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comprehensive reviews such as collected here have become most valuable for the worker in the field as well as for the student. Advances in Enzymology takes up thus the fine tradition of the now defunct Ergebninse der Enzymforselung established under the editorship of F. F. Nord. The first volume of this series consists of a collection of ten independent monographs. Problems involved in the elucidation of protein structure are reviewed by Henry B Bull, while Luise Holzapfel considers physicochemical viewpoints in connection with the action of virus proteins. The chapter on the specificity of proteinases, by Max Bergmann and J. S. Fruton, is a very instructive and clearly written presentation of problems encountered in the biological process of peptide synthesis and peptide hydrolysis. The formation of energy-rich phosphate bonds during the metabolic phosphate cycle is discussed by Fritz Lipmann, and the widespread utilization of such phosphate bonds as a source of energy for organic chemiaal syntheses, bone formarion, and mechanical work during muscular contraction is pointed out. The chemical nature of catalase is reviewed in an excellent article by Sumner, contributing a good deal of hitherto unpublished data out of the writer’s laboratory. “Enzymes and Trace Substances” is the title of D. E. Green’s monograph, in which the r61c of vitamins, hormones, and metals in enzymatic processes is summarized. Facts and interpretations of intricate problems involved in photosynthesis are reviewed by Frank and Gaffron. while a second article by Van Niel deals more extensively with bacterial photosynthesis. Enzymatic processes within the living plant are discussed by A . Kurasanov, and an interesting attempt is made to correlate the ratio of synthesis to hydrolysis with the distribution of the enzyme between the solid and liquid phases of the cell. H. J. Vonk deals with problems of digestion in lower vertebrates. Anatomy as well as cnzymology are considered and compared with the digestion in higher vertebrates and in vertebrates, respectively. ERWINHAAS.
Advances i n Enzymology and Related &‘ubjccts. Vol. 11. Edited by E. F. NORDand C. 374 pp.; 23 illustrations; 31 tables. New York: InterH. WERKMAN.6 x 9+ in.; viii science Publishers, Inc., 1942. Price: $5.50. Fifteen authors eminent in their field have contributed to the second volume of this serics of independent monographs which already has become indispensable for any biological library. I n the contribution of Max Bergmann, attempts are made to classify proteolytic enzymes tentatively on the basis of structural requirements in the substrate. The mechanism of proteolytic enzyme action is discussed according to their activation by metals, sulfhydryl compounds, and hydrocyanic w i d . The importance of coupled reactions in the decomposition of peptides by proteolytic enzymes is stressed, and interesting possib mentioned regarding the rOle of coupled reactions in biological synthcsis of proteins or in the action of viruses. In the chapter on the enzymatic properties of peptidases, by Marvin J. Johnson and Julius Berger, the authors have stated the present knowledge on peptidase systems occurring in animal organs, yeasts, higher plants, fungi, and bacteria. From specificity relations towards certain substrates, or from the activation of enzyme systems by metals and reducing agents, preliminary conclusions may be suggested as to the similarity of peptidases from different sources. The necessity of isolation of the pure ellzymes for elucidation of the action of the peptidases is pointed out. The kinetics of hydrolytic enzymes and their bearing on methods for measuring enzyme activity are discussed by Donald D. Van Slyke. On the basis of recent experiments on arginine hydrolysis conducted in the writer’s laboratory, as well a s on classical experi ments by Michaelis and Menten, Van Slyke and Cullen and others, the two-phaae law
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of enzyme action is reviewed. I t s validity is demonstrated in the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea and arginine. Application of these laws of enzyme kinetics will assist in selecting the conditions for the most effective action of the enzymes in a given case. C. H . Werkmann and H . G.Wood, who were the first to advance the concept of heterotrophic utilization of carbon dioxide, have contributed a n excellent review in which the mechanism of carbon dioxide fixation by bacteria and by animal tissue is discussed. The increasing importance of this concept in general metabolic cycles suggests t h a t i t may play an essential r61e also in the carbon dioxide fixation by the photosynthesis of green plants. An hypothesis of the reciprocal action of f a t and carbohydrates as sources of energy is advanced by Edgar J. Witzemann. With adequate supplies of carbohydrate the catabolism of these furnishes the major part of the energy needs of the organism. In fasting or in severe diabetes, the catabolism may shift to f a t largely. Mobilization of depot fat a s phospholipids, their transport to the tissueenzyme systems, and their oxidative catabolism are discussed. The field of cellulose decomposition by microiirganisms, although of tremendous importance, is still largely unexplored. A. G . Xorman and W. A. Fuller consider the present concept of the chemistry of cellulose. I n chapters dealing with the biochemistry of cellulose decomposition by bacteria and fungi, extracellular enzyme systems are proposed for the transformation of insoluble cellulose into diffusible compounds which thereupon may be metabolized intracellularly. Characteristics of cellulose-decomposing bacteria are discussed, together with methods of cultivation and classification. Another microiirganism is studied in great detail in the contribution of Hiroshi Tamiya,namely, A s p e r g i h s Oryzaue. The respiration, fermentation, and enzyme systems involved therein are considered. Chemical changes accompanying tea fermentation are reviewed by E. A. Houghton Roberts. The mechanism of the oxidation of tannin and of its subsequent condensation and combination with leaf protein is investigated. Attempts are made for the identification of. the tea oxidase with cytochrome oxidase. So far there is only circumstantial evidence for