JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
560 practicality of abstract thought, astronomy, continuity in science, uses of calculus, calculus of variat,ions and complex functions, Fourier analvsis. nrobabilitv. The book includes a eood index. rt list of the dat'h&.tieians cited, and 36 line drawin&. On the adverse side, sensitive readers may object to Professor Bell's hmad brush and self-confident style. ( I didn't.) There ale a number of minor typographical slips, and Figure 19 is a poorly drawn hyperbola. GEORGE E. FORSYTHE
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SAFETY IN THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY
H. A. J. Pjeters, Head of the Chemical Works Safety Department of the Netherlands State Mines, and 1. W. Creyghton, Head of the Medical Department of the Joint Netherlands Coal Mines. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1951. xii 258 pp. 58 tables. 50 figs. 14.5 X 22.5 cm. $3.50.
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FORthe first time in the English language, we now have a. book dealing with the problems of safety in the ohemical laboratory. Unfortunately, the authors have given the book an industrial hygiene instead of a safety flavor. This approach may enhance the apped t o collegiate levels, hut definitely makes i t less valuable t o industrial chemists where medical and industrial hygiene aspects are usually well controlled. It is likewise noteworthy that the viewpoint is mainly Eurpoean, although considerable referaiven in the extensive bihliop ence to the American literature is . raphy. The major sections deal with toxic substances, their mode of entry into the body, and their analytical determination in the air. Less completely developed are discussions involving glassware, electrical, fire, and explosion hazarda, compressed gases, safety instructions and regulations. Although the book contains only a few photographs, i t has many excellent sketches showing details of equipment. The numerous tables, mostly dealing with various aspects of tosic substances and recommended first aid, complete the volume. The book will serve to introduce young chemists to industrial hygiene concepts, and perhaps impress them with some fundamental safety problems. It will not prove as valuable to experienced chemists, however, since its emphasis is on substances which are already well-documented. As a. milestone in the liters, ture of chemical accident prevention, the volume deserves a place on the reference shelf of college and industrial chemical libraries, ss well as industrial hygiene centers.
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save valuable time and material when acridines are being made for the first time. A number of typical preparations have been included, and all of these have been tested by the author and his colleagues. The middle third of the book is devoted to a presentation of the physical and chemical properties of acridine and its principal derivatives. Considerations of space have prevented every known compound from being mentioned by name, but most aoridines containing not more than two types of substituents have been listed. The dependence of properties an electronic distribution has been emphasized and this should help the prediction of the nmoerties of aoridines not vet know. +he last third of the b&k deals with the biological properties and the medical and other usesaf acridines. Less well-known uses of the acridines include the isolation and identifioation of biological material and the analytical determination of traces of heavy metals. Their outstanding fluorescence properties have made them useful as indicators for the titration of dark-colored solutions under ultraviolet light and as stains in fluorescence microscopy. Acridine figures prominently among the very few chemicals known to have the property of emitting cold light. The broad interests and pleasing style of the author will appeal t o the growing audience of workers engaged in heterocyclic chemistry. Readers of this book will find it a fertile source of ideas far the further development and extension of research problems in this important and interefiting subject. GEORGE HOLMES RICHTER
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THE CHEMISTRY OF HYDRAZhlE
L. F. Audrieth, Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois, and Bet* Ackerson Ooo. Research Aa4Ocie.t~. Universitv of ' xi; Illinois. john Wiley & Sons, Inc.. New ~ o r k ,1951. 244 pp. 14.5 X 22 om. $5.
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INTEREST in this compound has greatly increased in recent years since its potential value has become recognized as a fuel component in the propulsion of rwkets and other devices. Dr. Audrieth and Miss Ogg have brought together within the compass of less than 250 pages a concise and interesting account of the chemistry of hgdrazine, including its relationships to other hydronitrogens, repm?e.senting, as it does, one of the simpler ammono compounds. The interesting relationships of hydrazine to hydrogen peroxide are also referred t o from several points of view. The formation and the preparation of hydrazine, anhydrous and in solution, are thoroughly reviewed in Chapters 2 and 3; and the following tri.0 chapters describe the properties of the anhydrous compound and of itq aqueous solutions, respectively. A comprehensive survey of the thermodynamics of anhydrous hvdrazine and its camoounds., nresented in Chanter 4., constitutes a particularly valuable section of the hook. Chapter 6 deals with the oxidation of hydrazine and its cstalytio decomposition, and Chapter 7 covers the quantitative and qualitative analytical aspects of this substance. The hydrazine salts and coordination compounds are discussed in the following two chapters. A consideration of anhydrous hydrazine as a solvent a.nd the hydrazine system of compounds in Chapters 10 and 11, respectively, are especially thongh&provoking. The book closes with e. short chapter on existing and potential uses of hydraeine and its compounds. Altogether, it may he said that this book represents a oompaot, well-arranged, and authoritative account of the chemistry of this valuable substance, the utilization of which is perhaps only beginning to emerge from obscurity. I t will be a. welcome addition to inorganic chemical literature.
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THE ACRIDINES
Adrien Albert, Professor of Medical Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, and Honorary Lecturer in the Biochemistry Department, University College, London. Edward Arnold & Co., London, 1951. dii 381 pp. 32 figs. 99 tables. 19.5 X 25.5 cm. $14.
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THEgenius of Albert fluoresces with the lively enthusiasm and scholarship of one who has handled aeridines in the lsboratory. This monograph attempts "to make a critical and orderly summary of the physical, chemical, and biological data. scattered through the extensive literature and to draw attention to the inter-relation of certain of these properties." The first eight chapters are concerned with the methods available for Synthesis, and these have been classified and eraded as to uractical utility and scope. The general principles underlying the success or faiiure of the various reactions have, where know, been brought to the Core. I t is hoped that considerations of these fundamentals will
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WILTER C. SCHUMR ~ ~ A s s A ~ , ~ s INSTITUTE D ~ , OF T E C H N O L ~ U ~
C ~ w a m o o nM . ~ss~canse~rs
