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The author not only gives a description of the phenomena, but has also attempted to interpret them. Certainly, with regard to the interpretations, the last word has not yet been said and in this respect the book is stimulating to further research. For example, it is hard to assume that bismuth (ThC) is mainly present in the form of anions a t a p H of 4 (p. 58-9) If this were true the effect of ammonia upon the formation of radiocolloids (p. 60) is hard to account for. Hahn’s “precipitation law” (p. 67) is stated in too general a way berause even in the case of the formation of true mixed crystals the distribution of the micro-component depends upon the manner of formation of the precipitate. This is evident from Hahn’s o ~ v ndiscussion further on in the book (p. 73ff). In conclusion, i t should be said that full credit is given to other workers in the fields covered and that their views are discussed in an impartial way, even if they happen not to be in complete agreement with those of the author. Print and appearance of the book are excellent.
I. 31. KOLTHOFF. Enzymologia. Carl Oppenheimer, Editor-in-chief. Published by W. Junk, The Hague, Holland. Each volume to contain approximately 400 pages and to appear in 6 parts. The parts will appear a t irregular intervals. Priced a t 15 fl. (Dutch) per volume. This is a new scientific journal devoted exclusively to the broad field of enzyme chemistry, enzyme kinetics, and enzyme behavior in its biological and technological aspects. An imposing array of collaborating editors, including practically all of the outstanding leaders in enzyme research, is listed on the cover page and assures the subscriber that the new journal will be truly international in scope. Articles are acceptable for publication in either English, French, o r German. Volume I, P a r t 1 was published June 30, 1936, and P a r t 2 appeared August 1, 1936. These t x o parts contain twenty original papers including contributions from such well-known authorities as C. Seuberg, K Linderstrom-Lang, A. Fischer, J . H. Quastel, H. D. Kay, J. B. Sumner, and others of equal standing. Among those papers which have appeared there are several which should be of interest t o the physicist and physical chemist, especially the one “On the Luminescence of Bacteria,” which includes a quantitative study of the spectrum of the light emitted by Photobacterium phosphoreum and the influence of various environmental factors on the light emission of this organism. If the two parts before the revieiTer are iepresentative of \$hat we may expect in future issues, this journal will rapidly become an indispensable tool to all workers in biochemistry and physiology, for more and more students of life processes are coming to realize t h a t the reactions of living matter are largely governed by enzymatic phenomena. Ross AIKEN GORTNER. A N D K.31. WATSON. Second Industrial Chemical Calculatiuns. By 0. A. HOUGEX edition. 487 pp. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1936. Price: $4.50. Those of us who found valuable material in the first edition of this book on the application of physical and chemical principles to industrial problems will welcome this new edition with its considerable rearrangement of the old material and the addition of some t h a t is new. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the first edition, the following partial list of subjects treated will be of interest: P-V-T relationships of both ideal and actual gases; vapor pressure relationships; vaporization processes; humidity and wet- and dry-bulb thermometry; specific heat of gases, liquids, and solids; heat
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content; thermochemistry, including heats of reaction, of solution, of n e t t i n g etc.; weight and material balances in combustion processes and in miscellaneous chemical a n d metallurgical processes; calculations of crystallization, adsorption, and related processes; elementary treatment of entropy, free energy a n d fugacity a n d chemical equilibrium i n both ideal and non-ideal systems. The treatment is quantitative i n all cases, a n d niethpds of calculation are well illustrated b y many numerical examples. A collection of additional problems is given a t the end of each of the fourteen chapters. Several of the chapters are practically unchangcd from corresponding ones in the previous edition. Others have been reorganized t o give a more logical sequence. Nelv material added includes a treatment of the AIerkel enthalpy-concentration diagrams for binary solutioi;s; a section on conversion of units, symbols, a n d equation; a treatment of the thermochemistry of petroleum; a n d the introduction of chapters on free energy. entropy, a n d fugacity a s a basis for the subsequent treatment of chemical equilibrium which has been broadened t o include the calculation of equilibrium constants from free energy d a t a a n d application t o non-ideal gas equilibria. Room for the ne\?- material has been provided by omitting the chapter in the previous edition which treated distillation equilibria Anyone concerned with the quantitative application of physicochemical principles t o industrial problems could not fail t o find this a valuable source-hook for problem data. BARXETTF. DODGE.
Protoplasm. B y W I L L I ~ M SEIFRIZ First edition. 581 p p ; 27 chapters; 179 illustrations, Xew York: 31cGran-IIill Book Co.. Inc , 1936. Price: $6 00 A McGran--Hill Publication in the Agricultural and Botanical Sciences. Professor Seifriz is a versatile scientist. His work on emulsions. gels, and other colloid topics is well bnon-n among chemists and physicists, but they may not be a n a r e that Professor Seifriz is a member of a botany department and is a n active investigator in botany and biology Professor Seifriz's general attitude tom arc1 science, and, in particulai, his point of vien in his hook is typified by the quotation from Descartes with TT hicli he introduces his preface : " If. therefore, anyone nishes t o search out the truth of things in serious earnest, he ought not t o select one special science; for all the sciences are conjoined u i t h each other and interdependent." The extent t o n hich Professor Seifriz lives u p t o his principles is vel1 illustrated by the titles of the chapters in his hook: namely, The Living Substance; The Cell; )lode1 Making; 11icrurgy; Tissue Culture; The Colloidal State; Emulsions; Hydrophilic Sols a n d Gels; Surface Tension; Adsorption ; Osmosis; Imbibition; Viscosity; Elasticity; The Structure of Protoplasm and Organic Colloidal Matter; Permeability ; Acidity; Electrophysiology; Electrokinetics; Radiant Enrrgy; The Kblr of Water; Salts; Carbohydratrs; F a t s ; Proteins; Regulator). Substances; The Origin of Living AIatter. -4s indicated by these chapters, t h r scope of the book is by 110 means as restricted as i t s title might suggest In fact, a considerable numbei of the chapters cover the same ground. admittedly in a novel i t ay. a s iq covered in the avei age elemcntary book on applications of physical chemistry t o biology. The hook abounds in literary quotations. bits of philosophy, and personal and historical itrms. I n his preface, Professor Seifriz states t h a t his book n as u r i t t e n for students in biology and medicine, and is not intended for his colleagues. I t is evident that the author has striven t o make the book easy and entertaining t o read Being free of footnotes and references, the pages have a "clean" appearance, and. v i t h the many illustrations, make the book a s readable as a novel. Very little knowledge of chemist r y a n d physics and no knonledge of college mathematics is required of thc reader.
