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T h e third chapter by E. A . Barnard and W. D . Stein deals with the role of imidazole in biological systems. This chapter is a very valuable summary of presently available information, much of which is critically evaluated. T h e specific catalytic role of imidazole groups in reactions involving acylation, phosphorylation and hydrolytic cleavage is stressed. T h e present difficulties in making positive identification of imidazole as an active center in a given cnzynie are examined, and a suggestion is made for obtaining a new type of more specific imidazole-blocking group. T h e chapter is on t h e whole well written, b u t there are occasional points of slight obscurity. The fourth chapter on uridine diphospliogalactosc bJH. Kalckar in substance constitutes a veri- good review of the role of this material in enzymatic reactions. T h e review is marred, however, by a rather poor style aiid instances of obscurity and unacceptable grammar. The fifth chapter on tlie substrate atid mode of x t i u n o f neuraminidase by A. Gottschalk is a short but informative section 011 t h e occurrence and action of this enzyme and the nature of the substrates upon which it aetb. The use of the word terminal in referring to the position of attachment of sialic acid t o polysaccharide may be misleading, since the sialic acid residues seems t o occur in niultiple sites as terminal branches, and not solely as terminating groups a t the end of polysaccharide chains. The sixth chapter on the constitution of tlie respiratory chain in animal tissue by E . C. Slater treats the subject of biological oxidation in animal tissues. The major purpose o f the presentation is stated t o be a consideration of evidence for new components in the respiratory chain located in the mitochondria. T h e exposition stresses the past and present views of the author. T h e citations from the literature are incomplete and t h e article is probably more suitable for the specialist than for the non-specialist. The seventh chapter on the enzymology of thc plastids by N. M. Sissakiari should have received much more careful editing. The English is poor. Some of the discussion is very vague; for instance there is no clear statement coiicerning the location of the enzymes of the Krebs tricarboxvlic acid cycle in plant cells. An illustration of what seems to constitute inadequate standards on the part of the author is the inclusion of eight electrophoretic diagrams which in tlie opinion of the reviewer contribute absolutely no information. On t h e whole. this chapter does contain some worthwhile material but is not of a high standard of excellence. Tlie eighth chapter on enzymatic transformation of steroids b y microorganisms, by E. Vischer and A . Wettstein, is u well written and excellent review, informative and comprehensive. T h e various steroid transformations catalyzed bi- microbial enzymes are listed. T h e enzymes themselves are discussed, and a little is said about reaction mechanisms. The authors state their hope t h a t the chapter will stimulntc interest in the purification of some of the enzymes t h a t are iiieiitioned. Tlie ninth chapter oii the mechanism of hydrolysis by choline esterases and related enzymes by D . It. Davies and A . L. Green is a well-written summary of present day knowledge of the field. Some new mechanisms are proposed by the authors, wlio may be somewhat arbitrary however in setting u p a list of the facts t h a t they believe must be esplained b y a n y proposed mechanism for hydrolysis b y esterases. The particular mechanism suggested b y them for esterase hydrolysis m a y be somewhat too complex. T h e tenth chapter on the biosynthesis of dicarboxylic ainino acids and enzyme transformations of amides in plants by W. L. Kretovitch is for the most part readable arid informative, although the English style is not excellent. Some of the tables are very poorly set up, and in one or two cases the d a t a are so meagre as t o make questionable their inclusion in a table a t all. T h e interesting hypothesis of Steward and Thompson concerning a possible ring form for asparagine is mentioned and it is suggested t h a t t h e occurrence of this molecular species may account for the fact t h a t the metabolic activity of asparagine is generally lower than t h a t of glutamine. Although the references t o non-Russian papers may be incomplete, the inclusion of a very large number of Russian references is t o be commended, since these often are overlooked in Western countries. T h e eleventh chapter on pectic substances and pectic eiizyrnes by H. Deuel and E. Stutz is relatively well written,
