SOYBEANS AND SOYBEAN PRODUCTS. VOLUME I
0
Edited by Klare S. Mcrrkley. Interscience Publishers, Inc., 540 pp. 123 figs. 92 tables. 15.5 X New York, 1950. xvi 23.5 cm. $11.
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IP A person desires references regarding soybeans from 2838 B.C. to
1949 A.D., together with 8. short but accurate summary of each reference, this is the book to buy. The book is encyclopedic in charaoter, each of its fourteen sections heing prepared by a person thoroughly familiar w i t h his subject. The first three chapters, while not particularly interesting from the chemical viewpoint, make excellent and instructive reading relative to the history of the production, work production, and trade and also to the strucdure and genetic characteristics of the soybean. These chaoters are well illustrated oartieularlv that ttrtainine to United States. The botanical chapter carries a beautiful plate showing the color, ahapes, and sizes of thirty varieties of soybean seeds. The chapter on the chemical composit.ion of the soybean seed is somewhat short but those pertaining to the chemical and physical characteristics of the ail and to the nitrogenous and nutritive factors occupy more than half the hook. Under "influence of maturity" it is stated that "the composition of the soj-bean during its period of development and maturation is in a state of flux until physiological maturity is reached." Another interesting statement in the same section, from a. bulletin of the agricultural experiment ststion of the S. Manchuria Ry. Co., is "they [Tsukunaga and Nishino] found the iodine velue of the ail increased as the seed matured." I t is well known that the iodine number of soybean oil is more variable than is that of most seed oils. One table, four pages in extent, giving the results of analyses of ninetyfive semples of soybean oil from tmelve varieties of soybeans discloses a greater variance in iodine number than is usually puhlished elsewhere. The lowest iodine number is 99.6 and the highest 147.6. Several methods applicable to the analysis of edihle oils are described. Unfortunately in the description of t.he determination of the thiacyanogen value the methods for the prepamtion of the reagents are omitted. Under the subheading "Detection of soybean meal or flour in other materials," is given a twc-page summary of twenty publications of that. character. This may seem very little space, yet this reviewer, who is familiar with several but not all of the publications, can state that if work of that character is suddenly thrust upon an analyst he can ascertain by reading those two pages what methods are hest suited for his problems and then can get the details from the original puhlications. The last chapter relates to mechanical processing and is well illustrated with half-tone cuts of manv oieees of mschinerv.
detail. There is an enormous amount of valuable information in the chapter on proteins and other nitrogenous constituents, and also in that upon nutritive factors, culled from 495 and 204 original sources respectively. When one considers the enormous amount of necessary study, reading, abstracting, and presenting the results in excellent English it is evident that the publishers, the editor, and the contributors have done well in making this valuable information available to all. There is no index, it being reserved for inclusion in Volume 11.
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SUPERFLUIDS. VOLUME I
Fritz London, Duke University. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New 161 pp. 45 figs. 15.5 X 24 cm. $5. York, 1950. viii
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IN1911 Kamerlingh Onnes discovered that the electried resistance of mercury dropped to zero near 4.Z°K., the boiling point of helium. Also, the viscosity of liquid helium drops to nesr eero below 2.19'K. In 1933 Meissner and Ochsenfeld cooled a monocrystal of tin in a magnetic field. At the superfluid transition point, the magnetic lines of force ceased going through the crystal and passed around it. The magnetic induction thus vanishes inside the superconductor along with the electrical reesistance. Such behavior is not understandable in terms of classical mechanics. London deals in this book with the efforts to fit these facts into the theories of matter. He' apparently behaves as a BoseEinsteu~gas while He8 does not, as London antioipated. Thc particles of the fluid fiettle down with zero momentum in the superfluid temperature range. As a. result, the oorresponding wave lengths reach maoroscopic dimensions. Such particles have zero entropy. Interpenetrating with these particles in physical space but separated from them in momentum space are random particles which carry the entropy of the system. This book has both the fascination and limitations which go with unfinished theories. I t is dearly written a t the rather mathematical level required to discuss such phenomena. I t should he required reading for anyone who would understand the theory of matter at the lowest temperature. HENRY EYRING U ~ r v ~ n a r vor v Uma ~ A L TLAZE C ~ YUTAR ,
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CHEMICAL THERMODYNAMICS
Frederick D. Rossini, Head,Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Ingtitute of Technology, Pittsburgh. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. xix 514 pp. 76 figs. 19 tahles. 14.5 x 22 om. $6.
