B O O K REVIEWS Selective Toxicity
A d r i a Albert, Australian National University, Canberra. 3rd ed. John Wiley and Sans, Ine., New York, 1965. xiii 394 pp. Figs. and tables. 15 X 23 cm. $10.
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This hook is accurately described by the first partragraph of the author's preface: "This is a hook about selectively toxic agents. These are substances which injure certain undesirable cells without harming other cells, even when the two kinds of cells are close neighbors. Hence the hook is concerned with drugs for man and animals, also with fungicides, insecticides, and weed-killers. I t is most specially concerned with the physical and chemical means by which this selective injury is accomplished." This enlarged (by a factor of 1.8) and rewritten edition succeeds admirably in its purpose. I t is to he regretted that the author has eliminated his recommendation of its use as s text from his preface. It would serve well as a text for a course in medicinal chemistry. The hook is organized into two parts. Part One, Topics of General Interest, contains four chapters-Selective Toxicity; Absorption, Distribution, and Excretion; Chemotherapy, History and Principles;
and Pharmacodynamics. Part Two, The Relationship Between Structure and Biological Activity, has nine chapters of more specific nature. Of special merit are Chapters 8 and 9 dealing with Ionization and Metal-binding Substances. Three useful appendices, the bibliography, and an adequate index complete the hook. The rewriting has markedly improved the clarity of the presentation and r e moved most of this reviewer's objections to the second edition (J. CHEM. ED. 38, 332 [1961]). The hook is well upto-date with 1963 references frequent in the bibliography and with oceasiond 1964 citations. Cross-referencing in the text is frequent and well done. Chemical nomenclature is satisfactorily handled in general. One exception is in the name of Benemid on p. 56 when "dipropyl sulfamoyl" is to he preferred to "dipropyl sulfonamido." On p. 302 the use of the abbreviation Ba for henzyl is a source of potential confusion. Iurtccurate statements are pleasingly few. On pp. 61 and 62 it would have been preferable to use "probably" in the description of the modes of action af the dithiocarbamate and trichloromethylthio fungicides. On p. 73 it is stated that "The toxicity of the sulphonmnides to mammals is so low that it is difficult to measure accurately"; pp. 464-465 of E. H. Northey's "The Sulfonamides" gives many toxicity values. The statement on p. 82 that "penicillin is the most chemotherapeutic of drugs" neglects the large numher of sensitivity reactions that have followed
its use in man. On p. 83 it is stated that Eimeria (coccidiosis) is a sporozoite rather than that sparozoites are one phase of the life cycle. The statement of p. 158 relating the propyl side chain of smprolium to its concentration in the red blood cell is mystifying as the coccidial infection is not in the red blood cell. On p. 147 pyridine-3-carhoxylic acid is nicotinic acid and not an analogue. On p. 283 the discussion of the reactivation of phosphoryhted estemses by oximes lacks reference to their inability to reactivate "aged" preparations. Misprints are few and not misleading in general. One possible exception is the reference to "syjtemtic" rather than "systemid' insecticides on p. 282. The hook is attractively printed with formulas clearly set forth and systemetia l l y referred to. In Chapter 11 the order of formula presentation is not entirely sequential by number and mars an otherwise orderly text. The hook is strongly recommended as a clearly written, and provocatively presented exposition of basic ideas in the field of chemical-biological selectivity to those active in or seeking a background in this field. JACKSON P. ENGLISH American Cyanamid Company Agricultuml Cater P~ineelmz,New Jersey
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Volume 43, Number 1, January 1966
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A73
