The English translation was made by G. Kamensky, and edited by A. J. Greenaway; published by Longmans, Green & Co.

The German translation was made by L. Jawein and A. Thillot; published by Ricker (St. Petersburg).

The French translation has been commenced by E. Achkinasi and H. Carrion from the fifth edition, and is published by Tignol (Paris).

The fifth edition was not only considerably enlarged, compared with the preceding, but also the foundations of the periodic system of the elements were placed far more firmly in it than in the former editions. The subject-matter was also divided into text and footnotes, which contained details unnecessary for a first acquaintance with chemistry. The fifth edition sold out sooner than I expected, so that instead of issuing supplements (containing the latest discoveries in chemistry), as I had proposed, I was obliged to publish the present entirely new edition of the work.

This hypothesis is not only mentioned in different parts of this book, but is partly (from the aspect of the specific gravity of solutions) developed in my work, The Investigation of Solutions from their Specific Gravity, 1887.