Vol. 81
informative and comprehensive. An addendum has been added t o bring the work up-to-date insofar as possible. The twelfth chapter on antibiotics and plant diseases contains much interesting material on the use and attempted use of antibiotics to control diseases of plants and t o fight spoilage of harvested crops, such as potatoes. T h e chapter will undoubtedly be of considerable value t o those interested in this new application of biochemistry. The review is 1vell written, informative and apparently quite coinpreliensivc. When viewed in its entirety this volume certainly suffers from a lack of editing. There are many instances of poor construction, poor style and bad grammar. Tlic ludicrous error occurs of using uvinediphospho galactose iriitead (if m i d i n e diphosphogalactose as a running title. In the case of a work composed b y a cosmopolitan group of authors, for many of whom English presumably is not the mother tongue, more care should bc taken b y the editor in smoothing out the rough spots and removing a t Iemt the most glaring mistakes. I t can be stated however t h a t this volume will be of general interest to all biochemists and a v-orthwhile addition t o the libraries of those particularly interested in em>-mology. n E P A 4 R T h l E l TO F BIOCHEMISTRY u X I V E R S I T l ’ O F ROCHESTER hfEDIL4L CEZTER ALEXBXDER L. UOUNCE ROCHESTER 20, XETVYORK Number-Average Molecular Weights. Fundamentals and Determination. B y ROBERTU. Bo B A l and FREDH. STROSS,Shell D e Emeryville. California. Interscience Publishers, Inc., 20,j Fifth Avenue, New ’I’ork 1 , X.I-, 1953, x 31U pp. 16 X 23.5 cin. Price, $i.50. is indicated b y the title, this book is concerned with ;i discussion of the theory and experimental methods t h a t arc crnployed to determine the number average niolecular xreights of a variety of chemical substances. -inintroductor>- chapter surreys the various methods available and discusbes very briefly the advantages aiid disadvantages of each. Tlie methods discussed are cryoscopic, ebullioscopic, osmotic pressure, Ion-ering of the vapor pressure, gas density and functional group analysis. -in individual chapter is devoted to a more detailed discussion of each method and one chapter is concerned solely with a theoretical discussion (if the calculation of molecular weight when using the cryoscvpic or ebullioscopic methods. -1bout eighty-five per cent. iof the book is devoted t o a discussion of tlie ebullioscopic, crl-oseopic uiid osmotic pressure methods with the other techniques receiving proportionately less attention. The limitations of each of the primary methods lire presented, particularly the molecular weight ranges t h a t c u u be covered. The various types of equipment t h a t can be utilized and that arc available :ire considered. Thus, for ermiip!e, five differelit types of osinometers arc coiiridered in detail and the ad\-aiitages and disadvantages of each are discuwxl. In this and t lie other techniques enip1i:isis appears t o be given t o designs which ;LI!CJW for rapidity of nieasurenients. The nirijor merit of this book and ii significant coritrilutiiin indeed, lies i n the detailed di sion and analysis ( i f csperitnent:~l procedures ant1 p i . sources of ernir. T h i 1attL.r consideratioti invol\-es cussioii of tlie iniire obvious sources of error and the cqu:ilIy ubtlc ones. Procedurcs are g i v r n as to teinatically detected a i i t l i t 1 i n m y as to how they c u i be avoided. These descriptions will be of itivaluable aid to the csperimentalist Tvorking i l l this field. Characteristic of the methods used to deterlniric nloiecuial. ircights is the fact that though all measuremetits are made a t finite coiiccntrations. i f is inevitable t h a t extrapolation be made to infinite dilution to determine the required quantity. unless one is dealing with ;in ideal solution. .Ilthough some consideration is given t o the theory of non-ideal solutions and references are given t o tlie more standard texts on the subject, major emphasis is focused on the statistical methods of d a t a analysis. Though the contribution of statistics in analyzing the reliability of data is well recognized, the appropriate more detailed thermodynamic analyses may be of more importance t o the problem. The suggestion by t h e iiuthors t h a t the Flory-Huggins formulation be used t o express the activity of the solvent in dilute solutions should be taken cautiously as it is known to be inapplicable in most dilute polyirier solutions.
