662 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Monographs on Biochemistry. The Simple Carbohydrates and the Glucosides. 

 By E. Frankland Armstrong, D.Sc, Ph.D. Second Edition. [Pp. 171.] 

 (London : Longmans, Green & Co., 191 2. Price 55. net.) 



One of the most gratifying signs of the success which has attended the series of 

 Monographs on Biochemistry is the fact that new editions of the earlier issues are 

 now appearing before the original programme of publication has been completed. 

 The scheme outlined by the editors, in the general introduction to the series, is 

 thus being faithfully adhered to and it is obvious that it is being appreciated. 



In this second edition of his book, Dr. E. F. Armstrong has expanded and 

 modified the original work in a number of ways, the result being that the present 

 volume appeals forcibly both to the chemist and biologist. The task of selecting 

 the fundamental points of the chemistry of the sugar group from the voluminous 

 literature of this branch of research is in itself no easy one. To present the 

 facts in a natural and logical order, whilst keeping the theoretical aspects of the 

 subject in the foreground, is still more difficult and a careful review of the present 

 work justifies the opinion that Dr. Armstrong is to be congratulated warmly on 

 having produced a memoir of permanent value. 



The opening chapter gives a clue to the spirit in which the book is written. 

 Dr. Armstrong is obviously of the opinion that the chemistry of the sugar group 

 can only be properly approached from the constitutional standpoint and in this 

 he is right. Throughout the book, the structure of the sugars and their related 

 compounds is dealt with in an exceedingly lucid manner and thus the work is 

 free from the reproach of being an empirical tabulation of compounds and their 

 properties. 



Compared with the first edition, considerably more space has been devoted to 

 the phenomena of mutarotation and isomeric change ; the growing importance of 

 the biochemical relationships of the sugar group has also received due recognition 

 and a number of the rarer compounds have been fully described. The biblio- 

 graphy has been thoroughly revised and brought up to date. 



The work should be valuable both to the organic chemist who is interested in 

 biochemical problems and to the biologist who desires to gain an insight into the 

 somewhat complex chemistry of the simple carbohydrates. The first edition of 

 the book has also, in the reviewer's experience, stood the test of being used as a 

 special text-book by students preparing for research work on sugars and the 

 present issue cannot fail to be more useful still in this respect. 



There is one point in which future editions of this and other members of the 

 series might possibly be improved. That a highly specialised technique is re- 

 quired for work in the sugar group is well known and investigators new to this 

 work may well be discouraged by the practical difficulties encountered. The 

 suggestive manner in which Dr. Armstrong's book is written is likely to attract 

 new workers to this field and this desirable result would be greatly promoted if, in 

 future editions, he could find it possible to add a series of practical notes, derived 

 from his own experience, on the manipulation and purification of the sugar series. 



J. C. I. 



Electromagnetic Eadiation and the Mechanical Reactions arising from it. 

 By G. A. Schott, B.A., D.Sc, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Aberyst- 

 wyth. [Pp. xii + 330 and 7 appendices; 51 figs.] (Cambridge University 

 Press. Price 18s. net.) 



The subject proposed for the Adams Prize Essay in 1908 was "The Radiation 



