THE claim put forward by the author, that “no volume has yet appeared which is devoted particularly to a presentation of information and data desired by the refiner,” is to a large extent true, since much of the available literature dealing with the refining of petroleum is written either for the research laboratory or for the industry as a whole. The work under notice treats the subject throughout from the point of view of large-scale operation based entirely on American practice, and should concern chiefly the chemical engineers of the companies operating in that country. It is doubtful whether it will have a much wider influence except where refinery practice follows on American lines. On the other hand, for those refiners who, not having seen or studied American methods first-hand, are desirous of gaining some general information regarding the system and trend of operations there, it is a most useful volume. American Petroleum Refining. By H. S. Bell. Pp. xiv + 456. (London, Bombay and Sydney: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1923.) 24s.