TEN or twelve years ago, the analysis of oils was one of the most neglected branches of analytical chemistry. How the study of it has been taken up and developed since, may be gathered by turning over the 670 pages of this excellent volume, the first English work devoted exclusively to this subject. The information existing in 1882 was comprised within 140 pages (much smaller than these) of Allen's “Commercial Organic Analysis.” In the second edition of the same work, published in 1886, the subject-matter had grown to 318 pages. Benedikt's “Analyse der Fette und Wachsarten,” second edition, published in 1892, upon which the present work is based, contained 460 pages, and as the literature of the subject has accumulated since then, at an increasingly rapid rate, it is evident that a new volume was demanded, the preparation of which could not have devolved upon any one more capable than Dr. Lewkowitsch, whose practical experience in, and valuable contributions to, our knowledge of this branch of chemistry are well known. To regard this work merely as a translation of the work of Dr. Benedikt would, obviously, be absurd. As the author points out in the preface, every page bears evidence of the alterations and numerous additions which have been made. Obsolete processes have been abridged or entirely omitted, and the new work of the last four years has been sifted, and all that is of value has been incorporated, including a large number of the author's own experiments and observations hitherto unpublished. Benedikt's arrangement of the subject-matter has been generally adhered to, but an improvement has been effected by transferring to the end of the book the chapter on the analysis of soap, candles, glycerine, and other products of the fat industry. Chemical Analysis of Oils, Fats, and Waxes, and of the Commercial Products derived therefrom. From the German of Prof. Dr. R. Benedikt. Revised and enlarged by Dr. J. Lewkowitsch, F.I.C., F.C.S. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1895.)