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BOOKREVIEWS
3171
have been determined, which will serve the same purpose as standard wave lengths in optical spectra. Conceptual adaances in accelerators, b y D. L. Judd, is a compact b u t complete summary of t h e principles involved in the design of t h e present accelerators and of the ideas advanced, in this country and elsewhere, t o improve attainable energy, current intensity, accessibility of the beam, length of d u t y cycle, and other desirable features. T h e alternating-gradient focusing has been the greatest advance of t h e past few years; intersecting-beam accelerators t o attain higher useful particle energies, and use of plasma t o increase current intensities, are some of the ideas t h a t have been proposed, b u t their practical application seems rather remote. The primary cosmic radiation, b y H . V. Neher, describes the chemical composition of the primary cosmic-ray parAnnual Review of Nuclear Science. T7oluxne 8. EMILIO tic!es in relation t o the abundance of nuclear species in the SEGRE, Editor, University of California, GERHARTFRIED- universe. The energy distribution and the suggested LAxnER, Associate Editor, Brookhaven National Labora- mechanisms of cosmic-ray acceleration also are discussed. tory, and WALTER E. MEYERHOF,Associate Editor, The radioactivity of the atmosphere and the hydrosphere, Stanford Cniversity. Annual Reviews, Inc., Grant by H . E. Suess, describes recent determinations of tritium, Avenue, Palo Alto, California. 1958. vii +417 pp. C14, and other radioactive elements, either liberated from radioactive elements in t h e earth, produced b y cosmic-ray 16 X 23 cm. Price, 87.00 (U.S.A.); $7.50 (elsewhere). interactions in the atmosphere, or introduced b y man’s T h e volumes of “Annual Review of Xuclear Science” nuclear explosions. have probably become so familiar t o most persons interested Geochronology by radioactive decay, by L. T. Aldrich and in pure and applied nuclear physics, t h a t the reviewer G . W . Wetherill, deals with a subject t h a t had been remight dispense with a general description of the character viewed in this series only 4 years ago. The necessity for a of this series. For the few uninitiated readers, it may be stated t h a t each volume contains a collection of about a new summary emphasizes t h e progress realized in this brief period. The potassium and rubidium methods, in their dozen articles, with a balanced distribution between pure infancy a t t h a t time, now rival t h e uranium-lead methods nuclear physics and its applications t o chemistry, biology, in accuracy and are of much more general application as geology, etc. S o effort is made t o cover every year adthey involve common elements. Excellent consistency exvances in all branches of nuclear science. The much ists on the ages of many P r e c a m b r i a n igneous rocks. On more opportune procedure followed is t o review each year those fields where a considerable amount of knowledge has the other hand, no progress has been made on the import a n t task of pegging the conventional geologic time-scale, accumulated since the last review appeared in this series or from the Cambrian t o t h e Recent, t o absolute, radioactively elsewhere, and therefore it is desirable t h a t the present status of the problem be summarized. I n the past such ar- determined dates. Geologists still rely on a few points, determined many years ago and open to question. A masticles have proved invaluable both t o the specialist in decidsive attack on this problem is urgently needed. The present ing the direction of his future investigations, and t o the article deals essentially with the methods of age determinaperson wishing t o survey a field close t o but not exactly his rather than their geological implications. own. One feature t h a t greatly enhances the value of these tion iVuclear astrophysics, by -4. G . W. Cameron, is a most books, and for which editors and authors must be congratulated, is the short time elapsing between the appear- interesting account of our present knowledge of nuclear reactions going on in the stars, in relation t o the origin and ance of results in the technical papers and their coverage in abundance of the various nuclear species. these reviews. I n the present volume, literature up t o the Practical control of radiation hazards in physics research, spring of 1958 (about 6 months before the appearance of the book) is fully taken into account, and even d