BOOK REVIEWS more complex combination. This part of the volume describes the crystallogrephy of alloys in.genersl and then presents data on t h e alkali metals, alkaline earths, transition metal alloys, and some alloys of magnesium, as well as aluminum. Over 5M)O literature references are cited, and in many eases the gap from the date of the final search t o the date oi publication is not large, althaugll in others several years have passed. The diagrams and figures number some 350, and they are particularly abundant and excellent in the section on crystallography. Phase disgrams are also stressed. The arrangement of chapters has been made t o group metals, or families of metals, with common characteristics. The alloys of metals with metalloids are taken up in same detail in the sections on alkali metals and alkaline earths. For the material covered u p t o this point, the volume would seem t o be tlmrough in coverage, well illustrated, and excellent in many resperts, but a n evaluation of the volume as a whole cannot be made until the entire work can be examined. The m a t e d presented nmxars t o he un t o date. and the hieh standards of the entire treatise previously pohlished have been maintained.
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RuoEn V. KRUMM C'niwmit?, o j Florida Gainesoillr, Florida Comparative Biochemistry, A Comprehensive Treatise. Volume 4, Constituents of Life, Part B
Xdited by Marcel Florkin, University of Litge, Belgium, and Howard S. M a n a , University of Oregon Medical School, Portland. Academic Press, Inc., Xew York, 11162. xriii 841 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 23.5 cm. S26.
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Volumes 3, 4, and 3 of "Comparative Biochemistry" are concerned with the
a
treatmenk of ~ulum& ,;: continues metabolic components which are nhiquitous and whieli emphasize the essential biochemical unity of life. Thus, there are several chapters whicll illustrate this unity, including disr:ussions devoted to cellulose, stsrrll and glyrogen, lignin, the nwleir acids, m n n a t i r a n i n < , acids, thepnrphyrins, pteridines, and aarotenoids. 4 t the same time, lrowcver, the current, volume also begins t o treat those rnetsholic constituents whir11 orcur only in portions uf the phylogenetic srnle and wllirh remind us that there is nlr, a biorhemical diversity in life. I t might he helpful to the reader t o underscore a f e n of the rhnpter topics whir.11 fall into the latter enkgory. Volume 4 begins with a delightful review oi optical asymmetry and its relevance t o the origin and evolutim of living things. One of the best written rhnpters in the current volume is that
(Continued on page A 3 I 8 )
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BOOK REVIEWS entitled Protein Molecules: Intraspecifie and Interspecific Variations, including a consideration of both homologaua and heterologous proteins. Other chapters devoted to more specialized forms of proteins include those on keratin, sclerotizatian, and blood coagulation. This group of chapters on special farms of adaption oi protein structure is rounded out by an excellent critique of problems of metnmorphoais and biochemical adapt&tions in amphibia. The present volume closes with a review of the comparative biochemistry of the alkali metals and a discussion oi the evolution of ion balance in intra- and extrscellular fluids. The continued high quality of scholarship evident in Volume 4 of "Comparative Biochemistry" gives the subscriber to all seven volumes a n exciting anticipation of soon having in his library the most comprehensive and critical treatise to be written in this area during the past two decades. W. R. FRISELL TJnzversity of Colorado School of Medicine Denver The Application of Organic Bores in Analytical Chemislry
E . A. Ost~oumou. Tranalated by D. A . Paterson. Pergamon Press Ltd., London, 1962. xxv 159pp. Tables. 14.5 X 22em. $8.50.
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This monograph is a detailed, retrospective, somewhat personalized presentation of certain systematic atudies pursued by E. A. Ostroumov since about 1933. These studies were directed toward the use of weak organic bases for pH control and adjustment and as weak complexing agents in the hydroxide and sulfide precipitation8 of metals. In brief, methods are presented for the somewhat selective separation of certain metals based on the use of pyridine or 2-piealine in hydroxide precipitations and of pyridine or hexamethylenetetramine in hydrogen sulfide precipitations. Some of the findings are of lessened contemporary importance with the evolution of such techniques as precipitation from homogeneous solution ion exchange, and solvent extraction. Because of the limited audience to which this monograph should be of primary interest, the trrtnslztor and his puhlisher are to be especidy commended for this undertaking. The translation into Western European languages of Ruaaian monographs for the specialist often aids far more in surmounting communication harriers than the translation of many works of broad readership. Brief, page-to-page comparison of the original Russian work, published in 1959, and the English text indicates that the translation is complete and ielicitous.
A. J. BARNARD, JR. J. T. Baker Chemical Co. Phillipsburg, New Jersey (Coniinued on page AHO)
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journal of Chemicol Education
