Books procedures but the chemical principles on which they are based. It was prepared by a panel of distinguished contributors. This book is a welcome addition to clinical chemistry and was long awaited since the field of clinical chemistry has undergone dramatic changes during the time since the first edition was published. It is not, of course, possible to mention all chapters in detail. The early chapters deal with basic laboratory principles and procedures, statistics, normal values, quality control, instrumentation, and analytical procedures. T h e first chapter includes an important section on laboratory safety. A major omission in the discussion of blood collection is t h a t of serum separator tubes. I take issue with the recommendation of Bard-Parker No. 11 blades for collection of microspecimens since they are generally considered unsafe. T h e recommendation t h a t nephelometric procedures not be used because "they are inherently incapable of high precision" I consider to be an incorrect carryover from the previous edition and it is also in disagreement with the discussion in the chapter on proteins.
In Chapter 3 there is no discussion of advances in instrumentation such as rapid scanning spectrophotometry. Donald S. Young has written an excellent review of most of the automated equipment currently available on the market. T h e section on laboratory computers is indeed timely. It is well written and certainly will give those unfamiliar with computers some insight in their use in clinical chemistry. There are chapters on the basic biochemistry of carbohydrates, proteins, and amino acids. It is disappointing t h a t the advantages of agarose gel electrophoresis of serum are not discussed and t h a t cellulose acetate is recommended merely because it is popular. There is no up-to-date discussion as to the corrections necessary for the bromocresol method of measuring serum albumin. T h e discussion of hemoglobin and its derivatives is useful information for the clinical chemist. I was, however, disappointed to see such brief mention of red cell protoporphyrin analyses in the section on porphyrins. It was pleasing to see the enzymatic procedures for cholesterol and triglycerides discussed in the chapter on lip-
Reliable. Fast and Easy. MCI automatic analyzer. I n c o r p o r a t e s c o u l o m e t r y p r i n c i p l e applied to Karl Fischer titration. O p e r a t i o n is full-automatic. M e a s u r i n g time is s h o r t e n e d . A c c u r a c y is w i t h i n 5/ig for 10ug—lmg H 2 0 a n d w i t h i n 0.5% for 1—lOmg H 2 0 . W i d e - r a n g e a p p l i c a t i o n s i n c l u d e m e a s u r e m e n t of ultra-trace w a t e r c o n t e n t in liquids, solids a n d gases. Range: 10/;g—-lOmg H2O. A n o p t i o n a l w a t e r v a p o r i z e r for s p e e d y a n d a c c u r a t e m e a s u r e m e n t of w a t e r c o n t e n t in plastics, grain
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MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED Instruments Dept., Mitsubishi Bldg., 5-2, Marunouchi 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100 Japan Telex: J 2 4 9 0 Cable Address: KASEICO TOKYO CIRCLE 137 ON READER SERVICE CARD 546 A • ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 49, NO. 6, MAY
1977
ids and lipoproteins by Elleffson and Caraway. T h e discussions of enzymes and endocrine function are both comprehensive. The excellent sections on blood gases, electrolytes, and acid base balance are a must for any clinical chemist since these analyses are frequently requested in the laboratory. T h e sections on renal function, liver function, gastric and intestinal function give a good simple overview of the normal and abnormal physiology of these organ systems. T h e toxicology chapter, although fairly comprehensive, has a serious omission in t h a t there is no discussion of the measurement of commonly used therapeutic drugs such as aminophylline, diphenylhydantylin, and gentamycin and no discussion of the enzyme-linked immunoassay procedure for many drug measurements. It is impossible in a short chapter to cover all details of amniotic fluid analyses, but the final chapter gives a brief synopsis of this field. Any clinical chemist certainly should have a copy of this book on his book-shelf, and Dr. Tietz is to be congratulated on another good, basic textbook in the field. Relaxation Kinetics. Claude F. Bernasconi. ix + 288 pages. Academic Press, Inc., 111 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10003. 1976. $29.50 Reviewed by James D. Carr, Dept. of Chemistry, University of NebraskaLincoln, Lincoln, Neb. 68588 T h e great impact of relaxation kinetic methods, especially for the study of the mechanisms of very rapid chemical phenomena, has made necessary a book such as this. T h e author has done an excellent job in his P a r t I of summarizing and putting in perspective the theory of chemical relaxation. His very helpful approach is the use of generalized equations in the mathematical development, but he continually points out applications and results in a very wide variety of actual chemical systems. Of course, many examples are taken from the highly successful t r e a t m e n t of metal ion complex formation, but the overall thrust of the book is toward biochemical systems. Enzyme reactions, micelle formation, and biopolymer conformational changes are cited time after time. All examples and descriptive material concern solution phase reactions. Especially important aspects of the book are the presentation of the limitations of relaxation methods, continual reminders of the importance of perturbations being small so as not to
