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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
have been noted. Thus the standard deviation calculations based on the data in Table 5.1 are in error, and the self-ahsorption curve for C" drawn in F i c e 6.lOia ieeor~eet. Inconsistencies in notation and terminology were noted in places, as d and p for density (pages 70 and 74), and the interchangeable use of "standard deviation" (page 51), "mean deviation," (page 53) and "statisticd accuracy," (page 69). Such errors bespeak a certain hastiness in the preparation of the original manuscript. Despite these and other inconsistencies which, i t is hoped, mill be corrected in future editions, the book sorves the useful purpose of compiling in a single, small volume many of the practical aspects of radioisotope tracer assay. Although emphasis i~ on heta-ray measurements and on ahsolute evaluations of radioactivity, the investigator contemplating a radioactive tracer nroeram for the first time will find this hook helpful in planning CHARLES ROSENBLUM
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THE ENZYMES
J. B. Surnner, Laboratory of Enzyme Chemistry, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, and Karl Myrh'dck, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Stockholm, Sweden. Academic Press Inc., 125 East 23rd St., New York. Volume I. Part 1,1950. &i 724 pp. 16.5 X 23.5 om. $13.50. Volume I, Part 2. 1951. a 725-1361 pp. 16.5 X 23.5 cm. $12.80. Volume 11, Part 1, 1951. xi 790 pp. 16.5 X 23.5 cm. $14.80. 791-1440 pp. 16.5 X 23.5 cm. Volume 11. Pad II, 1952. xi $14.
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T ~ r treatise s is the result of an impressive &art on the part of the editors: J.R.Snmner and K. Myrhiick, who, with 76 collaharsr tors, many of them eninont in their respective fields, have attempted to survey the whole of enzymology. The treatise is composed of 78 chapters, with author and subject indexes a t the end of each volume, and is organized along traditional lines, i.e., a. series of introductory chaptern fallowed by s. chapterwise treatment of all of the enayme systems that are generally recognized as entities. The &st chapter ia devoted t o a rather informal acoount of the development of enz)rmology, its domain and terminologg, and a discussion, whieh is largely historical in character, of the concept of the intermediate eomplcx and its consequences. In tho latter instance the discussion is neither rigorous nor general. That enzymes are primarily proteins hardly justifies the inclusion in this treatise of a chapter which essay8 to cover both the physical chemistry and chemical kinetics of enzymes, prtrticularly when it is done a t the expense of a rigorous and general treatment of the most characteristic property of enzymes, "is., their cat,alytie activity. It is the reviewer's opinion that, since the physical chemistry of proteins has hoen adequately coverod in scveral excellent and modern monographs, it would have been wise to dispense with the discussion of the physical chemistry of proteins in Chapter two and to devote all of the space alloted to this chapter to the subject of general enayme kinetics, for a really satisfactory treatment of this topic has not beengiven in m y review written in the l a t 20 years. The topic of enayme specificity is treated in the classical manner in Chapter three, and while the account is an interesting and readable one it fails t o recognize one of the most common errors of enzyme chemistry, i. e., the drawing of conclusions in respect to the effect of structure on the combination process from isolated experiments in which tho only thing measured is the rate of appearance of a reaction product or the rate of disrtppearance of the substrate. Chapters four, five, six, and eight are concerned with the biological aspects of enzyme reactions rather than sit,h the properties of enzymes per se. While these a r e a are certainly fert,ila and imnortant onesthev are in a sense avolied e n s m e
in Chapter seven and the account is primarily descriptive in character. The treatment given t o the kinetics of enzyme inhihition is not extensive and is at.the level found in most of the earlier monographs on enzymology. The remainder of the treatise, i. e., Chapters nine through 78, is devoted, for the most part, t o a description of the behavior and oro~ertiesof nartieular enzvme svstems. Since manv of
general features of ensyme-catalyaed reactions than is given in the so-called introductory or general chapters. Chapter 16 is devoted to a discussion of the properties of 0glucosidase, and a i d e from any special interest in this enzyme system the chapter is noteurorthy because it provides an interesting example of tho kind of information that may be obtained through the use of quantitative proeodurm. Chapter 25 contain? an informative analysis of the dependency of the Michaelis constant upon pH in the argininearginase system and Chapter 31, a. very reasonable treatment of the synthesis of saccharides through phosphorolysis, a reaction of considerable general interest. The other three chanters of Volume I that contribute to a general understanding o i enzymatic processes are, Chapter 39, which contains a sound chemical approach to an enzymatic problem, in this ease the characteristics of enolase; Chapter 40, en informative treatment of the fumarase and aconitase systems, and Chapter 43, which provides an excellent example of one of the better analyses of an enayme system, in this instance, carbonio anhvdrase. ('hnptpr 14, I,? L. hIivhnelis, is r.ot onlv of value iur i t irwuqsim of the theor\. ofo~idfitionand n~luttiotl.l u t nleo IWMUSP it vwtnins romv of the In21 tl.ouahr ;a mfiu shore cy~~trihutiom t o enayme chemistry were outstanding. Chapters 45 through 48 are devoted to various aspects of the tctnsphosphorylation process, and d l of these chapters, and particularly tho latter, are worthy of theattention of the reader who is not interested in any particular enzymesystem hutisinterested in thegeneral aspects of enzvmo chemistrv. The same is also true of the material covered
the flavin containing enzymes, the eytochromas, and the socalled hydraperoxidases. Chapter 56 is of particular interest, aside from its consideration of the mechanism of action of the hydroperoxidases, for it contains an excellent account of the evidence and arguments that provide support for the postulation of an intermediate enzym-ubstrate complex. Chapter 61, whieh is devoted t o a discussion of the role of enavmes in luminr.wnn,, i.i ,,iinttwst 1,~wuit; bf it; m!.- would probably never have occupied the influential position it did. Besides his theoretical work, Lomonosov undertook the practical task of operating a glass factory, chiefly to aid his efforts to establish a mosaic industry in Russia. The factory was not a financial success, and no one carried on his ambitious program of designing mosaic pictures; so this enterprise, too, might he considered a fdure. In fact, considered from the viewpoint of his apparent influence on subsequent history, Lomonosov's life cannot he accounted s euccess. Yet he was well known to hia contemporaries, and it is
