kinetics of chemical reactions; the discussion of acids and bases has been generalized and includes a section on solva-ions; and the relation between the chemical behavior of compounds and their structures has been clearly illustrated. Students of superior ability will @d this introduction very stimulating. Two chapters in this volume deserve particular notice: the first is one on "Mental attitude" which emphasizes the scientific viewpoint or "research ideology"; and the second is one a n "Blowpipe analysis," which reintroduces this long neglected branch of qualitative analysis to the elementary student. Wider use is made of organic reagents for confirmatory tests than in most elementary qualitative hooks. Teachers who worry about the development of a "cook book" attitude on the part of their students may possibly find that with this book the student will need to possess much more initiative and enterprise than is usually required and that he will develop habits of scientific thought which he will retain long after he has forgotten the details of the analyses. If this is accomplished, the aims of its authors will have been achieved. LAURENCE S. FOSTER Bnowr U ~ m a a s ~ r x PROVIDBNCB, RHODBISCAND
THE PBINCIPLESAND PRACTICE OF BEAUTYCULTURE.Florence E . Wall, Lecturer on Cosmetology, School of Education, New York University. Keystone Publications. New York, 1941. xviii 708 pp. 183 figs. 15.0 X 22.5 cm. A book primarily for beauty operators on a subject which promises to o5er future opportunities as a branch of applied chemistry.
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A TEXTBOOK OF BIOCHEMISTRY. Roger I. Williams. Ph.D., D.Sc., Professor of Chemistry, University of Texas. Second Edition. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York, 1942. x 533 pp. 40 tables, 17 figs., 16 photographs. 15 X 22 cm. 84.00. Here is a teat around which can be easily built a thorough course in biochemistry for medical students and others whose interests lie in the study afmammals. The author has shown rare ability in selecting his material, as well as in clinging tenaciously to his chemistry without jealously invading the fields of physiology and pathology. The subject matter is helpfully arranged in five parts, namely, Biochemical Materials. Tissue Composition, Food Composition, Bodily Mechanisms for Promoting and Regulating Chemical Change, and Metabolism. Outstanding features of this book are the extensive tables on tissue-composition, the many clear structural formulas, the glossary of physiological and medical terms, and the restricted but select listing of references. The final chapter is a muchneeded summary of chemotherapy, taking up the arsphenamine, quinine, and sulfonamide groups of compounds. The typography and binding are excellent. I t is a pleasure to find almost no errata. I n structures denoting the indale group, no hydrogen is depicted attached to the nitrogen atom. This abbreviation may cause same confusion. The recent advances in theories of intermediate metabolism are for the most part well presented and fused with some of the older ideas. The vitamins are described clearlv ~~~~~wherever they come into the metabolic scheme, and also in a separate section with "essential f w d constituents."
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THE PIRoTECnNlA OF VANNoCcIo BlRINGuccro (1540). Translated from the Italian by Cyril Stonley Smith and Martha Teach Gnudi. Published by The American Institute of Min465 pp. 94 ing and Metallurgical Engineers. 1942. xxv figs. Quarto size, $5.00 (33.00 t o members of A.I.M.M.E.). While "The Pirotechnia" is not an autobiography in the usual sense, it gives a strikingly clear picture of the workings of a twentieth century mind in a sixteenth century brain Biringuccio was a keen observer and though he is most modest with respect t o his own accomplishments he was undoubtedly a n able executive. I t is a temptation t o quote a t length from the book but much of the reader's pleasure and satisfaction would be lost in an attempt to separate sentences from their context. A few paragraphs, however, will indicate Biringuccio's modern viewpoint. "Indeed it is one of the first considerations which you must make before excavating the ore--that you begin to consider and examine the availability of the things you need, and the supplies that are found there, as, for instance, the wood, water and food supply, all of which must be abundant. There must be enough wood for the needs of the mine, to make charcoal for smelting, roasting, relining and other fires, in addition t o the wood necessary for making props for the mines, as well as for constructing machines, huts and other similar things" (p. 22). This simple advice is as sound today as i t was four hundred years ago and many a mining enterprise has failed because the owner has not realized that i t takes more than ore t o develop a successful mining property His practical mind rejected the work of the alchemists who were so active in his day. ". . . I believe the best thing to do is to turn to the natural gold and silver that is extracted from ores rather than that of alchemy, which I believe not only d w s not exist but also, in truth, has never been seen by anyone, although many claim to have seen it" (p. 41). He believed, also, in Largescale production as a matter of economy. "Nor must I fail to remind you that the advantage in such a process, as in many others, lies in doing everything on a large scale, that is, with large mines, a large number of tools and furnaces, . . . and, in short, because the profits greatly surpass the expense. The worker who would want to make a little is not aware how much more i t involves, for it is true that each one of said operations requires many men and much work" (p. 105). I t is quite impossible in a review to indicate the number and varieties of topics which are considered in detail. They vary from the mining of the ore, through the making and casting of alloys to the art of wire drawing which is in principle the method of today. Biringuccio was essentially a metallurgist but the chemist will find much of interest in his account of the preparation of the acids used in the parting of gold and silver and "The Manner of Compounding Various Incendiary Compositions Which Are Cammonly Called Fireworks." The translators have succeeded admirably in retaining the author's colloquial style so that the book reads like an original rather than a translation, Mechanically, it is a fine example of the bookmaker's:art in the selection of the paper, the type, the excellent reproduction of the originalillustrations, and the binding. This is a "must" book for any metallurgist who is interested in his profession beyond the narrow limits of his special field. ROBERT S. WILLIAMS
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