a t a personally by B. J. Moyer, should prove useful t o many nuclear physicists, chemists, etc., whose notions about the dangers conimunicated t o the authors arid still unpublished at t h a t of exposure t o radiations seem generally rather vague, if time are included. the reviewer and his associates can be taken as examples. The volume opens with a high-caliber article of a theoretThe purpose of cellular radiobiology, b y T. H. Wood, is, in ical nature, Inrariance principles nf nuclear physics b y the author’s words, “a review of those papers published in G. C . Wick. Parity, charge conjugation, time-reversal, 1957 t h a t deal with the effects of ionizing and ultraviolet charge independence, baryon and lepton conservation, and radiations on simple biological systems.” T h e large bibliogstrangeness are discussed. These problems are viewed from raphy cited and the frequency of reviews in this field indithe vantage point of the field-theoretical methods of quancate its rapid development. A special topic of this subt u m mechanics, and the treatment is masterful in its clarity ject, Information theory in radiobiology, is the object of a and completeness. I n contrast t o many articles on parity separate, brief article by H. Quastler. It discusses the non-conservation and related subjects t h a t have appeared statistical principles t h a t govern in a n organism the macroelsewhere, this is definitely not an elementary approach for scopic consequences of the primary radiation effects. the uninitiated. T h e above summary of the contents of the individual The optical model and its justi’cafion, by H. Feshbach, articles clearly shows t h a t the eighth volume of this series covers the principles and applications of a method for reducis fully as useful as its predecessors t o all students of pure ing many problems of nucleon-nucleus interaction to the and applied nuclear science. T h e list of authors and topics study of a two-body system. The article is excelleutly written and condenses material previously scattered in numerous for the forthcoming 1959 issue will doubtless induce a feeling of keen expectation in all those interested in what proband lengthy papers. Hyperfiaginents, by IV. F . F r y , is a brief but coinpre- ably is the fastest progressing branch of human knowledge. UNIVERSITY hcnsive account of t h e properties of light nuclei where a JOHNS HOPXINS BALTIMORE, bfaRYLAND FRANCO RASEITI neutron is replaced by a lambda-zero hyperon. These peculiar objects supply valuable information on strange-particle interactions. Antinucleons by E. Senrk is a clear and authoritative ac- Internal Conversion Coefficients. By M, E. ROSE,Chief Physicist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Interscience count of the discbvery a i d properties of these constituents Publishers, Inc., 250 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, N. I’. of “antimatter. ” 1958. xxi 173 pp. 23 X 30.5 cm. Price, $6.25. Gamma-ray spectroscopy by direct crystal dijraction, b y J. K‘. M . DuMond, is a n excellent review of t h e work done T h e internal conversion of y-rays supplies a most useful by the author (who spent a life-time in perfecting high- tool t o the investigator concerned with unravelling nuclear resolution X-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers) and b y a decay schemes; i t also supplies a very nice example, with a few others who have undertaken these difficult experiments. fair number of subtle features (some of which have been This technique of measuring gamma-ray wave lengths, while apparent only in the last couple of years), of the interaction requiring exceptionally strong sources, supplies a precision of a system of charged particles with the electromagnetic unequalled b y a n y other method. A large number of lines field.
This book is clearly and concisely written with a large but carefully selected number of figures. Particularly commendable is t h e fact t h a t the instrument illustrations are accompanied b y a very clear description in the text so t h a t the functioning and design of a given piece of equipment can be easily followed and understood. This book should be heartily welcomed by workers in the field, particularly those who have assumed t h e experimental responsibility of determining number-average molecular weights and related thermodynamic properties. POLYMER STRUCTURE SECTION YATIOSAL BUREAUO F STAXDARDS LEOMAXDELKERN ~YASHISGTOX2 5 , D. C.
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