THE CHEMISTRY AND MODE OF AC. TlON OF PLANT GROWTH SUBSTANCES Edited by R. L. Wain and F. wightmon. Academic Press, Ino., New York, 1956. xi 312 pp. Many figs and tables. 16 X 25.5 cm. $9.50.
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IN TEE 28 years which have elapsed since the original discovery of auxin by F. W. Went, many plant physiologists have devoted their research careers to an attempt t o understand the mechanism by which auxin produces its multiple effects in the growing plant. I n 1937, approximately 10 years after the discovery of auxins, the First International Conference on Growth Substances was held in Paris under the auspices of the League of Nations, with Professor Peter BoysenJensen of Copenhagen acting as the president. The second conference of this kind was held s t the University of Wisconsin in 1949 and was limited almost exclusively to contributions from the United States. The third conference, more international in scope, was held in Lund, Sweden, in 1953. The first two conferences led to publications of summary volumes, whereas the third has resulted in the publication of short abstracts. The conference held a t Wye College (University of London), in July of 1955, was orranized bv Professor R. L. Wain and wasaided by"agrsnt from the Governing Board of Wye College and the Agriculture Research Council. Attendance was truly international, with many representatives from the U. S. A,, England, Sweden, Norway, Austria, and Germany. The sessions were divided into three general subjects. The first, natural auxins, includes papers on the methods for the extraction of natural auxins, bio-asmy procedures, types of substances found in natural plant, and the relation of the natural auxins to flowering and trapistic responses. The ~eeondsection, on chemical structure and biological activity, contains many contributions on the relation of form to function in phenoxyacetic acid series, indole series, and related auxins. The third section, on metabolism and mode of action, contains the results of investigations on the fate of indoleacetic acid administered to plant cells and the effect of auxin on chemical activities of cells. The fourth section, spplication of kinetics to auxin-induced growth, is essentially a. debate between the Pasadena School under J. Bonner, and the London School under Bennet-Clark. It is clear from this volume t h d there is tremendous activity in the field of investigation of plant growth substances. I t is also elem that, despite prodigious effort, very little has been discovered which explains either the activity of certain molecules or the mode of action of
auxins in the cell. The conference was undoubtedly productive of a great many ideas and stimulating discussions. This volume, as a chmnicle of such an international gathering, is valuable. As is the case with most volumes of this sort, i t suffers from a heterogeneity of approach on the part of the authors. Several authors have properly construed their function as that of reviewing activity in a given field including their own work. Others have written detailed papers in s, very limited field, thus rendering their contributions somewhat less interesting to the general reader. The absence of a proper index is, of course, a deterrent to the use of this book for reference purposes. Despite the fact that i t does not include papers on the gibberellins, and only one paper on the kinins, this volume should certainly be in the hands of all those interested in the detailed progress being made in the field of the regulation of plant growth by chemical means.
digestive tract, and will find no experiments illustrating the properties of oxidative or transferring enzymes. The authors who are responsible for this revised edition state that an effort, was made "to retain the familiar plan of Cole, a plan to which we have long been accustomed, formerly as students and later as teachers." Perhaps this explains the failure to bring the book up-to-date. In spite of the 222 experiments, qualitative and quantitative, that are presented, i t isdoubtfulif this book will gain any wide acceptance in this country, for use in biochemical courses for medical students.
ARTHUR W. GALSTON Y*LDU ~ l v e s s l ~ r NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
Forrington Daniels, Professor of Chemistry, Joseph Howard Mathews, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, John Warren Williams, Professor of Chemistry, P a u l Bender, Professor of Chemistry, and Robert A. Alberty, Professor of Chemistry, all of the University d Wisconsin. Fifth edition. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 482 pp. Inc., New York, 1956. xi 134 figs. 24 tables. 16 X 23.5 cm.
COLE'S PRACTICAL PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY Revised and rewritten by Ernest Baldwin, Professor of Bioehemidry, University College, University of London, and David James Bell, Senior Biochemist, Agricultvral Research Center, Edinburgh. Tenth edition. W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., Cam261 pp. 24 figs. bridge, 1955. r 14.5 X 22 Em. $6. Available from The Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore 2, Maryland.
