VOL.7, NO. 4
RECENT BOOKS
The authors make a distinction between chemical physiology and physiological chemistry, no doubt as a justification for the unusual title, which they later nullify by the assertion that the h w k deals with both fields. G. H. W~OLLETT
sented in a manner to justify the time expended. G. FREDERICK Smrm UNWBRSITY OII ILLINOIS URBAN*, ILLINOIS
The Essentials of Chemical Physiology. W. D. HALLIBURTON. M.D.. LL.D.. F.R.S., J. A. HEwrTT, Ph.D., DSc.. W. ROBSON,Ph.D., DSc. Twelfth edition. Longmans, Green & Co.. 55 Fifth Ave., N. Y., 1929. xii 383 pp. 56 illustrations. 1 colored plate. 14 X 211/n cm. W.00. Like the earlier editions this one consists of two parts, an elementary course in thirteen lessons (277 pages) and an advanced course in seven lessons (74 pages). The book is intended t o serve as a "practical guide." The elementary course is of the combined laboratory manual and textbook types, the first part of each lesson being devoted t o laboratory exercises of which all hut four are qualitative. A very large number of subjects are covered in the text making the discussion of each in so small a volume necessarily very brief. The treatment is inclined t o be dogmatic as is perhaps inevitable with such condensed material. Theoretical discussions and the consideration of controversial mattus have been cut almost t o the vanishing point. Graphic formulas though not numerous are correct in all cases except one, obviously an oversight, in the formula for methyl glucoside on page 62. The formula for kynuruic acid (p. 264) and the reversal of formulas for glucose and glucosides occurring on pages 62 and 63 may be confusing t o the student. The advanced course consists altogether of laboratory work and presents a good assortment of quantitative methods. No attempt is made in this part to give a theoretical background. The hook has been well reworked and brought up t o date although some old material, such as the hypobromite method for urea, which might have been discarded, has been retained.
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UNIVBRS~N OF WSSISIPPI UNIYBBSITY, MiSSrSSzPPI
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Select Methods of Metallurgical Analysis. WlLLIAM ARCHIBALD NAISH. Ph.D. (Eng.), A.R.S.M., B.Sc., F.I.C., M. 1nst.M.M.. Lecturer in Metallurgy, Chelsea Polytechnic, London, and JOHN EDWARD CLENNELL,RSC. (London), Assoc. Inst. M.M. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1930. rii 495 pp. 24 X 15 cm. Figures 32. 87.50. The object of this book is the compilation of selected methods of analpis of both the ordinary and rarer elements chosen for their suitability and accuracy, useful for professional metallurgists, chemists, and students. The hook is self contained in that its Parts I-VI include sampling, qualitative analysis and general methods of solution p d separation; the analysis and dry assay of the individual elements; commercial metals and alloys; ores, slags, and drosses: refractory materials and the proximate analysis of coal; minerals, electrometric titrations, and spectrographic methods. The system of qualitative analysis is largely in table form and includes the rarer elements. Trouble may be encountered by the inexperienced; for example, "Group I is precipitated hy HCI." The book conforms to the British and Colonial usage of red lead in the fir? assays and the I.M.M. screen standards in sieves. Briefness of description makes many of the quantitative procedures suitable only for the experienced chemist. In the decomposition of white metals with HPSOI, separatrd S is not eliminated previous to the KMnOl titration for Sb. Ni is recommended as a reducing agent in the iodide method for Sn but iron nails with a hydrocarbon blank is still given as an alternative. The
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much cleaner and more accurate reduction with P b is not considered. I t is illogical to advocate the removal of Ni before the titration and not Fe. As.08 is recommended for standardization of iodine because of the time required to dissolve pure Sn in HCI. Why not make use of its quick solubility in concentrated HXSOI? In the analysis of commercial Ph, aooar.. ently Bi is assumed to he absent. The chapter on electrometric methods is brief, Hildebrand's apparatus bcing th? only one considered. Each chapter is followed by its bibliography with a unique grouping of the references under headings which give an outline of the procedure. The total bibliography consists of about 3000 references covering scventy journals and numerous standard texts. The hook is particularly free from typographical erron and is well printed. I t is
APRIL, 1930
not recommended for student use except as a reference. With its enormous hibliography, i t should he in every college library. It will appeal to all those who are actively interested in a diversity of analytical work. F. BARBR CROSLEY B ~ ~ ~ ~ $ ! ~ $ ~ &
BULLETINS Grading in Industrial Schools and Classes. Specialist in Industrial M. M. PROF~ITT, Education. G. S. Dept. of the Interior, Indu+l Education Civcular No. 28, Dec., 1929. ,U. S. G o d . Printing Ohice, Washington. D. C. 20 pp. . ... 'U'U5'
This pamphlet contains a general discussion of the grading situation and an annotated general bibliography on grading is included.
Bile-Calmette-Guerin a s Preventive Vaccine against Tuberculosis. By cultivating the tubercle bacillus through a long series of generations on a bile medium, Calmette, in association with Guerin, has succeeded in rendering the organism non-virulent though still possessing protective and immunding powers. A preparation containing this modified tubercle bacillus under the name B.C.G. (that is, "Rile-Calmette-Guerin") is now being tested on the large scale as a preventive vaccine against tuberculosis both in man and in animals. According to reports which have appeared in the daily press, Prof. Cantacuzene, of Bucharest, has carried out tests with this preparation in Rumania during the past three years, involving the inoculation of 17,535 persons, which incontrovertibly show the value of the preparation. Out of more than 1000 children living in surroundings favorable t o the development of tuberculosis who had been vaccinated, not a single case had heen recorded, and no ill effect had followed vaccination or re-vaccination with B.C.G. I n Australia, Prof. Woodruff and Mr. Gregory have carried out experimental work with the B.C.G. vaccine as a preventive of tuberculosis in cattle (lour. o j the Council ,for Scientific and Industrial Research, 2, 1929, p. 137; Melbourne: H. J. Green). A number of calves were inoculated with amounts of B.C.G. up to 100 mgm. None of the animals showed any ill effects, the only lesion produced being a small nodule which in course of time generally disappeared. Twenty vaccinated calves were afterward tested by intravenous inoculation of virulent tubercle bacilli t o determine their resistance toward virulent infection Sir of these animals died as a result of extensive tuberculosis in about the same time as unvaccinated control animals. The remaining fourteen showed some clinical symptoms but later became normal, and on slaughter, although some lesions of tuberculosis were found, in the majority these did not appear t o be progressing. I t is concluded that B.C.G. vaccination confers some degree of resistance toward infection with virulent tubercle bacilli.-Nature
