444
JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
the diversity of results, but he needs much more background before considering applications t o his own problems. However, an excellent and complete hiblioara~hv - - .is given, - . as well as key references to the original literature. A hook on a. highly active new field of researoh may be comprehensive one year but sadlyiucomplete the next. And this would he the case for any book a t this time onnuolear magnetism, even if i t were thrice as long as Ramsey's hook. Nonetheless, there is a real demand for reports an the utility and development of the field. And the author and publishers have performed a very useful service in making available a current, though inevitably limited, review. H . S . GUTOWSKY
DICTIONARY OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. 4 VOLUMES
Sir I a n Heilbron and H.M. Bunbury, Editors-in-Chief, Second edition. Oxford University Press, New York, 1953. Vol. I, 838 pp.; xvi 654 pp.; Vol. 11, xvi 845 pp.; Vol. 111, xvi 694 pp. 19 X 2 6 em. $78 per set. Val. IV, xvi
+
+
+
+
T m publication of this new edition of "Heilbron" fulfills the hope of many chemists and the promise of the editors that this useful reference work would be kept reasonably up to date. At the time that the first edition appeared in 193437, i t was the inC c w r ? l i w or p i u \.t.lrr. This lrrltiolr to m x h H C O ~ ~ I F Trcvisiorl ~ r . xltnougl~a rwirr I vtlitimi uf 1'01phn was prc wntrd by t h w umc I ar,l,c:xrnl in 1'113 and \'olurnra I 1 nntl I11 new rcnrirrtrd with supplements in 1944. According to the preface, the whale of the text of thitl new edition has been examined carefully and revised in the light of publications through 1950, and some material is as recent as the early months of 1953. The size of the new edition has been increased by 2500 entries and 535 pages. To facilitate handling, the revision consists of four volumes instead of three. Such expmsions are useful hut cannot be continued indefinitely without sacrificing the advantages of a convenient handbook. In the present instance, the increased amount of material has been accommodated by increasing the printing area. by 30 sq. em. per page and by using a thinner paper. One of the most remarkable sccomplishments of the publishers is the estahlishment of a price for the four-volume set in 1954 a t only three dollars more than for the three-volume set in 1934. The type of information included remains the same as in the first edition. The formula of the compound is followed by the source if a natural product, the physical properties, derivatives and their physical properties, and references to methods of preparation and constitution. As an example of the changes that have been made, the first p q e of the first edition htts entries for Abietic Acid, Absinthin, Acacetin, Aeeanthrenequinone, and Acenaphthaquinoline. I n the new edition Acenaphthitquinolino appear8 three-fourths of the way through page 2, the entries up to this point being Ahadole, Abienol, Abietic Acid, Ahietinol, Ahrine, Acacetin, Acacisi biuronic Acid, Aeaciin, Aceanthrene, and Aceanthrenequinone,
with cross references forAceconitic Acid, Acenaphthantbracene, Acensphthapyridine, and Acenaphthaquinoline. The three entries appearing in the first edition have been expanded even when no new references are cited. As may be expected in a work of this sort, the material presented is not all that one would like i t to be. Far example, under Abietic Acid the statement, "Forms an additive compound with maleic anhydride," hardly conveys the fact that the reaction involves rearrangement and that the adduct is that of sapietic acid and not abietic acid. Somewhat higher values for the melting point and rotation than those given have been recorded, and the ultraviolet absorption maximum has been found to be a t 241 mp rather than 237.5 mp. Although nine references t o the original literature are given, that t o the work of Harris in 1948, which showed that abietic acid is a natural constituent of the oleoresins and not merely arearranged product, is missing. Also one might have expected a reference to the useful review on the chemistry of the resin acids published by Zeiss in 1948. Although papers
all the more &rprising since isodextropimarinal, isolated in later work by Harris and Sanderson, is listed. Of course it is purely accidental that the reviewer happened t o be familiar with the chemistry of a compound listed an the first page of the first volume, and i t is not intended to imply that these adverse comments are representative of the volume as a whole. On the other hand it does emphasize the fact that no handbook can be depended upon t o take the place of a careful literature search. Two general objections may be made to the "Dictionary" which could have been improved in the new edition. When one is confronted with eight or ten references to the original literature, i t would be hehful to have some indication of their content other
adopted, hut where a systematic procedure is used for indexing purposes, i t does not follow any of tho more familiar systems. Since by far the largest number of entries is by common names or their simple derivatives, this diffioulty is not as great as one might expect. However, anyone attempting to use the dictionary should read the introduction, which is repeated in each vol,,me. As a handy reference hook to organic compounds and a. guide to recent literature, the "Dictionary" remains a very useful tool for all chemists. ~~~~~~~
CARL R . NOLLER
ST*NFOBD U . w v e ~ s m r C*L,PORNI* STANFORD.
A FRENCH-ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR CHEMISTS Austin M. Patterson, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Aniiooh College. Second edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 476 pp. 13.5 X 18.5 em. $6.50. 1954. xiv THISis a new and enlarged edition of a dictionary first puhlished in 1921, and i t now contains about 42,000 terms.
+
