BOOK REVIEWS May's Chemistry of Synthetic Drugs
G. Moleolm D y s o n in consultation with Percy May. 5th ed. Longmans, Green
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& Co., Inc., New York, 1959. vii 678 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 24 cm. $22.50.
The previous edition of May's "Chemietry of Synthetic Drugs" was puhlished in 1939 and the material for the most part, has been rewritten and expanded due to the tremendous advances in the drug field in the past two decades. There are now a total of 30 chanters coverine sueh thines as antitubercular, antileprotic, and anticholinergic drugs, coagulants, antico-
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agulrtnts, carcinogens, antimitotic compounds, vitamins, hormones, anesthetics, sedatives, hypnotics, antibiotics, and antihistamines. The sulphonamidea which formerly were covered in a paragraph and took four references now occupy a chapter with 71 references. The book is well-written and has a minimum of errors such as the formula for szaserine. The physiological and biochemical basis for the drug action is given where known and is a big help in aiding the typical organic chemist t o understand the need for and the basis of use of the various types of drugs. The syntheses of the major drugs are well illustrated by numerous equations and structural formulas. Several nvnthe~es are qiwn for rn:,n? of the nmjor (lnlg.~.so that :i wv:8ilh d m i o r ~ n ~ ~ i.*l ~i ~i ~ w !w 1~ 1 , conviw
form with close to 3000 references to the original literature and patents. The chief criticism which can he made of this edition is that there are few references later than 1952. As a result such drugs as the fluorine-containing steroids and 6-mercaptopurine are not mentioned nor is the structure of a vasopressin or that of oxytocin given although the latter was synthesized by du Vignemd in 1954 and the structure of mginine-vasopressin was deduced in 1952. In spite of this the book is a good source of general information about the structure and s . ~ t h e ~ i sof the more important classes of organic drugs.
JOHN S. MEEK University of Colorado Boulder
Principles of Rodioirotope Melhodology
Grafta D. Chase, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, Phil* delphia, Pennsylvania. Burgess Pnblishing Co., Minncspolis, Minnesota, 1959. 286 pp. Figs. 21.5 X 28 cm. $6. The author of this lehoratory manual of radioisotope methodology assigns himself in the preface a task of Herculean proportions but has nevertheless mitten a volume which should he of considerable value to those in march of fairly detailed information concerning elementary techniques. He mites not for t,he physicist hut for the "technician, the advanced medical student and the researcherwno mean as~ignment in any scientific field. Despite the attempt to satisfy sueh a broad speotrum of interests, he has succeeded in gathering within the covers of this single volume a great deal of radioisotope information which until very recently has been available only in a. number of different journdls and equipment manuals. Many a college inntructor will welcome the availability of bhis convenient information source. Since the principal ohjeetive is to describe laboratory procedures, fundamental theory is introduced in admittedly sketchy faqhion, the assumption being that one or more theoretical texts hill be used in conjunction with it. As an example, d i e cussion of the interaction of X-rays and gamma radiation with matter occupies little mare than a. page; this is fairly typical. The lahorittory experiments are graded in difficulty, progressing from simple techniquu~such as ssmple preparation to the more complex, such as liquid scintillation counting. The intent is to provide greater challenge for the abler student by the inclusion of a few more sophisticated techniques. The first part of the text deals with fundamental considerations involved in counting radioactive samples. Many details hitherto availahle only in journal articles have been supplied. The chapter on Statistics ie hardly to he described as rigorous, but has the virtue of clarity and simplicity as far as it goes. At least it cannot be charged
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