be a feature of special merit.
4. The most important experiments and those best illustrating the subjects to which they relate, have been selected; but the modes of experimentation are so simple that most of them can be performed by the average pupil without assistance from the teacher.
5. The necessary apparatus and chemicals are less expensive than those required for any other text-book equally comprehensive.
6. The special inductive feature of the work consists in calling attention, by query and suggestion, to the most important phenomena and inferences. This plan is consistently adhered to.
7. Though the method is an advanced one, it has been so simplified that pupils experience no difficulty, but rather an added interest, in following it; the author himself has successfully employed it in classes so large that the simplest and most practical plan has been a necessity.
8. The book is thought to be comprehensive enough for high schools and academies, and for a preparatory course in colleges and professional schools.