NEW BOOKS mology Research Division, Chemicals Research Branch, Md.
Need 1/8 second response? Only the Esterline Angus Speedservo has it. Eight times faster than most, the Speedservo records 4 cycle per second signals without significant attenuation, and hand les virtually all signals, even those of one millivolt level. Its unique shuttle servo motor has no drive cords to break or gears to wear. One-piece construc tion of drive coil, pen assembly and sliding contact provides low iner tia and accompanying high re sponse speed. The Speedservo's feedback po tentiometer has virtually un limited life. The Speedservo is available in the illustrated portable, sloped writing surface model or in a flush model with 8" χ 8" case front. Write for Series " S " catalog. ESTERLINE ANGUS INSTRUMENT CO., I N C .
Box 596AC, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206
ESTERLINE ANGUS
Excellence in instrumentation for over 60 years Circle No. 33 on Readers' Service Card
72 A
•
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Pesticide Beltsville,
This book is the first of a four-volume series designed to satisfy t h e need for a convenient, single source of informa tion on analytical methods for a large g r o u p of agriculturally and economi cally i m p o r t a n t chemicals. Volume I covers the general principles involved in the analysis of formulations, residues, and food additives, in extraction and cleanup procedures, and in toxicological testing. L a t e r volumes will present detailed analytical methods for specific pesticides and food additives. World attention has focused on pesti cides in our food and environment as never before and a special r e p o r t has been made recently b y t h e President's Science Advisory Committee on the Use of Pesticides. T h u s , t h e four-vol ume treatise u n d e r t a k e n b y D r . Zweig and his collaborators is extremely timely and sorely needed. An earlier outstanding book in this field, "Analysis of Insecticides and Acaricides," b y F . A. G u n t h e r and R. G. Blinn, is eight years old now and in need of revision. T h e book "Official M e t h o d s of Analysis of t h e Association of Official Agricul tural Chemists," a bible of methods to analytical chemists, contains only official methods of t h e AOAC, often with insufficient background informa tion and no choice of newly developed, unofficial methods. I n this connection, I t r u s t t h a t D r . Zweig on page 23 m e a n t t o use the word " s u p p l e m e n t " instead of " s u p p l a n t " in the sentence " N e w and improved methods of analysis a p pear constantly, m a n y of which sup plant the time-honored methods in the ' M e t h o d s Book (sic.) of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists.' " All of the AOAC methods have undergone rigorous collaborative testing and are legally acceptable in court cases. T h e r e are a n u m b e r of other minor inaccuracies in the book, one of which is the incomplete explanation on page 4 of t h e differences between " n o resi due" registrations and zero tolerances. T h e former are granted b y the U . S. D e p a r t m e n t of Agriculture based on d a t a showing t h a t when a pesticide is used according to given directions, no residue (by a suitable method sensitive to at least 0.1 p.p.m.) will result, whereas a zero tolerance is set b y the Food and D r u g Administration when a substance is carcinogenic, or so toxic t h a t none or a zero a m o u n t can be per m i t t e d in a given food, or when a toler ance or registration has not been granted. Also on page 23 and elsewhere the impression is given t h a t residues less t h a n 0.1 p.p.m. may be considered
a practical zero; this is no longer so, since the F D A is now seizing crops with less t h a n 0.1 p.p.m. of certain pesticides. On page 13 the wording is such as to imply t h a t malathion is a p-nitrophenol derivative. On page 18 t h e statement is m a d e t h a t bioassays have n o t gener ally been too useful in formulation analysis laboratories; an i m p o r t a n t ex ception to this is with formulations containing pyrethrins, where t h e kill and knockdown as measured b y PeetG r a d y tests is very valuable. On page 27 it is not true t h a t d a t a on leafy crops are more i m p o r t a n t t h a n on smooth-surfaced crops such as toma toes, watermelons, and apples; data m u s t be obtained and tolerances are set s e p a r a t e h ' on different types of crops. I n C h a p t e r 8 on spectrophoto m e t r y methods, it would have been ad visable to use modern terminology such as t h a t suggested in ANALYTICAL C H E M I S T R Y 3 4 , 1852 (1962), instead of propagating the use of obsolete terms such as "extinction coefficient." Although electron-capture gas chro m a t o g r a p h y is mentioned briefly in sev eral places, the reader cannot sense from the s t a t e m e n t s m a d e t h e t r e mendously i m p o r t a n t role t h a t this technique is now playing in residue and other types of analysis. Also, no mention is made of thin layer chroma tography, another new, powerful tool in t h e analytical chemistry of pesti cides, food additives, and residues. Most of the chapters are very well written and some contain a gold mine of useful information. T h e format and illustrations are very good. I n spite of a few deficiencies in this volume, no chemist interested in the topics covered can afford to be without a copy. D r . Zweig and his collaborators deserve high praise for having u n d e r t a k e n a back-breaking task in one of t h e most difficult and complex areas of analytical chemistry.
Elucidation of Structures by Physical and Chemical Methods; Technique of Organic Chemistry, Vol. X I , in two parts. Series editor, Arnold Weissberger; Volume XI editor, K. W. Bentley. Part 1, χ + 61>2 pages, $19.50. Part 2, χ + 539 pages, $16.50. Interscience Publishers, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, Ν. Y. 1963. Reviewed by A. P. Gray and H. Agahigian, Central Analytical Depart ment, Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. Research Center, New Haven, Conn. Although the title of this latest vol ume in the Weissberger series does not attest to the fact, t h e evident intention
