476
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JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
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maior chanters coverinx .. the hormones. ~, theories of metabolite antsgonirm, ilyv+tuff; in rhrnmthrmpy, sulionnmides, nntimnlariah, ch,mistn. ui acid-fast infer ti on^, mrr.+l-irrcdrug* used in tropical diseases, antibiotics, anthelmintics, compounds of arsenic, antimony and bismuth, and antiseptics. Also there are four small chapters dealing with essential amino acids and fatty acids, chemotherapy, antifungal agents, and sterilization and disinfection. From s. ohemicsl point of view this book is well written. Syntheses are clearly presented and structures established. Errors are oomparatively few. Nomenclature generally oonforms to established rules. Sufficient of the pharmacological data and clinicsl findings are included to provide chemists with a. good appreciation of the medical applications. As steted shove, good nomenclature is generally fallowed hut there are errors. Thus, the one-word nsme, l,6-his-(phydroxyphenyl)hexane (page 617), contrasts with the two-word nsme, 3,4di-(p-hydrawhenyl) hexane (psge 612). The latter is incorrect, and unfortunately many such examples ooour. Also, one finds ketonitrile (psge 597) instead of keto nitrile; or on page 693, arylvinyl ketones instead of aryl vinyl ketones: or page 600, androstsnediol-Sacetat3-17-bon.oateinstead of 3,17-androstenedial 3-scetate 17-benzoate. Chemists recognize secondary alcohols hut not secondaw carbinols (page 615). The author refers to addition of acetylene to a. ketone in the presence of potassium amide as the Nef reaction (page 604). To be sure, Nef did carry out this reaction hut he was prolific in his discovery of reactions. Other chemists sre using the term "Nef reaction" to describe the nitroparsffin-to-sldehyde conversion. At this late date it seems unwise to particularize any of Nef's discoveries as the Nef reaction. One of the few real errors noted in the book is the structure assignel to gamma benzene hexschloride. Instead of all six chlorines being "above" the plane of the ring, two should be below, the two a t positions 1, 4. (Bijvoet, el al., Chern. Abstracts, 43,2838 (1949); 44,7614 (1950)). The preferred trivial name of this substance now is lindane. not mmmexan. ~
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announced after the book was printed, hut the omi~sionserves t o emphasize the fact that medicinal chemistry is an active and growing field. Burger's treatise is timely. The book can be recommended in high terms as a guide to this territory. CHARLES D. HURD
N o n v n w ~ s ~ eUn~~~ v e n s m r EVANBTON. ILGINO~@
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levels given in a single or in repeated exposures. -4 few studies of the effects on the peripheral blood and gross metabolic pattern are presented. The rate of recovery from total-surface heta irradiation and the combined effects of external heta and gamma irradiation also receive considwation. There are excellent descriptions of the acute grass pathological and histopathological changes in the ski". Those sections of the volume that deal with the delayed effects of single and repeated exposure to external heta rsys are not ss satisfactory as the reports of the acute lethal work. This situation is probably because the publication deadline antedated the completion of the experiments. Emphasis is rightly placed on the production of neoplasms of the skin. However, the inclusion of a chmter that reviews the literature dealinz with the study a t the time of writing. MIRIAM P. FIXKEL AR.ONNEN*FIOA*L L*BOR*TORY Cmc*ao, I m r ~ o r s
QUANTITATIVE ORGANIC MICROANALYSIS
A1 Steyermark, Microchemical Dept., Haffmann-LaRoche Inc., Nutley, New Jersey. The Blalriston Co., Philadelphia, 1951. xvi 389 pp. 155figs. 12 tables. 15 X 2 3 om. $7.00
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BESIDES& description of the expected methods for analysis of the common elements found in organic compounds, Steyermark has included micro methods for phosphorus, arsenic, and oxygen. He has included also chapters on the use of the microbalance, use of manometric apparatus in various determinations, and determinations of neutralization equivalent, a l k o y ~ lgroups, acetyl groups, melting paint, boiling point, and molecular weight. A chapter on calculations includes the use of factors, finding an empirical formula, tables of grwimetric and volumetric factors, atomic weights and their multiples (to 50 for H), s. nitrogen reduction table (logarithms), and a five-place table of logarithms. Detailed descriptions of the favored methods of analysis are well written from the standpoint of beginning students, who should be able to follow them without difficulty. \\-hen more than one method is eiven. the author freouentlr makes heloful
BIOLOGICAL rsrLCTS OF EXTERNAL BETA RADIATION
troduction, ten. Sometimes two editions of the same book are Edited by Raymond E. Zirkle, Professor of Radiobidogy, Insti- listed. in each information for ~ ~, , l ~ ~~ ~ ~ of chicago; ~ con.h The section ~ ~ chapter~called "additional ~ , tute of ~ ~ d i ~ band four sen~l ~ chapter ~ ~ n"~is~of varied ~ ~ worth. ~~Considerlh the fallowing , sultant, ~ i ~of i~ ~ i ~and ~ ~~ ~ d~ i l ~ ~~A~~~~~~ tences which begin a paragraph, page 74: "Beaeley'used an elecNational Laboratory. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1951. xxv tric cumhustian furnace. Hallett" used an electrically heated 242 pp Illustrated. 16 X 23.5 cm. 53.25. fnmaee. H i annarat,ns imketed mimmit,~n~ ~ r r included ~ ~ ~ t,wo .~. ~ ~ -~ ~ ~ . ~ . ~ Tnrs volume of the National Nuclear Energy Series inoludes meters which are used alternately. Royer, Korton, and Foster'B the usual sixteen pages devoted to forewords, acknowledgments, described automatic combustion.'' Such disconnected senintroductions, and prefaces to which we have become accus- tences of limited content are scarcely of mare value to the reader tomed. It is an account of one portion of the radiohiologicd than a simple listing in a bibliography. program carried out during World War I1 a t the Clinton LsbaraThe acknowledgment that microanalysis is in part an a r t is tories, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The cover of the book indicates verified by the vigor with which some practices are condemned joint editorship by Zirkle and Law~on,hut it seems that Lawson bv one analvst which are beine used and faithfullv defended hv was unable to penetrate the binding since he is not mentioned Lother. S&mnark's book
