JULY. 1951
399
Teachers will be particularly interested in Chapter 34 which contains many valuable practical cdculations. High pressure and equilibrium calculations are considered; in dditiau iuformation iij+wn conwnting thy rnxrrufacturc of iroorrarw, hutadirnc, styrenr, synthdv f d a , alrohol, and of toleme fnnn light gmolinc fmrtims of ovtn,lt.um. Thr sevtions dealina - wirh evaluarion of purity from freezing point measurements and with fractionation processes are to be commended. A sufficient number of good problems is given at the end of each chapter and it is refreshing to fmd compressibility factor charts in Chapter 23 which are usable for student calculatious. In the reviewer's opinion the book is written on a level of difficulty for a graduate course rather than an undergraduate course. However, it probably could be used in a t,w*semester senior course if the instructor used care in selecting the material. ARTHUR A. VERNON
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INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURAL BIOCHEMISTRY
R. Adorns Dutcher, Professor of Agricultural and Biological Chemistry; Clifford 0. lensen, Professor of Phytochemistry; Paul M. Althouse, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, Pennsylvania State College. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1951. xii 502 pp. 23 figs. 14.5 X 22 cm. $6.
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THIS textbook was written for students who have had
". . . sound training in inorganic and organic chemistry." The authors express the hope that the book will also ". . . serve as a
general reference book for students who are interested in the underlying chemiod principles affecting plant and animal growth." The approach, however, is so elementary that it is doubtful if the book could be considered as a reference work since, in the main, the few references cited are to other textbooks of biochemistry. To use the book as a text would probably require a special course developed to fit the subject matter of the book. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, "General and Introductory," consists of eight chapters. The first is a brief history of the development of agricultural chemistry. The second deals with the elementary chemistry of living matter such as might be found in most textbooks of beginning botany or eoology. Chapter 3, the Physics1 State of Matter, is a. review of disso&tion, osmosis, surface tension, pH, !tc., written a t a level that would be encountered in a beg~nnmgtext of plant physiology. Chapter 4, Carbohydrates, and 5, Lipids, are simple discussions of the chemical properties of these substances treated less extensively than would be found in a first course in organic chemistry. Chapter 6, Proteins, suffers greatly from brevity and omissions. Denaturation, for example, is scarcely considered. Stereoisomerism of amino acids is discussed including an illustration of a polariscope and how it is used to determine optical rotation in an early chapter, yet no specific mention is made as to whether natural amino acrds are of the d or 1 form. Ribose is presented as a constituent of nucleoproteins, but no mention of desaxyribose appears. The classical structural formula of s tetranucleotide is presented (page 110) with a c a p tion beneath stating, "A typical nucleic acid." Also the statement appears on the same page that, "Nucleic acid is, therefore, a tetranucleotide." Chapter 7, Enaymes, is presented on a much higher plane than the previous chapters and is a good, though brief, survey of the subject. The next chapter, Biological Oxidations, is written from the modern point of view, but again suffers from brevity. On psges 149 and 150 a scheme for the stepwise conversion of starch to pyruvic acid is given. The phosphorylation of glucose by hexokinase is indicated but no mention is made of the necessity for a source of high-energy phosphate. The enzyme responsible for the pbosphorylatiou of fructose6phosphate to
fmcroi~-I,Crdil,hosphateis called hexosc dipho3phstwe. The concept of a high-energy plrosplmte bond is !rut introdured uutil five pages later, and then only in the sense of conserving energy derived from the oxidation of pyruvate in the Kreh's cycle. Similarly, the creation of a. high-energy phosphate bond during the oxidation of 3-phosphoglyeerddehyde to 3-phosphoglyceric acid is not considered except that the Lipmann designation (-P) is used without explsnation. The transier of electrons and protons is lucidly explained and the statement, "Water is thus the graveyard of electrons from oxidized food," caught the r e viewer's fancy. With a moderate amount of expansion, this chapter could he made into s. good account of general respiratory processes. Part 2, "The Plant," consists of six chapters. Seed Germinsi tion can scarcely be considered even elementary plant physiology. The Soil m d Its Relation to Plant Growth is a. brief reiteration of the subject matter of a beginning soils text. The mechanism of nitrogen fixation is described according to the notions of Virtanen, but no account is given of the elegant experiments of Burris and Wilson using N" to describe the pathway of nitrogen fixation. The next chapter, Fertilizers, is elementary agronomy. Plant Metabolism very briefly considers photosynthesis, protein metabolism, and lipid metabolism. In view of the recent remarkable sdvanaes in photosynthesis, tbis subject would have profited greatly from expansion. Chapter 13, Pesticides, and 14 Farm Chemurgy, require space thsl could well have been used for the expansion of ". the underlying chemical principles affecting plant . . . growth." I t is difficult to understand how any text purporting ta explain the chemical basis of plant growth could completely omit all reference to plant growth regulators, except to mention 2-4D as a herbicide. Part 3, "The Animal," consists of 10 chapters. While the reviewer does not feel competent to judge this section in its proper perspective, nevertheless it should be noted that Chapters 20,21, and 22 on carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism, respectively, are unsatisfactorily brief in their consideration of such important subjects. There is au appendix a t the end of the book listing the nutritional requirements of farm animals. The reviewer doubts that the subject matter of this book approaches the present level of agricultural biochemistry as it is being taught in tbis oountry. Agricultural students who can meet the severe requirements of ". . . sound trainine in inaramic and org3nic chmllsrry" HTP surely ~ m ' p ~ r e10daercpt, undrrsrana, and to profit irom n more tlnrruuyl. treatment of the biuchru~icnl mcclm.~.mcof liviug p ~ . o t q h i n ~ .
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8. G . WILDMAN
PHYSICAL METHODS IN CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. VOLUME I1
0
Edited by Walter G. Bed, Applied Phpios Laboratory, Johns Hoplrins University. Academic Press, Jnc., New York, 1951. . xii 640 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. $13.50.
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INCONTINUING the presentation of the earlier volume of this set, this one includes "electrical, magnetic, and miscellaneous techniques." The diversity of coverage is shown by the section headings: "Metallurgical polarographic analysis and polarometric titrations," J. Heyrovsky (48 pages); 'LCanductometrio analysis," H. T. S. Britton (53 pages); "Potentiometrio analysis,'' H. A. Laitiuen (48 pages); "Electrography and eleetro-spot testing," H. W. Hermance and H. V. Wadlow (77 pages); "Magnetic methods of analysis," A. R. Kaufmrtnu (25 psges); "Determination of the area of the surfaces of solids," G. Jura (48 pages); "Surface tension measurements," M. Dole (28 pages); "Vacuum techniques and analysis,'' B. B. Dayton (53 pages); "Gas analy~isby methods depending on thermal conductivity," E. R. Weaver (50 psges); "Measurement of radioactivity far tracer applications," A. Langer (60 pages); "Statistical analysis," J. Sherman (88 pages); and "Chromatographic analysis," W. G.
