that in this form the book may be of some value, not only as a guide far practical work, hut also as an elementary theoretical survey of the various topics both for students and teachers, as well as for other workers in physical chemistry who are desirous of learning something of the more important features of chemical spectroscopy." I n the opinion of the reviewer this book, in spite of its many admirable features, fails to accomplish its purpose, primarily because of its excessive brevity. Too much is crowded into eighty-two pages. The instructions for the experiments are clear, hut are rather scanty for one who has had no spectroscopic experience. The theoretical sections read like an abstract of a textbook on spectra. One who is fairly well acquainted with the subject may find the r6sum6 quite valuable, hut the neophyte will probably he appalled a t the high concentration of none-toosimple ideas. An attempt is made to mitigate this situation by references t o other texts and reviews. (Strangely enough, no mention is made of the excellent reviews by Mulliken.) If a student can learn from the sources t o which he is referred, much of this hook is unnecessary. On the other hand, if a student needs an introduction to spectroscopy, this hook will probably he of little help. A deficiencyof another kind lies in the fact that nowhere in this hook is there a mention of spectroscopic methods applied to chemical analysis. The omission of this important and growing branch of chemical spectroscopy, in the reviewer's opinion, does much to lessen the hook's value as an elementary text. To summarize--this hook is not suitable as a textbook, If it were t o he expanded judiciously t o three times its present size, its value would be much more than tripled. E. J. ROSENBA~M TBB UNlVBRSlTY CIIICAGO.
OF CA.C*OO
IL~OIS
E w s ~ m mm s ORGANICC ~ M I S T R YLucius . Junius Derha, Professor of Chemistry, and Lark% Hundley Farinhalt, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Washington and Lee University. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York City, 1938. xi 233 pp. 23 figs. 13.5 X 20.5 m. $1.75.
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The purpose of this book is well expressed in the preface.
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. . . to provide a program of laboratory work closely correlated
with Desha's textbook, ORGANICCFiEM1STR.Y. It is justified by the distinctive order of presentation adopted in that text and by the experience that such correlation between laboratory and classroom work, in an introductory science, is the only way to derive the maximum advantage from either." A great measure of the value in this manual lies in the systematic cdrdination of the synthetic and analytic technics of organic chemistry. The order of presentstion followed for each class of compounds may be briefly summarized as follows: (1) Preparative Method, (2) Physical Properties, (3) Chemical Properties, (4) Detection and Classification Reactions, and (5) Preparation of Derivatives for Identification. Headings in holdface type render these divisions easily recognizable. The continued emphasis on classification reactions and the preparation of derivatives provides a rich background for the identification of unknowns outlined in the last chapter. The parallel study of alinhatic and aromatic comnounds sim~lifiesthe ~erformanceof rhc operalions listed ahove, since thc more familiar compounds of the aromatic srrics can IBP srlrlctcd adwntageoucly brrause of the greater ease in handling. Detailed directions on laboratory operations have been distributed throughout the manual. I n many instances they may be found as notes appended to each section. The general index, together with frequent cross references, renders these directions readily accessible. Questions are confined to matters directly related to the operation being performed and are inserted immediately after the directions for conducting that operation. The manual is essentially free of formulas, equations, and discussions of chemical principles. Page references to Desha's textbook are supplied wherever such information is needed. The manual includes moat of the preparations that are considered standard in a
h j t wurss in organic rhcmisrq. I n addition ro rhcse prcparafiuni a large number of small-scale preparations and test-tut,e reactions bare heen inrludcd. IndeeJ, i r provides consideral.ly more work than can he performed in six hours of laboratory work per week for a period of one year. I t is quite obvious that this manual would present its maximum utility when used in conjunction with Desha's classroom text. However, the advantages inherent in the adopted order of presentation warrant the seilous consideration of any instructor of first-year organic chemistry. The fact that this hook belongs to the International Chemical Series requires no further comment on the manner of printing and binding. R. R. LEGAWL1 BUU(N&LL UNIVBRO~ ~ W L S ~ U PBNNSYLVAWI* E ~ .
T s x r ~ o -o xoa ORGANICCHEMISTRY.Gearre Holmes Richter. John W i l e ~and Sons, New York City, 1938. vi 711 pp. 14.5 X 23 cm. $4.00.
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The author in his preface states that ". this hook is directed specifically to that large body of ambitious students who wish to study beginning organic chemistry and gain more than a superficial knowledge of the subject. The descriptive material is limited to a minimum and such necessary information is usually presented in tables. . The electron theory of valence has not been unduly emphasized. . . Therefore, in accordance with the author's plan, there is definitely more material than in the average elementary organic text and more than would usually he given in a one-year course. The biochemical and pharmacological side has been emphasized to an unusual degree. The make up and printing are excellent, the text is clearly written, and typographical errors or errors of fact are very rare. The subject matter is satisfactorily up t o date. The arrangement is the conventional one, the individual chapters dealing with the following subjects: the saturated and unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons (including the cycloparaffines, carotene, rubber, Carothers' theory of polymerization), the mono- and polyhydric alcohols (including cholesterol, ergosterol. vitamins A, D and D2, phytol), ethers, aldehydes and ketones (sex hormones), monohasic acids (geometrical isomerism), halogen derivatives of the hydrocarbons (rearrangement of halides, relative reactivity, fourteen pages of the Grignard reaction), acyl halides, acid anhydrides, esters, oils, fats and waxes (metabolism, of fats), acid amides (urea and drugs related to urea), cyanides, isocyanides, isocyanates and aliphatic nitro compounds, amines. compounds of sulfur, polybasic acids (malonic ester synthesis, the barbiturates the Michael reaction, Diels-Alder reaction), halogenated acids, hydroxy acids and optical isomerism, aldehydic and ketonic acids (tautomerism, the acetoacetic ester condensation, nreides and purine derivatives), carbohydrates and derivatives (cardiac aglycones, nucleic acid, vitamin C), amino acids, and proteins. The aliphatic compounds are described in the first four hundred fifty-six pages, the remainder of the text dealing with aromatic and heterocyclic compounds, the chapters being the following: benzene, chemistry of the simple aromatic hydrocarbons, the aryl amines, the phenols and amiuophenols, aromatic arsenic derivatives, aromatic alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, aromatic acids (tannins, thyroxine), polynuclear aromatic compounds (diphenyl, naphthalene, authracene, and so forth), coal-tar dves naees). . itwentv-three . . ,. heterocvclic srstems (includine hemin. chlor&hvll. and some of the aikaloidsi The arrangement of the subject matter of a typical chapter (Alcohols) follows this plan: definition, isomerism, nomenclature, classes (primary, secondary, and tertiary, or, as ahbreviated, 1'. 2'. and 3'), synthesis, reactions, test for the OH group, oxidation, dehydration. This is followed by a more specific discussion of some of the individual alcohols, and of the
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