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volume is of course a most helpful tool t o the research worker and is a welcome addition t o the Annual Tables. GEO. GLOCKLER.
The Aaitamznoses. By WALTERH. EDDYand GILBERTDALLDORF. Foreword by James Ewing. ix 338 pp.; xxix plates. Baltimore, Maryland: The Williams & \Vilkins Co., 1937. Price: $4.50. As pointed out in the foreword by Dr. Ewing, this is the first comprehensive review in English on the pathological effects of vitamin deficiencies. The book will appeal especially t o pathologists, clinicians, and physicians, but is a valuable work t o biochemists and teachers of nutrition who also should keep abreast of the important theories, facts, and practices in this rapidly growing field of knowledge. The book is a sequel t o the V i t a m i n Manual published by the senior author in 1921. One can hardly find a more striking demonstration of the enormous advances which have been made in this subject than by contrasting the earlier volume with the present one. The book is divided into two parts. Part I, consisting of chapters I t o XXVII, considers the nature of vitamins A, B, C, D , and E and also that of the other vitamins now regarded as components of the original vitamin B complex. The functions of each of these vitamins are discussed in separate chapters, as are also the clinical and subclinical manifestations and forms of each vitamin deficiency. The anatomical manifestations of vitamin A and C deficiencies are discussed in separate chapters, as are also the morbid anatomy of vitamin B deficiency and the morbid effects related t o the supply of vitamin D. There are also separate chapters on beriberi, scurvy, pellagra, and rickets. P a r t I concludes with chapters entitled, respectively, “The Vitamins and Resistance t o Infection,” “Morbid Effects of Certain Complicated Dietary Experiments,’] and “Vitamins and Blood Regeneration.” Part 11, consisting of three chapters, is especially valuable in that these chapters cover the standard methods for vitamin bio-assay, various clinical tests of vitamin deficiencies, and tables giving vitamin A, B, and C values of many common foods in teims of international units per ounce and vitamin G values in Sherman-Bourquin units. Each chapter in part I is followed by a valuable bibliography. P a r t I1 also contains important references t o the literature. The hook is profusely illustrated by excellent plates, tables, and figures, all of nhich add greatly t o its value. Both a n author and a subject index are included. Considerable courage is required t o TTrite a book in a field of knowledge TThich is advancing so rapidly that some of the statements made will be obsolete by the time the book is printed. The Avitamznoses has had this misfortune, but such errors of this nature as do occur do not detract from the main value of the work. On the whole the subject matter has been chosen wisely and treated thoroughly, efficiently, and critically. Only in a few places would serious difference of opinion arise regarding the material selected, or its treatment. Even this does not, in the opinion of the reviener, detract from the worth of the book. L. S. PALMER.
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Soil Conditions and Plant Grouth. By Sir E. JOHN RUSSELL. 7th edition. viii 655 pp. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1937. Price: $7.00.
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The seventh edition of this famous book dealing with soil conditions and plant growth is characteristic of preceding revisions. It brings up t o date the essential features of present-day knoI7ledge in this field. While each chapter has been modified and much of the text rewritten, the size of the volume has not been materially altered. Some additional textual matter has, however, supplanted the former
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appendix on methods of soil analysis. T h e size remains a t around 650 pages, and it is a very handy volume for general reading. The purpose of the book, as the author states in the preface, is “to present the student with a broad outline of the subject, including sufficient detail to give reality to the treatment, but avoiding always the tediousness of the card index record.” In this i t most admirably fits its purpose. It is a volume for the general student in soils and plant growth rather than for the specialist in some particular aspect of this field. However, the revised and up-to-date bibliography is of great value t o technicians and general students alike. One of the most important revisions has to do with the discussion of the influence of the various elements on plant growth, including both major and minor elements. The latter are classed in this revision under the general heading of stimulative or prophylactic elements,-among the metals copper, boron, manganese, zinc, and iron, ivhile among the non-metals the class includes sulfur, titanium, and silicon, as n-ell as chlorides, iodides, and fluorides. Each is discussed individually. Chapter 111, on the composition of the soil, has been entirely rewritten, and particular attention has been given to the clay fraction, including the modern concept of the structure of the clay minerals. One of the most extensive additions is that under chapter IV, dealing 11-ith soil development and classification. I n this the subject matter has been practically doubled, bringing together the latest v i e m of pedologists. At the end of the book chapters VI11 and IX have been combined under the chapter heading “Soil Fertility in S a t u r e and in Farm Practice.” The author is a t his best in this latest volume. Assisted by a number of Rothamsted colleagues he has made this revision the last word in summat’ion of present-day knowledge in this important field. 31. F. ~ I I L L E R .
A Catalogue of the Epstean Collection. Xew T o r k : Columbia University Press, 1937. Price: 31.50. Students of the history of photography and of some phases of photochemistry will welcome this catalogue of the Epstean collection. I n addition to making the collection more useful, i t will serve as a bibliography of the earlier works on photography. The collection, which is housed in the Rare Book Departments of the Columbia University Library, includes 1418 titles. The subject matter covers practically the entire field of photography, as well as some aspects of related arts and sciences. The book is attractively bound and printed. R O B E R LIVIA-GSTOS. T
RudioactivitB.
By XfME. P I E R R ECERIE. 563 pp. Paris: Hermann e t Compagnie, 1935. Price: 150 frs. I n 1910 Mme. Curie published her well known Trait6 de Radioactivitt? (two volumes), which presented with some additions the material then contained in her regular lectures a t the Sorbonne on the subject of radioactivity. Although the present book also represents her lecture course-as recently givenit would be a mistake to assume t h a t i t is a revision of the earlier treatise. I n fact no more striking evidence of the advances of nuclear chemistry and physics in tuenty-five years could be had than by noting the differences betn een these two works. I t is true that the framen-ork of the radioactive transformations in the three families had already been traced in 1910, but the law of atomic displacement in the periodic system, the significance of isotopes and radioactive indicators, the nature of gamma radiation, the origin of the actinium family, the explanation of beta- and gamma-ray spectra, the Gamow theory of the nucleus .and its energy harriei, all re-
