seems advisable to this reviewer that all textbooks now going an the market should use the presentation or orhitak depicted in I . Cohen, J. CHEM.EDUC.,38, 20 (1961) and E. A. Ogryslo and G. B. Porter, J. CHEM.ED., 40, 256 (1963). I n s ~ m m a r ythis text can he reeommended ss outside reading for good high school students and college freshmen or far use as s. text in a college freshman course in which s, series of paperbacks are used. A number of misleading statements limit this reviewer's enthusiasm; nonetheless the hook compares quite favorably with other materials which currently attempt to present chemical bonding to beginning students. R 0 n . n ~C.~ JaHxsoN Ernorv University Atlanta, Georgia
Organic Experiments
Louis F. Fieser, Harvard University. D. C. Heath and Co., Boston, 1964. vi 325 pp. Figs. and tables. 18.5 X 23.5 cm. $6.90.
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Fieser's laboratory texts have became classics of their kind. Therefore, the revised edition is of great interest. This book includes many of the experiments and photographs in Fieser's "Expeciments in Organic Chemistry," hut it does not contain the material dealing with research techniques which appeared in Part I1 of the older text and which is now being revised as a separate volume. One of the greatest strengths of the hook is the wealth of material it presents. I t offers R wide choice of new experiments, including a Wittig reaction, a dichlorocarhene experiment, a benayne experiment, isolation of 8-cmotene and oleic acid, use of cyclopentadiene, and the use of dimethylacetylenedicarhoxyl~te. A number of the new experiments are suitable for inbroduetion a t an early point in the laboratory since they deal with reactions of hydrocarbons or isalation of natural products. Older experiments., e x-.,. column and omer cham%tography, synthesis of sulfanilsmide, Grignard synthesis of triphenylcarhinol, give ample opportunity for including a wide variety of laboratory work. The student may be introduced t,o thin layer ehromstography, use of ground glass equipment, the use of balloon techniques for hydrogenation and oxidative coupling, and methods of manipulating small quantities. In general, the eqmiments are instructive and imaginative and past experience with Fieser's texts would indicate that they are reliable. The book includes sufficient references and explanations, although some students using the book may want a more detailed description of what they should expect to observe in the laboratory. Fieser has included the section on the use of infrared and ultraviolet spectra from "Experiments in Organic Chemistry." There is an example of the application of nuclear magnetic spectra in the experiment on the catalytic reduction ol endo-norbornanecisd,&dicarhoxylic acid.
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The organic qualitative analysis section has been strengthened by the inclusion of tables on the properties of compounds and derivatives. Fieser has continued to emphasize the use of unknowns wherever it seems practicable. The color plates that appeared in the iront of the earlier texts have heen omitted, but the more useful photograph3 have been retained and appear in black and white a t appropriate points in the book. Ground glass equipment is used in new photographs, but it is not essential that it be availnble in order to carry out the experiments satisfactorily. While some of the older diagrams are reti~ined and may seem outdated, particularly in the section on vacuum dii;tillation, they still represent the principles adequately. Those wishing to include kinetic experiments or experiments requiring the use of the usual gravimetric, volumetric or colorimetric techniques will not find the text particularly helpful. Nor is it as useful as "Experiments in Organic Chemistry" for independent projects. However, on the whale, this hook offers an exeeptionnlly wide selection of well thought out experiments to choose from, and is a very good laboratory text far elementary organic chemistry. FRANK C. PENNINCTON Coe College Cedar Rapids, I m a Animal Chemistry or Organic Chemistry in its Application to Physiology and Pathology
Justus Liebig. A Facsimile of the Cambridge Edition of 1842 with a new Introduction by Frederir 7,. Holmcs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Sources of Science, Nu. 4. Johnson Reprint Corp., New York, 1064. cxvi xl 347 pp. 12.5 X 20 em. $14.50 Liehig's Die Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auj Agrikullzir uni Phgsiologie appeared in 1840, a ~vorkso successful that it went through many editions and translations and established its author ss one of the principal founders of agricultural chemistry and plant nutrition. Two yema later he plhlished the companion, Die organische Chcmie in i h w Anwendung auf Phgsiologie und Pathologie, in which he attempted to provide solutions to the problems of digestion, animal heat, respiration, ete. and thus arrive a t a practical basis for better nutrition. The book raised ,z flood of critical comments, it involved Liebig in numerous heated disputes, much of the contents were shown to be based on pure fantasy, but nolletheless it provided a great thrust upon the course of physiological thought and investigation. I t s importance as a determining farce warrants the present reprinting. The volume under review here is a reproduction of the English translation by Liebig's friend William Gregory of Cambridge, who worked from the author's manuscript and supplied additions, notes, and corrections. However, the most notable feature of the reprint is The (Continued on page A480)
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