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TEEnumber of former medical students in Cambridge and other English universities who have used "Cole's Practical Physiological Chemistry" since the book first appeared in 1904 must be legion. The last edition appeared more than twenty years ago. Since then new techniques have appeared for the chemical investigation of biological material. Medical schools in this country generally have incorporated many of the newer methods in their laboratory courses in biochemistry. I t is disappointing to find that this revised and rewritten edition of such a well known laboratory manual as Cole's does not reflect the changes in laboratory teaching that accompany the rapid advances in biochemistry that h w e occurred since 1933. The student using this book will have no experience with ehromatography, which has proved so useful in the laboratory. He will not come in contact with ensymes other than those of the
F. A. CAJORI OP COLORADO UN~VERBITI SCHOOLOI. MEDICINE DENVER, COLOR*DO
EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
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$6.50.
THE fifth edition of this well-known book retains the orgmizational pattern of previous editions which is designed to instruct both the undergraduate and the more advanced student in experimental methods. The descriptions of laboratory techniques are supplemented with enough theoretical material to give the book a completeness which has been one of its distinctive features for many years. Part I of the book deals with Laboratory Eaperiments and Part I1 with Apparatus and Methods. The emphasis in the present edition has been shifted somewhat to favor the laboratory experiment section, there being approximately twice as many pages devoted t o Part I as to Part 11. The laboratory experiments are well chosen and are distributed with reasonable uniformity over the subject matter presented in most American textbooks on physical chemistry. There are fifty-nine experiments grouped in chapters. A chapter on General Experimental Techniques is new and describes experiments on glass blowing, high vacuum, and electronics. Other experiments which are new with the fifth edition deal with differential thermal analysis, osmotic pressure. ion-exchange chromatography, and the Szilard-Chalmers process and the halflife of radioiodine. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
Twelve experiments described in the previous edition have been omitted and several experiments have been condensed by the elimination of same of the alternative procedures. For example, discussion of the Pulfrieh instrument has been deleted from the experiment on refractometry, and in the experiment on vapor pressure the isoteniseope method has been dropped while the Ramsay-Young method is retained. Experiments have been rewritten rather thoroughly to improve the clarity of presentstion without resorting to detailed instructions which would leave nothing to the students' initiative. In this, the authors have done a very commendable piece of work. Equations have been added to illustrate calculations, sueh as the correction of a manometer to zero degrees and the correction of pressure for the presence of water vapor. There is also in evidence an improvement in precision of same operations. Paragraphs on practical applications and suggestions for further work appear a t the end of each experiment, and a degree of flexibility as well as interest is thus added. References are also given a t the end of each experiment, but the reader will be disappointed to find that some of them have been out of print for a considerable time and are unavailable in many libraries. Part I1 of this hook discusses both the theory and application of many more advanced experimental methods. It obviously cannot cover the several subjects with the comprehensiveness of a multivolumed treatise and the research worker will not find i t a satisfactory substitute for such a treatise. Hou-ever, the graduate student as well as the undergraduate will find that these pages contain much helpful information. ALARIYA
WILLIAM B. BUNGER POLYTECHNIC INBT~TDTE
AWORN.ALAEAM*
ELEMWTARY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FUNDAMENTAL GEOMETRICAL FEATURES OF CRYSTALS
M. I. Buerger, Professor of Mineralogy and Crystallography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. John Wiley & Sons 528 pp. Inc., New York, 1956. u i i i Many figs. and tables. 1 6 X 23.5 cm. $8.75.
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THIS book is a n excellent treatment of the symmetry of crystals, a subject which is basic for any study of the crystalline state. "The subject matter . . . falls naturally into three sections. About the first half of the book is devoted to a rational development of the megascopically observable symmetries of crystals. A second part . . is devoted to a. discussion of the internal ~ymmetriesof crystals. A third section contains some advanced material." Although the main treatment employs only elementary methods, the book ends with three chapters on group theory and its application.
