the student in a year, so that there is considerable latitude in selection of experiments. There are also three exercises dealing with units and dimensions, slide rule, and errors in measurements. I n addition to experimental directions, each experiment has a brief discussion of the theory involved and questions or directions for the treatment of the experimental results, together with additional textbook references. The introduction contains a list of books which should be available to the student in the laboratory. While tbis manual may be used with any tent it is issued "as a compannal volume t o Dr. Taylor's own text of Elementary Physical Chemistry." The book is well written, the choice of experiments quite large, and should prove of interest and value to the teachers of physical chemistry. D. C. LICHTENWALNER DREXZLINSTITUTE
The Protarnines and Histones. ALBRECHT KOSSEL,Prof. Physiology in University of Heidelberg. Trans. from original German manuscript by W. V. Thorpe, M.A., Ph.D., Lecturer in Biochemistry in University of Birmingham. Monograph an Biochemistry. Longmans, Green & Co., New York and London, 107 pp. 15.5 X 24 cm. 1928. xi $3.25. ~
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The manuscript of this monograph was completed only a few days before the author's death. As he states in a rough draft of the preface which was found, his investigations on protamines and histones were undertaken chiefly from biological aspects; be was first led t o study the evolutionary changes which protein nndergoes in the differentiation of tissues, and he found these changes t o consist in the production of proteins which are distinguished by basic properties; these proteins are biologically the more important because they are formed in the chief organ of the cell, the nucleus, where they are concerned with cell division, fertilization and inheritance.
Although our knowledge of the histones and protamines has thus far attained no significance in "experimental" biochemistry and has been derived only from the descriptive side, the pioneer explorations made by Kossel and his students are a monumental achievement. Many of their investigations besides being contributions t o the subject of his special interest enriched our conceptions of the fundamental structure of protein. The monograph is a detailed summary of the methods of separation and qnantitative estimation of the bases and monamino acids, of the preparation of protamines. their properties and constitution. Part I1 deals similarly with the histones, with particular reference t o that of the thymus; the concluding pages are devoted to the chemical relation of the protamines and histones t o other basic proteins and their biological significance. The bibliography contains 204 entries. Rarely is i t given t o a man to work almost uninterruptedly a t his chosen task for a full half century: ~. and when a t the age of seventy-five, before laying down his pen, he has the opportunity t o summarize the advances made, tbis is a gift of the gods, their tribute t o a great personality. He has left an enduring legacy t o biochemical science; all those who in days t o come endeavor t o solve the mystery of protein chemistry will enter into his labors. H. A. MA~TUL OR IOWA STATEUNIVERSITY Industrial Chemistry. An elementary treatise for the student and general RIEGEL,Ph.D., reader. EMILRAYMOND Professor of Physical and Industrial Chemistry, University of Buffalo. The Chemical Catalog Company, Inc., New York City. 649 pp. 15 X 23 cm. $9.00. I t is, perhaps, impossible t o write an "Industrial Chemistry" that will please the majority of readers. It certainly is impossible for one man to write a satisfactory text. Professor Riegel has done extremely well, and though his book is
