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are that protein solutions are in many cases monodisperse and that the macromolecules of proteins are distributed among a limited number of classes according to their molecular weights, correlated with one another by fairly simple numerical proportions. There is an imposing amount of experimental work in favor of these assertions. There is also a series of experiments proving that particles of the same size as found in isolated proteins are present in the sera from which they were prepared. The results gained so far do not seem t o allow any conclusions as to the state of proteins in living protoplasm. The strong tendency of proteins to form macromolecules of well-defined molecular weight, in which they appear to differ from other large elementary particles of biologically important substances such as cellulose, chitin, rubber, etc., is drawing general attention, owing to its importance, in attempts t o explain the chemical structure of proteins. This problem is discussed but briefly in this book, and the author of the chapter in question (K. 0. Pedersen) is apparently rather sceptical concerning all hypotheses brought forward so far, both as to the conception of long chains (M. Bergmann, Astbury, and others) and as to the cyclic pattern (D. Wrinch). H. FREUNDLICH.
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Electrocapdarity. By J. A. V. BUTLER. 5 x 8 in.; viii 208 pp.; 56 diagrams; 1 plate. New York: The Chemical Publishing Company, Inc., 1940. Price: $5.00. This book is remarkable, owing particularly to the subject matter which it covers. The author uses the word “electrocapillarity” in a wider sense than is generally done. The term is mostly reserved for our knowledge of the electrocapillary curves of liquid metals; one also finds i t extended to include electrokinetic phenomena. Besides these subjects the author treats those parts of electrochemistry which deal with electrode processes aa such, not with their usefulness in explaining the properties of electrolytes in solution. Hence the first three chapters are concerned with the seat of electromotive force and with the thermodynamics and the mechanism of electrode potentials. Chapters IV an+V treat the electrical double layer, electrocapillary curves, and electrokinetic phenomena. The last three chapters have to do with electrode reactions and overvoltage, concentration polarization and the deposition of metals, and some special electrode processes, passivity, etc. The author is interested mainly in the recent development of his subject. He therefore takes full account of the investigations of Frumkin and his collaborators, of the conception of hydrated ions, as developed especially by Gurney, and of the experimental results of Tiselius, Abramson, Moyer, and others in cataphoresis, as well as his own work in this field. The advantage of closely connecting phenomena such as the Nernst potential with electrokinetics becomes very conspicuous when reading this book; an even more impressive success will be achieved as soon as we possess more quantitative results concerning that factor which is the link in the whole range of these phenomena,-namely, the electrical double layer.
H. FREUNDLICH. Physicochemical hfdhods. By JOSEPH REILLYAND WILLIAM NORMAN RAE. Volume I, 686 pp.; Volume 11, 580 pp. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1940. Price: $17.50. The third edition of this well-known handbook is published in two volumes, totaling 1266 pages, a t a price of $17.50,in contrast to the 822-page volume of the second edition which sold for $8.00. While this book undoubtedly remains the most useful work on the subject, the new edition scarcely satisfies the expectations raised by its increase in length and price.
