"addiclive desire," mid his inipassioned plea fur cliiiiinatio~i of priiiiitive attitudes with the full use of medical ant1 psychiat,ric treatment and reeducation are to be comniended. T h e print and paper are of good quality arid typoyrapliic,aI crrtrrs :ire minimal. Dilaudid and Demerol are each misspelled twice in Chapter I. This book should create fairly widesprentl interest.
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I lie reaclcr i- piit i i i ~ l i criglit r i i o o t l by i x i i i g c l u r t v i l ofl' \vir 11 c*hapteron the first clinical trials of poteiiti:tl drrigs; :ifirr ; I l l , I tie pharmacologist is less coiicerned :ibout the tr:uiqiiiIizxi ioil 1 1 1 :I neurotic mouse than about t h e mr over t o the r1iriic:il pr(i1ilern. Then follm- several general apterr. Tho expwiment.:il ph:irni:icologist is given a reviexv of planning a n d p r ( ~ gr:iiriming hii tt.sting procediire., of c.hur>cinghis cil)jcrt ivrs :in11 Ilo\vcd I)?. :I .riptTl> :ipprowhes \IJ complex problems. :ind irittrpret :it iiiii ( h i p i e r 011 the deqipn, the stnti3tic:i ssions of st r:iili :Ii i t 1 1 )I ph:imi:icologic.:tl experiments, an( c - dil'fertlrices in response t o drug . gooti survey of toxicity test,s iiic,ludes uvh riiiis, includiiig cwcinogenicii y at I iinrly -yiiopsis of drug dependeiice niid tirug :il~iiccb ( , l o y e . I I i f b general introduction ! 166 pp). Thcw :ire :3 i~hapterson specific (iriig I ioii. So 1:ibur:ctory (wok-book directioii re giveii, l i i i t r:ithvr iiitelligcnt xiid, iti m o h t ciiyes, searcahing di. ssiotis of the 1ihy-ic1logic, l)iocheniicd, :ind pharmacologic, fiitidameiit a l ~undcrlyiiig the teht methods. Xo effort has herii ymred i o nxilic ilic*cL I~ook- ititerestiiig t o ( l i e student of ph:irtn:tcoiogy :1iii1 til(' t~qierieiiced~~li:irmnc~ul~~givt alike. Neitlier of the t)vo volrunes has mi i d e s . A su1iiiiiiiini:iI grtiilt~ IJ ch:iyter contents doe:: not substitute for the lack of :in intlei. Thi, should be tvrrected iii future editions. With ihi. clscqitioli rei-istitiite what, i j probably thc best :ippro:Lch t o , ideqiiatc coverage of, the field of pharrn:ic~ologii.:il ewluatiiin of tlrrigs. I ?
:I
1
The United States Pharmacopeia. deveiiteeritli Iievisioii. Published b y the United States Pharmacopeia1 Conventioii, Inc., 1965. Distributed by Xack Publishing Co., Eaaton, P:i. lxvi f 1136 pp. $12.50 (domestic), 513.00 (foreign). This latest revision which bev:iiiie official oii September 1, 1903, sIio~.schanges in the use of medicinal substanceb since publicatioii ( i f the 3ixteenth revision in 1960. A total of 898 monographs are precented, of which 156 are new to this revision, while 201 artirles f(~rriier1ycmried have been omitted nh riot meeting U.8.P. recluirernenth for listing. Of the 156 iiel!- monographs, 76 represent, husic. drugs iiew t o this i ~ ~ n ~ p e n d i i i i T n .h e new drugs included :itid those deleted reflect the emphasis on efficacy arid safet,y tlictat'ed by the Federal drug amendments of 1962. T h e nionographs illustrate the continued search for adequate standards for t,he purposes of regulatory agencies. Hence, ~pectrophotometricprocedures are based upon first obtaining :I good sample free of all potentially interfering substances. The zccorid step of the procedure usually involves comparison against :L U.S.P. reference standard. Most monographs specify a n assa>procedure and changes in procedures have been incorporated where greater specificity of new teckiiques or instrumentation have become available. Synoriynis have, because of federal law., beeri eliminated frorii riionographs but a separate section carries names under which the various substaiices included have beeii known. T h e concern of t,lie U.S.P. for determination of the extent to which actiye inedicirials are taken up by the bodj, from various dosage forniir heartening. Alt,hough the present, revisioii gives no standard.: of physiological availability, it, is to be hoped t h a t the problem of tievelopirig suit,ahleprcicedures fur deterrriinatioris of thi,: sort caii lie solved in the not too distant future. Aside from several new tests spevified iii the scrtioii oii genertil tests, processe?, and apparatus, a separate listiiig of articles by or pharniaoeutical utility is newly added. I.S.P. iriclude sections 011 reagent,>, nioloc~1larformulas and weights of all c1iernic;als used, tablet,. of theriniinirtric- equivalents, and revised atornic weight will he interested in the Ir iiivolvctl iii drug atandarcis :tiid qualit:- c.ontrol. T h e book als(i give,triiciur:il :iud synthetic work as well :I> \ i i o l o g i d a q w t - : 1 d 1iolypeptides. Curiously, peptide antibiot i1.3 are not rnentioneii. T h e chapter by 13ec:kci1 and iipdates similar earlier rc>view> b y the s:tme :ill1 hor:, and expands t,he topic by inc.lrdiiig I.oiisiderably niore l.~ioc~liernistry.The exception> t o Beckcti'n stcreochemicd theorirs in the Geld of analgetics :ire> bet, forLli :ill hough not explaiiicd. Oii the whole, this i.j by far-the best volume thi5 series h:r. produced, and it shciultl contribute materially t o the interest i i i driig research which i+ riov growing in SO many areas.