REVIEWS
BOOK
Standard Methods of Clinical Chemistry. Volume 2
The American Association of Clinical Chemists. David Seligson, Editor, University of Pennsylvania, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1958. xii 217 pp. 16 X 23.5 om. $5.50.
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Like the first volume in the series, which was published in 1953, the current volume consists of thorough presentations of modern methods for analyzing blood, urine, feces, and other biological materials for clinically significant compounds or elements or for performing empirical tests which indicate the functioning of certain organs. The hook is intended primarily for professional clinical chemists, but should be of use to medical technicians, pathologists, and others whose vocations are related to clinical chemistry. The style is clear and easily read; there are very few errors of any kind. For each method, there are given: (1) the historical background; (2) the principles involved; (3) a list of all reagents required with detailed directions for their preparation and procurement; (4) stepby-step procedures with explanatory notes; (5) the precautions necessary to insure the highest accuracy and precision; (6) all caloulations and standrtrdizations involved, and (7) a thorough discussion of the clinioal significance of the results, with normal ranges and, where pertinent, the influences of various physiological factors (such as age) on the normal values. In most cases, the relative merits and failings . of the methods ere also discussed. 'I'he calibration of photo-
electric colarimeters, the operation of sensitive pH meters, and the operation of a flame photometer are dso included. An extensive list of references, both specific and eeneral. is ao~endedat the end of each chapter. ~ e a s c k b l y complete author and subject indexes sre provided a t the end of the book. With the exception of two (blood pH and flame photometry), each method has been checked independently by a t least one clinical chemist in addition to the person submitting the procedure. In most caaes, values obtained in two or t h e e laboratories by snalyeing several known and unknown samples are given, providing adequate bases for evaluation of the precision and accuracy of the method. Similarlv. dat& comoarine the results of
expensive-equipment, such as a Beckmen DU spectrophotometer, a flame photometer, or a fluorometer, the majority can be done witb a minimum of special equipment. The large number of explanatory or precautionary notes and suggestions, together with the data. indicating the accuracy and precision, should make even the more complicated procedures workable for relatively inexperienced technicians who have had adequate training in the fundament& of clinical chemistry. Although the methods given for the determination of oholesterol have much to commend them, this reviewer has found the FeCIa-H2SO~method of Zlatkis and Bovle to be accurate and convenient.
Comparative data might well be given in the next volume of this series. The brief discussion, on page 104, of the relative clinical significance of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and nonprotein nitrogen (NPN) levels fails to point out that since the normal value for BUN is only half of that far NPN a moderate retention of urea will he much more evident if BUN is determined, because the relative increase from the normal will be much greater. Similarly, in some conditions a riw in one component of the NPN will be counterbalanced by an equivalent decrease in another, preventing any significant change in the NPN value.
H. PRITHAM GORDON Pennsylvania State University University Park
Textbook of Biochemistry
Benjamin Hawou~,Emeritus Professor d Chemistry, and Abraham Mazur, Associate Professor of Chemistry, City College, New York. W. B. Saunders 557 pp. Ca., Philadelphia, 1958. ix 106 figs. 79 tables. 16 X 24.5 cm. 57.50.
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This is the seventh edition of z textbook which has been popular for many years. Numerous changes have heen made to bring the hook more nearly up to date. It is ooncerned primarily with human physiological chemistry, the descriptive "biochemistry" of medical school tradition, and as such it will no doubt continue to enjoy wide acceptance. Its arganiaation follows the historic pattern, beginning witb elementary carbohydrate chemistry, followed by descriptive chemistry of other naturally occurring compounds, enzymes, the physiology of digestion and absorption and blood, chemical reactions in metabolism, nutrition, tissues, urine, etc. The treatment is compact, and excellent in many ways. The seventh edition, in recognition of the importance of reaction kinetios and thermodvnamics in bio-
by simple errors. On pages 119-120, it is assumed that first-order kinetic behavior always indicates a monomoleeulsr reaction. Curiously, the one examplegiven to illustrate a monomolecular reaction is admitted in the very next sentence to be in fact a himoleeula~reaction (hydrolysis of sucrose). Contrary to the statement on page 133, thelaw of conservation of energy is not the second law of thermodynamics. Beginning with the following equation, not derived: AF = AF'
+ RT In [(C)(D)I(AKB)I (1)
the authors go through whst iis intended t o be a derivation of the equation: AF" =
- RT
In K
(2)
This "derivation" does not seem valid for a number of reasons, among them being the fact that equation (1) was itself derived from previous knowledge of the relation in equation (2). The fact that Volume
36, Number 2, February 1959
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