Abstract
IT is stated in the preface that the sole object of this work is to give the reader a general view of the principles which underlie the several manufactures described. The ground covered is very wide, so that in order to keep the book within reasonable limits a very condensed style has been adopted. The opening chapters deal with the manufacture of sulphuric acid and alkali, and the destructive distillation of coal, wood, and bone, the account of coal-gas manufacture being especially well done, although the short account of methods of gas-testing is sketchy and inadequate, and might have been omitted with advantage. The subjects of artificial manures, petroleum, cement, glass and porcelain, sugar and starch, brewing and distilling, oils, resins and varnishes, are next dealt with. The soap and candle industry is dismissed in nine pages, no account being given of the chemistry of the “cold process” of soap-making, in which the excess of alkali is eliminated by the subsequent addition of ammonium salts, although most of the highest grades of toilet soaps are now prepared by this process. The chapter on dye-stuffs, which follows, contains a good synopsis of the chemistry of this subject. It is, however, too brief to be of much service to the dye-works chemist, and is certainly beyond the apprehension of the average engineer.
Chemistry for Engineers and Manufacturers. A Practical Text-book.
By B. Blount A. G. Bloxam. Vol. ii. Chemistry of Manufacturing Processes. Pp. 484. (London: C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1896.)
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Chemistry for Engineers and Manufacturers A Practical Text-book. Nature 55, 267 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/055267a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055267a0