A Dictionary of Chemistry. 5 vole. By Henry Watts. (Longtnans.)
—This magnificent work, containing more than five thousand closely printed pages, is a complete digest of chemical science. And chemical science must be understood as including a vast amount of information on subjects where chemistry touches on matters of common life. Lot the reader turn, for instance, to the attractive subject of gold. He finds a full account of the metal itself viewed under every aspect, of its mode of occurrence, its properties, its compounds, and its alloys—in fact, everything except how to make it. Ho will learn about the processes of gilding and the methods of assay. Finally, he will be warned against a variety of worthless wares which are called by the name. Mr. Watts, himself a man of the greatest scientific erudition, has availed himself of the services of a number of eminent contributors. What these gentle- men have dono is so uniformly excellent that we regret that it has been thought expedient to retain any of the original articles of Dr. Use's Dictionary, on which it was originally intended that this work should be founded. But this is after all but a trifling drawback, and we heartily congratulate Mr. Watts on the completion of this noble monument of industry, judgment, and knowledge. No record of chemical science at once so complete and so exact has over before been composed.
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