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WATER BACTERIOLOGY: WITH SPECIALREPERMCE TO SANITARY WATER ANALYSIS
S. C. Prescott, Professor Emeritus and formerly Head of the Department of Biology and Dean of Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; C. E. A. Winslow, Professor Emeritus, Yale University, and M a c H. McCradv. Chief, Division of Laboratories, Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Sixth Edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1946. xiv 368 pp. 121 tables. 14 X 20 cm. $4.50.
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E~cn EDITION of this work, since the m i t d "Elements of Water Bacteriology" in 1904, has presented an outstanding, critical summary of research and practice in sanitary water analysis. It has been 15 years since the last, the fifth edition, appeared. Water purification and sewage disposal methods have improved greatly in this interval, but new conditions have appeared everywhere that make necessary more exacting standards of water quality control. The sixth edition of "Water Bacteriology" is greatly needed. Within the limits of the published literature and aecessihle reports it is a complete book and a most useful one for ohemists, sanitary engineers, bacteriologists, and public health officers concerned with Problems of m.ater supply, especially to the relatively large group of technical men who will take up this work in the next few years. There is no other current single source book in this speoialiaed field. A feature that American sanitary chemists and bacteriologists will 6nd of special value is the very comprehensive review of English methods and research. Much of this was inacc6ssible during the war. There is an obvious lag in American reports, due in large part to the restrictions placed upon publicrttions from various state and municipal health departments in this country. I t is evident, however, that the authors did not have access to the fine work on water disinfection that has been carried on in American universities under Committee of Medical Research contracts or to the Army and Navy investigations in the same fields. Nothing is said of the recent works on amebic dysentery and on infectious hepatitis as waterho,rne diseases, though these promise to influence the future design of water treatment. Sections that active sanitary bacteriologists will find most useful are the discussions of new media, developments in most prohable number theory, the background for the new standards for drinking water, the improved methods for examination of shellfish, and indices of swimming pool sanitation. There is also an excellent critical treatment of the relations between chemical analyses of polluted waters and bacteriological findings that should he read by praotical worken with conservative views of the coliform index. Normally, technical books of this degree of specialization are used in fragments. Like previous editions, this one will undoubtedly take a commanding plaee on the reference shelf. There is, however, a uniquely coherent quality to "Water Bacteriology" that makes i t represent a working viewpoint of the subject. This grows largely from the authors' long experience in the field, and their willingness to explain fully the historical background of each development. To do this excellent feature justice, the book should be read through before it goes up on the shelf. CHARLES E. RENN
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THE CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF LIGHT
E. I. Brown, F.R.S., Fellow of University College, Oxford. Second Edition. CLerendon Press, Oxford, 1946. 3M) pp. 59 figs. 13.5 X 22 cm. $5.00. THETITLE of this book implies that the subject matter is photochemistry, but i t is stated in the preface that the aim is "to present modern ideas of matter and light as far as possible in a nonmathematical form." Chapter headings are: Light as Waves, Light and Light Sources, The Absorption and Emission of Light, Spectra, The Transformation of Absorbed Radiation. Fluorescence, The Luminescence of Solids, Photochemiertl Reactions, Photosynthesis in Plants, The Photographic Process, The Reactions of the Eye to Light, Phota-cells, Chemiluminescence. I n fairness to the author i t should also be said that he states in the prefeoe that the book is "intended t o supplement rather than to replace existing textbooks and articles!' I t is rather ss an introduction to the field of photochemistry that the book serves very well. The phenomena which are discussed are covered in an interesting though not very detailed manner; only a few references be given a t the end of the hook. Ten pages of very useful data are included a t the end of the text, together with several pages of experiments which demoustrate some ~hemiealactions of light. Students majoring ih chemistry and teaohen wishing an introduction to photochemistry should find the book of interest. ARTHUR A. VERNON NonramaTenN Ux~v~nar.rr Bosrorr, MAssAoaossma
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COLLOIDS: THEIRPROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS
A. G. Ward, M.A. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 1946. viii 133 pp. 28 figs. 6 plates. 12 X 19 cm. $1.73.
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INWRITING this review I s m well aware of the following,words spoken by Benjamin Disraeli, E d of Beaconsfield, on January 24, 1860: "It is much easier t o he critical than t o be correct." The logical deduction therefrom is that a reviewer can very easily be critical if he can prove that he is correct. If the booklet under review had been written 25 years ago, it might have been considered a contribution worthy of consideretion, but this is not the case in 1946. I n the introduction we find the statement that the ultramicroscope reveals little concerning shape and size of colloidal particles. This is not surprising if one reads Chapter V, dealing with the experimental study of colloidd particles, The author is seemingly unaware of the development of ultramicroscopy since 1903, the use of the aeimuth stop, eto. I t would have been of far greater value to the colloid chemist t o elaborate on this chapter instead of writing a eulogy for the electron microscope. The discussion and illustrstion of electric charges is incomplete and outdated. The statement on p. 33, that the binding between mica sheets is weak. is wrong. I n the chapter on surfaee tension no reference can befonnd t o i h e drop weight, number, and pendant drop methods of determination. Although thixotropy and dilabnoy are discussed, a reference t o rheopexy is missing. has been outdated for ten The explanation offered for thixotropy yearn. What the author describes is not the production of crepe rub~
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