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VOLUME 34, NO. 2, FEBRUARY, 1957
Thus we have a very clear and thorough development of the theory of space groups. Among the examples of substances crystallizing in the several classes, listed in Chapter 10, there are quite a few errors in formulas and names, but most of these (such as NalPO,.ZH.O on page 130) will be immediately obvious t o a. chemist and should not cause too much trouble. Professor Buerger has made many important contributions to the field of Xray crystallography, contributions which are quite familiar to many chemists. This latest book is a valudde contribution to the teaching (or learning) of crystallography. I t will be useful as a refresher for the research worker in chemical crystallography who has learned his crystallography the hard way and also for the beginner. It should be recommended reading for any chemist who is concerned with structure of crystals. E. C LINGAFELTER OI WABB~NOTON UNITERBITY S r m ~ ~ WABBINGTON e.
SODIUM: ITS MANUFACTURE, PROPERTIES AND USES
Marshall Sittig, Ethyl Corporation. New York. American Chemical Society Moncgraph No. 133. Reinhold Publishing 529 Corp., New York, 1956. viii pp. Many figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $12.50.
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WITH the ever increasing applications of sodium in modern chemical technology, the appearance of this monograph is timely. I t will be welcomed and used by many. The emphasis is largely on industrial production and uses. Introductory chapters a n early work and current manufacturing methods are followed by a discussion of solubility and alloy formation, handling problems, and uses based on physicill properties such as sodium's superior qualities as a heat transfer medium and as a n electrical conductor. Chapter 6 deals with inorganic reactions (73 pp.), Chapter 7, withorganic reactions (87 ~ p ) and , Chapter 8, with analytical chemistry (14 pp.). These sections are concerned with reactions involving sodium metal rather than those of its many important compounds such as NsC1, ete., except as they are so related. As expected in the monograph series, the authors give what appears to he 8. very complete set of references to original research. These are so numerous, e.g., 403 in the chapter on solubility and alloy formation, 475 on inorganic reactions, 679 on organic reactions, that only a brief indication can be given of the content of each. References to a. great deal of work from the patent literature and t o reports not published in usual journals are included which will be of considerable value to those engaged in or anticipating research in the field. Each chapter contains numerous schematic diagrams of well-established processes as well s s photographs of equipment and apparatus where such are informative. Many tables and graphs of experimental data are presented.
Chapter 9 presents a detailed summary and critical analysis of thermodynamic and physical properties of mdium, with the majority of the 80 pages devoted to the vaporization (and dimenzation) problem. The authors find it impossible to correlate high and low temperature vapor-pressure results and conclude that greater reliance should he placed in the farmer. Interpretation of vapor-pressure data is complicated somewhat by the fact that the vapor phase is composed of a mixture of monomer and dimeric molecules throughout most of the measu~ahle range. A perhaps overly detailed discussion of this aspect of the problem is resented with data given in ~ s s i o u sconvenient forms in mare than fifty tables. I n addition to vaporiza,tion data. and related basic thermodynamic properties, tables are included with a discussion of the results of various investigators giving the density, viscosity, surface tension and parachar, thermal conductivity, electrical resistivity, and heat capacity (also acoustical velocity and compressibility) of elementary sodium a t various temperatures. The book most certainly fulfills the author's hope that it "will provide an entree to the broader body of technical literature which it representband in so doing, will encourage chemists and engineers to work with sodium-an interesting, versatile, and useful material." N . W. GREGORY U ~ r v ~ n s mOFr WASHLWTON SEATTLE, W*BRINGTON
THE EXAMINATION OF NEW ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Walter T. Smith, Ir., Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, and Ralph L. Shriner, Deparhnent of Chemistry, State University of Iowa. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1956. vii 136 pp. 47 figs. 21 X 28 em. $3.50.
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THIS volume contains methods for the determination of functional groups and elements, directions for preparing analytical samples, criteria of purity, weighing procedures, and molecular weight determinations. Semimicro methods are used, but some mscromethods are also given. Most of the methods included in thin manual are selected from articles in the literature and rewritten in terms easily understood by students unfamiliar with sueh sndyses. The directions are specific enough so that students can work independently. Apparatus required is inexpensive and most of it can be assembled by the students themselves. Adequate directions are given for preparing equipment and reagents. The methods used supposedly have been tried in comparative situations and have been found to be most effectivein a high percentage of compounds with a majority of students. Problems for student use are included in a separate section. This recent addition to a field of organic chemistry, that is characterized by a limited number of suitable texta, should
