RECENT BOOKS CHEMISTRY OR THE PROTEINS.Dorothy Jordan Lloyd, Director of the British Leather Manufacturers' Research Association, and Agnes Shore, London School of Medicine for Women. Second Edition. P. Blakiston's Son and Co., Inc., Philadelphia. 1938. xi 532 pp. 101 figs. 13 X 20.5 cm. $5.50. The first edition of this hook appeared in 1926. Smce that date there has been an enormous expansion of the literature of the proteins, and much order has begun to appear from the earlier chaos. I t is entirely fitting, therefore, that this second and muchexpanded edition should he welcomed a t the present time. Among all of the workers in the field of proteins there are probably none who can write with greater authority in the field than can Dr. Jordan Lloyd, since a continuous stream of research papers on the most diverse phases of protein chemistry have. during the past many years, continued t o came from her laboratories. and she is internationallv recoenized as an authoritv on " Icathcr ehcmisrry and the chemirtry of the hide proteins. The present vulurnc is much more than a revision of the firrt edition It is a complete rewriting and re-uraluar~onof the whject and presents a satisfactory cross-section of the literature of the field. The hook is divided into two parts and fourteen chapters. Part I covers the Nature and Constitution of the Proteins, The Different Classes of Proteins, The Methods of Protein Analysis, The Individuality of the Proteins. The Biochemistry of Proteins and Amino Acids, The Proteolytic Enzymes, and The Linkages in the Protein Molecule. Part I1 includes the mare physico-chemical phases, such as The Architecture of the Protein Molecule, The Combination of Proteins with Acids and Alkalies, The Properties of Protein Solutions, The Absorption and Loss of Water by Gels and Tissues. The Specific Effects of Salts on Protein Solutions, Denaturation and Coagulation, and The Theory of Protein Solntions. By-and-large the topics are adequately discussed, and the appropriate literature citations are indicated. Occasionally, however, one wishes that the authors had been somewhat more critical in their comments. for quite frequently diverse viewpoints of protein workers are cited with no indication as to which viewpoint (if any) is favored by the authors. I n the opinion of the reviewer, however, such uncritical treatment as does occur is infinitely to he preferred to a biased treatment which some authors occasionally adopt, whereby only those viewpoints agreeing with a oreconceived thearv are deemed worthv of mention. Certainlv in the present volume the authors have attempted t o present all aspects of the problem. The paper, printing, and binding are excellent, and typographical errors are relatively rare and as a rule easily recognizable as such. There are a few statements of fact which the reviewer would question, such as (page 8). "Nearly all known amino acids are found in nearlv all known oroteius." and (napes 76 and 253) that the protarnines are the characte&ic Gotiin af fish "roe." Adequate author and subject indexes areprovided. The volume is highly recommended by the reviewer, particularly because it may be taken by the American scientist as representing the viewpoint of the English workers in the field of the proteins. R~~~ kgEN G~~~~~~
+
TEBUNIYBII~Y os MINNESOTA MINNB*POLIS,
MlNNBSOT*
CRYSTAL C ~ s w s m . C. W.Stillwell. Dennison Manufacturing Company. McGraw-Hill Book Company. hc.9 New York City, 1938. vii 431 PP. 72 figs. 13.5 X 20.5 cm. 54.50. This little hook was intended by its author to be a combination of elementary text and a starting point for further study. It deals with sizes of atoms and ions, the nature of the metallic state, the structures and properties of alloys, structure of cam-
+
pounds, and the fiber state. I t is really a noteworthy summary of the literature on the chemical side of crystal structure and, as such, is heartily recommended to all teachers of chemistry. Opinions will probably differ widely as to the point in a chemistry curriculum a t which such material should be introduced. I n the opinion of your reviewer, the author is pretty optimistic when he states his belief that freshmen in chemistry can profit by a two weeks' exposure t o this material. Freshmen are apt to get enthusiastic about "top" before they have a solid foundation of "bottom." If your reviewer were to criticize this hook a t all it would he not on the basis of its actual contents but rather on the basis of the philosophy in accordance with which it has obviously been written. I t is very evident that the author believes current scientific theoryand accepts it wi(halmost the unquestioning fervor of a theologian. The hook has been written from the standpoint that "matteris thusandso" instead of from the standpoint that "matter has the same properties that it would he found to have if it were thus and so." I t must be repeated to each generationof students that no true scientist bclievcs his theories-he only user them; he does not take them for trulh, but only as convenient analogies which are useful only in so far as they enable him to predict experimental results to within the precision to which he is interested. Belief in the truth of scientific theories should be limited to newspaper reporters. A textbook or a reference book in physics or chemistry should not even imply that current theory is correct. I t should, instead, always imply that any theory has only one chance in infinity of being correct, but that it may be an extremely useful theory, nevertheless. If the author had written from such a point of view he would not only have had a noteworthy hook-he would have had an outstanding book. But perhaps it is asking too much t o expect everyone, even every worker in science, to be a one hundred per cent. skeptic. We might hope, however, that some day it will be considered a proper beginning for each class in college science t o quote Dr. W. R. Whitney's proverb, "Nine tenths of the literature and one tenth of every textbook is incorrect." Sometimes he shortened this to the blunt statement-"If it's in theliterature, it isn't so." I n spite of your reviewer's sermon, every teacher of chemistry and most teachers of physics should own CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY as a reference book. They will all find i t stimulating a t least, and most of them will find it useful on many occasions. WHEELERP. DAVBY PBNNSYLV*NI* %*TB COL.BOB S T ~ COLLEGE. B PBNNSYLYANIA
A COURSEIN C n s m w SPECTROSCOPY. H. W. Thom$so~011, M.A. (Oxon.). Ph.D. (Berlin), Lecturer in Chemistry, Oxford University. Oxford University Press. London, 1938. iii 86 pp. 8 plates and 27 diagrams. 14 X 22.5 cm. 8.25. This book is intended to be a laboratory manual for a course designed to teach chemistry students what spectra look like and how they are photographed. The material covered includes the principal lines and the types of series in atomic spectra, a comparison of arc, spark, and flame emission spectra, the general featuresof a hand spectrumand therotationalstructureof a hand. various types of band absorption spectra with their interpretstion in terms of potential energy curves, a discussion of pre-dissociation, bond energies, and the Morse potential energy curve, and, lastly, absorption bands in the photographic infra-red. s he equipment required includes a glass and a quartz prism spectrograph and a &meter grating instrument. For the use of those who do not have this equipment available, excellent photographs of the spectra under consideration are to he found with each experiment and enough data are given so that the assigned problems can he performed. "The theory involved in each of the experiments is incorporated into each of them, and it is hoped
197
+
