Studies in Spectrum Analysis. By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. (C.
Kean Paul and Co.)—This twenty-third volume of tho " International Scientific Sol ins " is an aide account by a competent authority of the newest branch of chemical science. No one can claim to be a student of chemistry worthy the name, unless ho has more than a superficial acquaintance with the elements of spectrum analysis; nor will ho over have cause to regret starting along this path with Mr. Lockyer as his guide, to explain the difficulties at the outset of the journey. Com- mencing with the wave, as defined by physicists, he proceeds to consider light waves and their condition. After treating of the methods of demonstrating the phenomena of the science, and the improvements in them, which mature experience has suggested, be gives a lucid account of the chemical atom and the physical molecule, and the important part they play in every phenomenon of the spectroscope. The remainder of the work, which will not be uninteresting to advanced students, contains some of the latest researches on dissociation, and records some attempts at quantitative analysis. The excellent plates throughout the volume are most useful addenda to a thoroughly successful number.
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