RECENT BOOKS COLLOID CHEMISTRY.Robert J. Hartman, Indiana University. Houghton Mifflin Company, Cambridge, 1939. xxviii f 556 pp. 184 figs. 15.5 X 24 cm. . $4.75. This newcomer to the textbooks on colloid chemistry is one of the best reviews of the subject. I t is addressed to graduate students or to advanced undergraduates in chemistry, as well as to students in allied sciences. The author rightfully states that, "The science of colloid chemistry bridges the gaps between the various physics1 and biological sciences. - - ~ ~ ~ -I -t has become an indismnsahle tool without which it is impossible to explain many scientific phenomena. It is the one fieldof chemistry which can claim to he the chemistry of everyday life." The h w k is refreshing in that it is not simply a rehash of some of the material in a few leading texts filled out by references to papers which happened t o have been published in the last year or two. On the contrary, it is a fair cross-section through the material in this field, and the references are distributed over the most important papers throughout the whole development of the suhject. The theoretical side is somewhat weak, but this in part reflects confusion among various schools, and it is fully compensated for by the wealth of interesting factual matter. Several chapters might be modernized. For example, the discussion of sedimentation hardly does justice to Svedberg's oil turbine ultracentrifuge or to the established theoretical treatment of Mason and Weaver, Lamm, Faxen, and Archibald. The book consists of four parts. The first comprises surface chemistry, including adsorption and catalysis. The second is devoted to the preparation and properties of lyophobic systems with separate chapters an a6rosols. emulsions, and foams, dialysis and ultrafiltration. The third part deals with lyophilic systems, sols, gels, and jellies. Part IV gives much interesting information with regard to the biocolloids, with further chapters on foods, biocatalysts, colloid factors in growth and movement, and colloids in the blood and nervous system, concluding with one on colloidal medicines. At the end there is a five-page list of reference books. The hook is beautifully illustrated, and the text is particularly dear. I t should be widely read. The factual information will appeal to the imagination of many students and lead to their giving the subject much closer attention
CHEMICALS OF COMMERCE.F. D. Snell and C. T . Snell. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York City, 1939. viii 542 pp. 14 X 21.5 cm. 55.00. This review could be summed up in the words of a research chemist who was asked to read the book and to offerhis comment, "Every chemist ought t o have i t and what's mare, I've recommended it be placed on the list to be purchased by those highschool libraries where my opinion has weight." The authors have undertaken an ambitious project and carried it out successfully. By so doing they have placed their chemical colleagues as well as certain groups of the lay public under a considerable obligation. The hook is a useful tool to practically all branches of the chemical profession as well as to those not chemically trained who need or desire information on what the authors have aptly titled the "Chemicals of Commerce." The plan of classification by type of compound is particularly helpful, since i t makes it easy, when looking up one compound, to quickly obtain information regarding those other compounds likely to be most easily substituted for it or most closely competitive with it.
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Snecialists in various industrial fields will undoubtedlv find it possiblc to respond helpfully to the authors' request for "criticisms, suggcstion.i,and comments," yet on rhc whole the wonder ia t h ~ tthe authors h a w found it pofsible to collert so m a n y fact, from so many diverse sources with so infinitesimal a proportion of inaccuracies. ~~~~
EXPERIMENTAL FOODSTUDY. Agnes Fay Morgan, Ph.D., Professor of Household Science, and Irene Sanborn Hall. Ph.D., formerly Instructor in Household Science. University of California. Farrar &Rinehart, Inc.. New York City, 1938. xvii 414 pp. 15 X 23 cm. $3.00. The book provides a detailed outline for laboratory work, together with discussion material and reference data for a one-year college course (one hundred eighty hours) on the composition and preparation of foodstuffs. "Unlike most manuals in thin field, it is written from the experimental point of view and in no way can be considered as a guide for a course in cookery. The approach made ischiefly that of the chemist. The course isintended to follow one year of general college chemistry and presupposes that other courses will he taken specifically in food analysis, nutrition, andcookery. The subject matter is divided into three main sections: (1) Food Solutions (one hundred sixty pages). (2) Food Colloids (one hundred fifty-two pages), and (3) Food Emulsions (sixtyseven pages). A large part of the experimental work is qualitative in nature, but many excellent quantitative experiments have been introduced also. Review questions a t the end of each chapter include well-selectedproblems to emphasize the theoretical and quantitative aspects of the work. References to standard hwks (rarely to journal papers) are given generously for each section of subject matter. The printing is clear and carefully edited. The text is skillfully worded for elementary teaching and should prove valuable for its intended purpose. C. G. KING
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UN~VRPSZTY 0s PITTSBU~~H P I ~ S B Y PBNNSYLVIN~A ~H,
ERCEBNISSE DER ENZM~PORSCHUNG, Vdume 8. Edited by F. F. Nord and R. Weidenhagen. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft. Leipzig, 1939. 324 pp. 71 figs. 11 X 19.5 cm. RM. 34. This volume contains the foilowing reviews: "Purified Viruses .and Virus Proteins" by R. W. G. Wyckoff (in English); "Mechanism of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation" by P. W. Wilson (in English); "Biological Significance of the pH Optimum of GastroIntestinal Enzymes of Vertebrates" by H. J. Vonk (in German); "The Significance of Enzymes in Chemical Diagnosis" by R. Ammon and E. Chytrek (in German); "Enzymatic Analysis of the Antigenic Structure of Pneumococci" by R. J. Duhos (in English); "Low Molecular Transmitters of Biological Oxidation and Reduction and Their Potentials" by F. G. Fischer (in German); "Aldehyde Mutase" by M. Dixon (in English); "Tissue Respiration in Animals" by C. Martins (in German); "Enzymes of Wood-Rotting Fungi" by S. R. Bose (in English); "The Gmetics of - Biochemistrv of Flower Color Variation" hv R. Scott (in English). The present volume of this universal review is a t least as interesting and valuable a s the preceding seven volumes. HENRYTausen Carc~oo.ILLmors