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THISbook is written as a text for a course in chemical thermodynamic,~for those who have studied physical chemistry and calculus. Emphasis is given to practical applications of thermodynamic principles, the material being arranged in the author's plans for instructional use and not necessarily in the order of the chronological development. Tho first five chapters trtke up background material and introductory concepts, and the first law of thermodynamics and various energy chmges are the subjects of the next five chapters. The hroad topics next discussed are entropy, free energy, thermcdynamic relations, energies of reaction, statistical calculations of thermodynamic functions, third law, equilibrium, solutions, equilibrium constant and free energy, electromotive force, thermodynamics of solutions of electrolytes, and applications of thermodynamic calculations. The appendix containins 13 tables of useful data, a table of symbols and bheir defintions, and s, list of 151 references. The author has been cmeful to follow a planned use of symbols which are essentially those prophsed by Lewis and Randall. For discussion of solutions-the symbol * is used to denote a -pure
for examole. standard heat of formation is callo; AHf" and st,and: md incr&nt in heat content for a combust,ion is ~1111edAHRO~
EERMANN C. LYTHGOE
for the teacher and thestudent.
JULY. 1951
399
Teachers will be particularly interested in Chapter 34 which contains many valuable practical cdculations. High pressure and equilibrium calculations are considered; in dditiau iuformation iij+wn conwnting thy rnxrrufacturc of iroorrarw, hutadirnc, styrenr, synthdv f d a , alrohol, and of toleme fnnn light gmolinc fmrtims of ovtn,lt.um. Thr sevtions dealina - wirh evaluarion of purity from freezing point measurements and with fractionation processes are to be commended. A sufficient number of good problems is given at the end of each chapter and it is refreshing to fmd compressibility factor charts in Chapter 23 which are usable for student calculatious. In the reviewer's opinion the book is written on a level of difficulty for a graduate course rather than an undergraduate course. However, it probably could be used in a t,w*semester senior course if the instructor used care in selecting the material. ARTHUR A. VERNON
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INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURAL BIOCHEMISTRY
R. Adorns Dutcher, Professor of Agricultural and Biological Chemistry; Clifford 0. lensen, Professor of Phytochemistry; Paul M. Althouse, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, Pennsylvania State College. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1951. xii 502 pp. 23 figs. 14.5 X 22 cm. $6.
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THIS textbook was written for students who have had
". . . sound training in inorganic and organic chemistry." The authors express the hope that the book will also ". . . serve as a
general reference book for students who are interested in the underlying chemiod principles affecting plant and animal growth." The approach, however, is so elementary that it is doubtful if the book could be considered as a reference work since, in the main, the few references cited are to other textbooks of biochemistry. To use the book as a text would probably require a special course developed to fit the subject matter of the book. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, "General and Introductory," consists of eight chapters. The first is a brief history of the development of agricultural chemistry. The second deals with the elementary chemistry of living matter such as might be found in most textbooks of beginning botany or eoology. Chapter 3, the Physics1 State of Matter, is a. review of disso&tion, osmosis, surface tension, pH, !tc., written a t a level that would be encountered in a beg~nnmgtext of plant physiology. Chapter 4, Carbohydrates, and 5, Lipids, are simple discussions of the chemical properties of these substances treated less extensively than would be found in a first course in organic chemistry. Chapter 6, Proteins, suffers greatly from brevity and omissions. Denaturation, for example, is scarcely considered. Stereoisomerism of amino acids is discussed including an illustration of a polariscope and how it is used to determine optical rotation in an early chapter, yet no specific mention is made as to whether natural amino acrds are of the d or 1 form. Ribose is presented as a constituent of nucleoproteins, but no mention of desaxyribose appears. The classical structural formula of s tetranucleotide is presented (page 110) with a c a p tion beneath stating, "A typical nucleic acid." Also the statement appears on the same page that, "Nucleic acid is, therefore, a tetranucleotide." Chapter 7, Enaymes, is presented on a much higher plane than the previous chapters and is a good, though brief, survey of the subject. The next chapter, Biological Oxidations, is written from the modern point of view, but again suffers from brevity. On psges 149 and 150 a scheme for the stepwise conversion of starch to pyruvic acid is given. The phosphorylation of glucose by hexokinase is indicated but no mention is made of the necessity for a source of high-energy phosphate. The enzyme responsible for the pbosphorylatiou of fructose6phosphate to
