dures with explanatory notes regarding precautions needed to attain high precision and accuracy, all csleulations, and concise discussions of the physiological, clinioal, and, where appropriate, forensic or genetic significance of the results. All methods have been ohecked in one or two independent Inboratwies; the modificstions suggested by the checkers are included. An extensive list of general and specific references is given s t the end of eseh chapter and complete subject and author indices a t the end of the volume. Severel novel pieces of equipment are described, the most noteworthy being a. "chloridimet,er." More emphasis is placed in this volume on methods of use in toxicology or forensic medicine. The chapters in which these methods are described also include rather thorough disoussions of the phi~rmaoology and toxicology of the drugs or toxic agents. Methods are given for the determination of: alcohol in biological materials, aldolase, arsenic in biological materials, ascorbic acid in blood and urine, harbiturates, catechol amines, chloride, cholinetterase in red cells and plasma, creatine and creatinine in blood and urine, fibrinogen, gastric acidity, hemoglobins, hydrocortisone in plasma, lactic acid, mercury in urine, phosphohexosc isomerase, salieylates, sulfonamides, and trsnsaminsse. Three of these require specid or expensive equipment, such as that required for boundary electrophoresis.
Abundance of Chemical Elements
V. V. Che~dptseu,S. M. Kirov State University, Alma-Ata, U.S.S.R. Tranalated by Walter Nickiporuk, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Universitv of Chiraeo Press. Chicaeo. - , Illinois, 1961. x 304 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 24 cm. $10.
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I n the words of the author, "This book is neither a textbook nor rt work of reference. M y aim was to give an account of the vast and wried material on the abundance of the chemical elements. 111 this objective I was guided by fundamental ideas on the stability of atomic nuclei and on their formation in a neutron environment." In spite of the author's comments, this book should find utility in an academic library both as an upper division undergraduate and graduate text for special topics courses in chemistry and as a handy reference work. The material discussed lies in a. verv interestine intergeochemistry, and chemistry. The book wss first published in Moscow in I956 and has been revised by the author through the fimt half of 1958 for the American edition. The original Russian text has been very capably t,ranslilted into English by Welter Niehiporuk of Cal Tech. The quality of the translation, the printing, and the general appearance
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literature up to the beginning of 1959. Its best features are the "Summary and Conclusion" which exist a t the end of each chapter and the "Conclusions" st the end of the book. For many, these portions will provide ideas for future work. I t is no exaggeration t o say that every serious worker in the field of radintion chemistry will profit by personal ownership of a copy of this volume. The choice and order of subject matter (general introduction, experimental methods, water and aqueous systems, aliphatics, aromatics, polymers, dyestuffs, substances of biological interest, and significance for other fields) are excellent so that t,he hook is an important reference workparticulilrly to obscure references. Unfortunate features do, however, limit its usefulness andreadability. The presentation is essentislly noncritical. For many purposes coverage is more important t,han criticality. Kevertheless, style and flavor of presentation are s, cause of trial snd inconvenience for the informed reader and may be very misleading for the novice. Hardly ever, if a t d l , in the text is there a reference to the name of a contributor. Thus, all ideas, all "facts" appear equally weightedwithout regard not only to the reliability of the author of a. psrtioular statement hut also t+ the objective of the work from u-hich a particular "statement of fact" is drawn. The difficulty is compounded by the method of presentation of references, which appear in code in the text and as a hibliographical unit in the rear of the book. Doubtless, such arrangement does lower costs for the puhlisher but the total effect is to make the book, as a book, almost unreadable. Anyone who pays $15 for s 380-page book has the right to demand greater ranvenienee as well as a. book which will not be destroyed by ~bnormilland repeated turning from text to bibliography to text and hack again. Of eouke, a text like this has some fundamental faults, including stafements which are not good and, in some cases, utterly wrong. A statement of the "first Isw of radiation chemistry" is pompous and certainly incorrect for one area. of the subject. The principal fault, perhaps, is that the text assumes simplicity of correlation between radiation chemibtry and other branches of reaction kinetics, there appears to be no awareness that WILLIAM D. EHMANN many of the fundamental notions of Uniuersit?/of Kentucky mechanism are presently being subjected Lezinoton to critical revaluation by those interested in matters of theory. I n the beginning of this review, I said that many will receive ideas for future work from a reading of the "Conclusions." The quali~adi&ionChemirlry of Organic fying statement must also be made that Compounds many such ideas may not he good and may direct the unwary research worker A. J. Swallow, Imperial College of into areas of triviality. Science and Technology, London, England. Pergamon Press, Ine., New York, MILTONBURTON 1960. ix 380 pp. Figs. and tables. Unive~sitgof Nolre Dame 15 X 2Zcm. $15. Notre Dame, Indiana of this book are in this reviewer's opinion, far superior t o many similar trsnslations of Russian works which have appeared recently. The translator has greatly enhanced the value of this book as a reference source by annotating comments, criticisms, and references to recent experimental data up to tho end of 1960 in the form of footnotes. In some cases. these footnotes exceed one-third the length of a. minted nape . . and it is unfortunate that this material could not have been incorporated into the teat itself, through additional consultations with the author. I t is somewhat disconcerting to st,udy a table of data supporting a point made by the author and then discover a footnote refering to recent work (in some cases only the literature citation, but not the specific data, is given) which might invalidate the sut,hor's conclusion. The updating by means of footnotes is also not entirely uniform. Far example, reference is made hv the translator in a. footnote of page 52 to the recent discovery of enrichment of xenon isotoves in chondritic meteorites. However, the author's statements on page 216, ". . . xenon isolated from atony meteorites does not show an excess content of Xe'28." and, "The present isotopic composition of xenon, which is the same for theearth and meteorites, . . ." stand in the text withno annotation. The hook is divided into three major chapters: I, The abundance of the chemical elements in the earth's crust and the cosmic systems; 11, The elementary theory of stability of atomic nuclei; 111, Regularities in the abundance of isotopes and the problem of t,he formation of atomic nuclei. Many of the author's own investigztions on the occurrence and distribution of the elements are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the ahundanees in theearth'scrust, and the role of radioactive decay in the establishment of the present elemental abundances is discussed a t length. This volume is unique in that it ia devoted to a survey of elemental abnndances from the viewpoint of the stahility of the atomic nuclei, using new data in many fields t,hat previously *.ere obtained only by an extensive literature search. As one of the few books avaihble in this important new interdisciplinary field, it should find utility in the library of the advanced student and the researcher, as well.
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(Continued on. page A916)
