SEPTEMBER, 1953
483
ative methods for all known examples of each claw. I n general, the compounds dealt with are neither common nor under active investigation a t the present time; notable exceptions are the sydnones and saechminrins. In hi8 preface, the author has commented that one can hardly be an authority on a. subject as broad as that of this hook, and has warned the reader to be critical rather than passive in accepting the interpretation of the facts to be found here. However, for most of the compounds there is insufficient information available for a critical a p p r a i d , and the choice of Dr. Bamhas, B rhemist with wide experience in the general field of heterorvrlie chemistrv. as the author was a wise selection. One mieht
the various tautomeric forms of many of the compounds along the lines laid out by Arndt IAngew. Chern., 61,397 (1949)l would also have been welcome. However, these are minor criticisms, and the important task of reviewing the literature has been done verv well. 'fhe book is well minted and has relativelv few trivial errors. Inelu%ionof n gwnr man? *trtrrtun~lformulni n m k w irrlerlmr3lion of thv rvnrrwna inr vn.ti,.r t l m n ir orhrrwlse woulJ be. 'l'hc. handling of the complex nomenclature is very good. This volume should he in all chemiesl reference libraries, and will he especially important for those interested in thin and related phases of heterocyclic chemistry. ~
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THOMAS
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I t is the considered opinion uf the reviewer that this puldication is a very signitiaant contribution to the literature on synthetic organic chemistry and that it will he received with the heartiefit feelings of approbation. GEORGE HOLMKS RlClITER TXERICEIN~TITUTE HOUBTON, TEXAS
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PIGMENT CELL GROWTH
Edited by M y m n Gordon, New York Zoological Society. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1953. 3 6 5 pp. Illustrated. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $7. THIS hook consists of the Proceedings of the thin1 conference on the Biology of Normal and Atypical Pigment Cell Gmwt,h, organized by Myron Gordon and held a t the New York Zoological Park, November 15, 16, and 17. 1051. The conference was attended hy a notable group of speaialists, in all aspects of this field, and both the papers and the discussions are included in the volume. Merely to list thc suthola and titles of the papers, 22 in number, would exceed the space d o t e d to a, review. Furthermore the great diversity of subject mat,ter covered in theso papers makes a comprehensive review impractical. The great interest in the ~ i e m e n cell t arises from the fact that it i8 easilv identified
JACOBS
U N I V ~ R ~ ~01 T YC*'IIORNI*
Los .iaoeL.ea. C*SITORNI*
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METHODEN DER ORGANISCHEN CHMIE. VOLUME
vrn
Edited by Eugen Miiller, Tubingen. Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, 1952 (U.S. agents: Grune & Stratton, Inc., New York). xvi 775 pp. 17.5 X 26.5 em. DM 98.
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IT IS an opinion received by many, that organic synthesis is best attained through frenzied motions in the laboratory, profane exelt~metions,and larger volumes of reagents. Professors of the subject, who will neither enlarge nor abuse their ignorance with surh vulgar sentiments, will greet with delight and applaud the me& of the alternative ways described in the fourth edition of "Methoden der oqanischen Chemie." The third edition of this great work appeared about 20 years ago and enjoyed a reputation ss a source book that had no equal for information on lahoratory methods of synthesis. This new edition will be much enlarqed; the editors plan 14 volumes of approximately 700 pages each. These volume^ will he published during the neyt four years. This series begins with Volume VIII entitled, "Sauerstoffverbindungen 111'' which is divided into six sections. The fiwt section, by R. Crieger, deals with the preparation and reaotion~ of peroxides (74 pages). S. Petersen and H. F. Piepenbrink contrihuted the chanter on simnle derivatives of carbonic acid used in synthesis(l63pages). &tion three, by P. Kurts, is ooneerned with nitrilen, iwnitriles, and fulminic acid (112 pages). H. Heneeka and E. Ott, in the fourt,h section give a detailed discussion of ertrboxylie acids and decarbarylation (144 pages). Heneeka is also the author of section five an esters (144 pages) and co-author with Kurta of the last chapter of 68 pages dealing wit,!, . functional N-derivatives of the carboxyl group. Each chapter exhibits a sustained high level of performance. The references are scattered impractically through German, .American, and British sources and seem to cover the literature through 1951. With two exceptions, the authors are associated with Farhenfabriken Bayer. The entire work has also received the editorial attention of Eugcn Miiller, Otto Bayer, Hans Murwein, and Karl Ziegler. T h i ~has resulted in an agreeable combination of the points of view of both the academic and industrial Ixboratories.
able assurance. The areurrence of melanomas in man and in experimental animals makc8 the pigment cell particularly important in cancer research. The paper8 in this volumo deal with the ehemirrsl structure of melanins, the enzyme8 involved in melanin ~mduetion.the nature of the evto~l&~mic errtnules and their appearance under the phase contrast and tho electron mieroseopo, the history of the pigment cells in thp development of the chick and salsmendor, genetics studies on the fish and ford, and studies on tumor8 in fish, mouse, and man. The hook is well edited and indexed. The bibliographies are excellent and the photography remarkably well rept.odurerl. I t represents an extremely useful and satisfactory survey of a biological field in which a synthesis of material derivcd from many diverse approaches is rapid1.v heeoming possible.
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INSECT PHYSIOLOGY
Edited by Kenneth D. Roeder, Tufts College. John Wiley & sons, N~~ york, 1953. + 1100 pp, 257 figs, 55 + ,hl,, la .-- .--. - .w, -- r m qls --.
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BECAUSEof the ubiquity of insects and their trrmmtluus economic imwrtsncn,insectphusioloav hasdeveloped much faster than corresponding studies-i~;any other invertebrate phylum. No adequate American text existed heretofore and the present book is intended to fill this gap. I t is mitten by a panel of authors. This has the advantwgo that most fields h w e heen covered by oxpcrts with years of experience in their specialty. I t has in common with many similarly organized books a certain lnek in uniformity hoth in presentation and quality. In this respect it hardly lives up to the well-knoum British texthook of Wigglesworth. I t goes, however, into considerably more detail than the latter and, as a newer book, would naturally he more up to date. The m s t e d is prescntcd in 32 chapters. The fiwt three (54 pages) are an exeellcnt dosrription of the structure and the properties of the intogumcnt, especially the cuticle. Chapters 4 and 5 (92 pages) d e d with the respiratory mechanisms and t.he respiratory metabolism. They, clearly, belong to thr weaker
