NEW BOOKS
393
The new book is divided into the same general parts found in the first edition: I, the colloid state of matter, 348 pages; 11, proteins, 226 pages; 111, carbohydrates, 138 pages; IV, lignin and the tannins, 17 pages; V, plant and animal pigments, 35 pages; VI, the lipids and essential oils, 66 pages; VII, the biocatalysts, 122 pages. The three new chapters are: V, oxidation-reduction, written by H. B. Bull; XXXI, the flavins; and XXXVI, the hormones, written with the cooperation of L. S. Palmer. Oxidation-reduction is given the usual treatment for chemistry students, with little attempt a t biological application. The relation of the flavins to vitamins and enzymes is discussed in five pages. Chapter 36 gives a good brief review of both plant and animal hormones. Among additions t o the colloid section are Svedberg’s molecular weight studies, much new electrokinetic data, surface film work, and new terms like thixotropy and coacervation. The protein section is greatly changed with the switter-ion treatment of amino acids, the new amino acids and their value in nutrition, new studies on protein structure, intermediates of amino acid metabolism, etc. The newer formulas and proposed structures of carbohydrates are included in section 111. The discussion of lignin is entirely new. The chief addition to the lipid section is extensive new data on synthetic glycerides, fatty acid structures and nutrition, and antioxidants. The completely rewritten chapter on vitamins is one of the best. The discussion of the chemical nature of the enzymes greatly enlarges t h a t chapter. T o avoid undue length the author has limited the more strictly physiological subjects like photosynthesis, respiration, permeability, etc. In certain fields, such as resistance of plants t o drought and cold, the author may sometimes give wrong impressions by limiting his discussions to purely biochemical studies. Physiologists are generally in agreement that resistance t o drought and cold is dependent on so many factors, including structure, that no one measurable characteristic is likely to be proved “all important.” This edition is a distinct improvement over the first and should be even more widely used than that very popular volume. GEORQE0. BURR.
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Chemische Spektralanalyse. By W. SEITEAND K. RUTHARDT.20 x 14 cm.; vi 103 pp. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1938. Price: 7.50RM. This is the best textbook on practical spectrochemical analysis t h a t has yet appeared in the German language. Arranged in a series of twenty-two practical lessons or exercises, the various sections follow each other in easy and logical progression. The necessary apparatus, test pieces, and reference books required are listed a t the commencement of each lesson. The instructions are concise, complete, and clear, and particulars of some representative modern methods are included. Absorption spectrophotometry is dismissed in one short lesson, but qualitative and quantitative spectrochemical analysis, both visual and photographic, are adequately dealt with in so f a r as they are practised in the author’s country. Some use is made of the nomenclature and of the energy level diagrams of modern atomic spectrum theory, but the space devoted t o this is necessarily very restricted. The book suffers from one grave defect,-it ignores with a completeness unique in publications on this subject all information t h a t cannot be referred t o German sources; otherwise i t might have been the best introductory textbook on the subject t h a t has yet appeared in any language.
F. TWYMAN.