fmcroi~-I,Crdil,hosphateis called hexosc dipho3phstwe. The concept of a high-energy plrosplmte bond is !rut introdured uutil five pages later, and then only in the sense of conserving energy derived from the oxidation of pyruvate in the Kreh's cycle. Similarly, the creation of a. high-energy phosphate bond during the oxidation of 3-phosphoglyeerddehyde to 3-phosphoglyceric acid is not considered except that the Lipmann designation (-P) is used without explsnation. The transier of electrons and protons is lucidly explained and the statement, "Water is thus the graveyard of electrons from oxidized food," caught the r e viewer's fancy. With a moderate amount of expansion, this chapter could he made into s. good account of general respiratory processes. Part 2, "The Plant," consists of six chapters. Seed Germinsi tion can scarcely be considered even elementary plant physiology. The Soil m d Its Relation to Plant Growth is a. brief reiteration of the subject matter of a beginning soils text. The mechanism of nitrogen fixation is described according to the notions of Virtanen, but no account is given of the elegant experiments of Burris and Wilson using N" to describe the pathway of nitrogen fixation. The next chapter, Fertilizers, is elementary agronomy. Plant Metabolism very briefly considers photosynthesis, protein metabolism, and lipid metabolism. In view of the recent remarkable sdvanaes in photosynthesis, tbis subject would have profited greatly from expansion. Chapter 13, Pesticides, and 14 Farm Chemurgy, require space thsl could well have been used for the expansion of ". the underlying chemical principles affecting plant . . . growth." I t is difficult to understand how any text purporting ta explain the chemical basis of plant growth could completely omit all reference to plant growth regulators, except to mention 2-4D as a herbicide. Part 3, "The Animal," consists of 10 chapters. While the reviewer does not feel competent to judge this section in its proper perspective, nevertheless it should be noted that Chapters 20,21, and 22 on carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism, respectively, are unsatisfactorily brief in their consideration of such important subjects. There is au appendix a t the end of the book listing the nutritional requirements of farm animals. The reviewer doubts that the subject matter of this book approaches the present level of agricultural biochemistry as it is being taught in tbis oountry. Agricultural students who can meet the severe requirements of ". . . sound trainine in inaramic and org3nic chmllsrry" HTP surely ~ m ' p ~ r e10daercpt, undrrsrana, and to profit irom n more tlnrruuyl. treatment of the biuchru~icnl mcclm.~.mcof liviug p ~ . o t q h i n ~ .
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8. G . WILDMAN
PHYSICAL METHODS IN CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. VOLUME I1
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Edited by Walter G. Bed, Applied Phpios Laboratory, Johns Hoplrins University. Academic Press, Jnc., New York, 1951. . xii 640 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. $13.50.
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INCONTINUING the presentation of the earlier volume of this set, this one includes "electrical, magnetic, and miscellaneous techniques." The diversity of coverage is shown by the section headings: "Metallurgical polarographic analysis and polarometric titrations," J. Heyrovsky (48 pages); 'LCanductometrio analysis," H. T. S. Britton (53 pages); "Potentiometrio analysis,'' H. A. Laitiuen (48 pages); "Electrography and eleetro-spot testing," H. W. Hermance and H. V. Wadlow (77 pages); "Magnetic methods of analysis," A. R. Kaufmrtnu (25 psges); "Determination of the area of the surfaces of solids," G. Jura (48 pages); "Surface tension measurements," M. Dole (28 pages); "Vacuum techniques and analysis,'' B. B. Dayton (53 pages); "Gas analy~isby methods depending on thermal conductivity," E. R. Weaver (50 psges); "Measurement of radioactivity far tracer applications," A. Langer (60 pages); "Statistical analysis," J. Sherman (88 pages); and "Chromatographic analysis," W. G.
