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JANUARY, 1948 became interested as a. result of their success in this work rtnd
aetcristics, lstost data on composition, and a bibliography for each oil Listed. The book is well printrd on good paper, better illustrated than the original text, and wcll bound. Lists of references are convenisis of o~erstional~roceduresnecessarv to set UP a soilless culture ently placed after each subdivision of the text. and three mod ind & h t authors, botanical names, and topics. There is a tsnunit. The topics covered inolude, as chapter titles indicate, General taliaing superfluity of preliminary supplements and a little conplant physiology, General types of soilless culture, Water culture, fusion as to the names of some of the early authors quoted (both Sand culture, Gravel culture, The nutrient solution, Techniem taken over from the original), but neither of these minor defects control of the nutrient solution, Technical control of the pltlnt would disturb earnest readers. "Natural Perfume Material" deserves to stand as a smaller culture, General plant culture, Commondetrimentsspeoialchemicals, and Analysis of the nutrient solution. He also has an excel- companion volume to "The Volatile Oils," by Gildemeister and lent selected Reference List of additional information on the topic. Hoffmann. This translation and Mr. Sagarin's own book on Numerous illustrations both in color and black and white of the "The Soience and Art of Perfumery" (McGraw-Hill, 1945) serve various commercial installations throughout this country as well to fill the gap that has too long hindered searchers in the field of as those carried out by the Army on Ascension Island, at Atkinson essential oils and aromatic materials. Field, British Guiana, rtnd on Iwo Jima help to make the book FLORENCE E. W A L L very interesting. NEWYORXCrm The book's two hundred and sirty-five pages are packed with N e w Yonr satisfactory pertinent information for the general reader as well as the specidi.list. Hobbyists will realize that this is an interesting ADVANCES IN CARBOHYDRATE CHEMISTRY: field and that it has definite possibilities, but also that there are 0 Volume I1 many attendant problems, and hydroponicsis no plaything forthe uninitiated or poor technician. The reviewer after some experience in the field feels this is the Edited by W.W. Pigman, Institute of Paper Chemistry, Appleton, It is well written. on excellent Wisoonsin, M. L. Wolfrom, The Ohio State University, and ont,st,andinnbook on hvdrooonics. < . stock, and in readable type. If you want some good first-hand Stanley Peat, The University of Birmingham, England. Aca323 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 demic Press, Inc., New York, 1946. xi information about this field do not pass this book by. Em. $6.60. ~~~
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NATURAL PERmTME MATERIALS: A Study of Concretes, Reainoids, Floral Oils and Pomades
Y. R. Naves a n d G. Mazuyer, translated by Edward Sagarin. 331 Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York, 1947. xviii pp. 46 figs. 15 X 2 3 om. $6.75.
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T a e ARTS of perfumery have been so long shrouded in mystery that this field of study has seldom been accorded the serious consideration it deserves from scientific investigators. This book, intended to show the possibilities far interesting andvaluable experimental work on perfumes, should therefore he welcomed by teachers of chemistry who are looking for new and different avenues into which to direct the talents of researchersunder their charge. The original text, published in Paris in 1939 as "Les Parfums Neturels," was the work of two specialists in the perfume industry: Dr. Yves R. Naves, professor of chemistry at tho University of Geneva. oonsultant for the firm of Givelidan in France: and rlw litc Chlni~l\l:axuyvr, a xkilled pwfumvr, .,,tog wirh the firw uf Auroizm Cl>iris,XI Gr.+.i:t.. It has lw+n wvll rr~!&~wlhy k:dward Szyarin, oi G i v x u d : t r ~ - l > r l a n ~I~I ~Wr ,~nv.d, ~ , rorning now, while all France is trying to recover from seven years of war, this workmay be considered thelatest word on the subject. As the method of obtaining the raw materials of perfumes by distillation bas bccn described in many works of reference since the earliest times. these authors have limited their discussion to met,hods of diee&n. enfleware (extraction bv cold fats). and ex~
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by the ancient Egyptians and Arebists. No other book so adequately and impartially presents the advantages and disadvantages of d l thew less familiar methods of producing the raw materials of perfumes. In four parts, the authors give: (1) a well-documented historical sketch of the natural perfume industry; (2) a survey of modern methods of producing natural floral oils; (3) the compasition and analysis of products obtained by digestion and extractian; and (4) over a hundred monographs on floral oils and rcsinoids. These monographs, which are exdlent, include tho origin, best method of preparation, yields, chemical and physical ehar-
recall the structural difference between glucose and fructose, but not many cduld diagram, offhand, the manner in which they are hound tawtber insucrose. Neither could they outline the ex~erimental p k f for such a structure. All this is much to be regretted for there are few other fields of chemistry in whioh logical reasoning bas taken experimental results and oomtructed such a. complex yet beautiful picture. The details of this picture were slow in developing for the structure of the fundamental monosaccharide units had first to he established. Then as the structure of starch and cellulose became known and more techniques were devised, the accumulsted knowledge furnished the tools necessarv to unlock s. host of nature's other secrets. We are now seeing the bountiful harvest resultingfrom the cultivation of this field during the past sixty years by Fiseher, Killiani, and the others who followed them. The structures of many different natural products w e now being elucidated and each seems to fit into a pattern like the figures of a delicate tapestry. There curring units of this pattern are the familiar monosaccha. rides, their bexuronic acids, and the oorrespondingpentosans, In the carbohvdrate-like materials found in zooloeical associations other r w ~ ~ r r i nunitr, g 2-mlino ~Iucose,and 2-3wtnn~hlcglurore, r e n . Zlothilal: is more fmeinating than trte partrrn of nature a r d it is unforttrn;~rrtlrat this field rcninins a e l o s ~ hI u k to so many. The subject of this review is the second volume of a projected series which will contain critical integrating reviews of important developments in carbohydrate chemistry. The reviews are intended not only for carbohydrate chemists hut also for research workers in other fields and for teachers. I n addition to the broad field of the csrbobydrates, including sugars, polysaccharides and glycosides, the reviews will cover, as far as space will permit, bioohemicsl, analytical, and industrial developments. Volume I1 of the series conforms very well to the above description. Of the ten reviews whioh it contains, five describe the chemical composition of naturally occurring materials, three are concerned with resetions involved in the synthesis of compounds closely related to the carbohydrates, one with the interrelation of carbohydrate and fat metabolism, and a final section with cellulnso ethers of industrial significance. The reviews eoncorned with natural products inolude: Mele-
