Abstract
SPECTBITM analysis, which at one time comprised the whole function of the spectroscope, has now largely fallen out of use. This is a matter for regret, for, when the principles of the subject have been understood and a little experience has been obtained, spectroscopic methods can occupy a place in analytical work which, from considerations of delicacy and in some cases of rapidity, cannot be taken by purely chemical processes. The causes of the neglect are not difficult to understand. In the early days, before the characteristics of spectra were fully understood, there was an apparent capriciousness in the manner in which a small quantity of one substance would make its presence known, while a larger quantity of another would remain undetected, and also in the occasional occurrence of some lines of an element without the others. Furthermore, the technique of spectroscopic processes was different from that of the ordinary chemical routine, requiring special appliances and modes of procedure, and the chemist was often unable or unwilling to acquire the necessary apparatus and skill.
Visual Lines for Spectrum Analysis.
By D. M. Smith. Pp. 34. (London: Adam Hilger, Ltd., 1928.) 5s. net.
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Visual Lines for Spectrum Analysis . Nature 122, 992 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/122992a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/122992a0