the r61e of cytochrome in tea fermentation, as direct spectroscopic observations are prevented by chlorophyll and tannin oxidation will not be accelerated by the addition of cytochrome. E. Albert Zeller reports on experiments with diaminoiixidase, a partially purified enzyme preparation which brings about the oxidative deamination of histamine and other basic compounds containing a t least two amino groups. From the simultaneous occurrence of histaminase and of diaminoiixidase, and also from inhibition experiments. the identity of both enzymes is strongly suggested. Methods of assay and methods of preparation of diamin&xidase are described, together with its substrate specificity, its inhibition and activation, and its biological significance. Historical and modern viewpoints on bacteriophages are reviewed by Max Delbriick. The modern outlook holds t h a t specific bacterial viruses occur ubiquitously, although in somc cases pathological symptoms of the host have not been found. The nature of the specificity of the host-virus relation has been explored, and virus mutations are considered as well as the effects of irradiation with x-rays. Different methods of assay are discussed, all of them based on the lysis of some susceptible bacterial host cell by the phage. In one “life cycle”, that is, in the time interval between adsorption of the virus and lysis of the host cell, the amount of virus may increase up to two hundred fold. The review on the chemistry and physiology of vitamin K by Hendrik Dam deserves especial interest, owing to the presentation of hitherto unpublished observations from the reviewer’s laboratory. The antihemorrhagic vitamin is necessary to maintain in blood plasma a sufficient amount of prothrombin, which, in its activated form, converts fibrinogen into insoluble fibrin. Dietary requirements for development of the disease are summarized. Methods of vitamin K assay in animal experiments are discussed, based on prevention of visible bleedings or on the effects on blood coagulation. Physicochemical methods of de-
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termination include ultraviolet spectroscopy, polarography, color reactions, and titration of the hydroquinone derivatives. The units for vitamin K activity proposed by several investigators are compared, and i t is suggested that activity be defined by means of an accessible, pure compound. Occurrence of the vitamin and its isolation from natural sources are reviewed; the structure and synthesis of the natural K vitamins, as well as of the group of artificial vitamin K substitutes, are considered in detail. The mode of action in the animal organism, deficiency in humans, and clinical aspects of vitamin K treatment are reviewed. I n an article on adrenal cortical hormones by J. J. Pfiffner, the progress which has been made in the understanding of the chemistry of the cortex hormones is summarized. The criterion of biological potency for these hormones is the maintenance of the adrenalectomized animal. MetKods of preparation of hormone concentrates are compared, which so far have yielded five cortin-active compounds and a number of related steroids. The structure of the known cortex hormones and their partial synthesis are considered, Different assay procedures for the evaluation of hormone activity are studied, and the effects of various cortex hormones on carbohydrate metabolism and on other biological reactions are reported. ERWINHAAS.
The Stone That Burns. The Story of the American Sulphur Industry. By WILLIAMS HAYNES. 53 x 8+ in.; xii 345 pp. Xew York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1942. Price: W.75. Every American chemist is more or less familiar with the Frasch process of mining sulfur by melting i t with hot water and pumping i t up as a liquid, but few chemists appreciate the problems and difficulties which had t o be overcome before this revolutionary development came into full operation. All of this, as well as the economics of the world market, are admirably described. A very choice bit of physical chemistry is recalled by the chance discovery t h a t if the temperature of the water became too high, difficulties w'ere encountered in pumping sulfur, owing t o its anomalous increase in viscosity. The annual production of sulfur is perhaps the best index t o the growth of the entire chemical industry. The author has made a worthy contribution to chemical literature in his interesting portrayal of the American sulfur industry. S. C. LIND.
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ALBERTNOYES, JR.,and PHILIPALBERTLEIGHThe Photochemistry of Gases. By WILLIAM TON. American Chemical Society Monograph Series, No. 86. 6 x 9t in.; 475 pp.; 66 figures; 37 tables. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1941. Price: 110.00. The expansion of the knowledge of photochemistry is well illustrated by the necessity of limiting the treatment in a book of nearly five hundred pages t o the photoreaction initiated in the gaseous state alone. This choice confines the consideration to that part of the subject t o which quantum principles are most readily applicabl'e. Even with this simplification many difficult problem! remain. The technique of monochrpmatic emission, its absorption, and measurement are adequately treated. The relations between spectroscopy and photochemistry are admirably described both for atomic and for molecular systems. This part of the book is equally applicable t o systems other than gaseous. I n the several chapters on kinetics and mechanism of photochemical reaction many cases are discussed in detail. I n about forty appendices all of the gaseous reactions t h a t have been investigated are listed and classified, together with data in each case on quantum yield under various conditions. The present work represents an up-to-date summary of the progress of photochemistry and a thorough discussion of the underlying principles. Evidently neither the theory nor the technique of photochemical investigation has become simpler in the course of its progress. No attempt is made in the present treatise to minimize this fact. But a full realization of the nature of the problems and a clear exposition of the principles that are t o be applied in their solution greatly facilitate the mastery of this important field of chemical kinetics. S. C. LIND.
