REVIEWS 155 



medicine, and we know of no book of this size or kind which contains such 

 information in so readily accessible a form. Educationally this is a very 

 great asset, inasmuch as the book is one which is likely to be read largely by 

 students in search of information concerning the organic " synthetics " ; such 

 students, as a rule, have access only to books which ignore the other and 

 equally if not more important subject for natural products. This circum- 

 stance is, however, remedied in the book under review, and the intellectual 

 equipment of the rising generation of chemists will be considerably improved 

 as a consequence. The various chemicals dealt with are grouped in sections 

 according to their therapeutic uses, an arrangement which has much to recom- 

 mend itself, for, although it is not based on any scientific foundation, it tends 

 to associate once more the synthetic products with their older established 

 natural companions in medicinal action. The whole subject is set forth very 

 clearly, with as much practical detail as is consistent with the size of the 

 book, or as is in some cases possible to give, where the processes are more or 

 less secret. The last section, entitled, "Other Substances of Interest," includes 

 Pituitary and Thyroid Extracts, Vitamines and Saccharines, and contains up- 

 to-date information not usually found in text-books at the present day. The 

 book may be thoroughly recommended as a most useful and valuable contri- 

 bution to the literature of organic medicinal chemicals which makes accessible 

 to the student a great deal of information which he has hitherto been deprived 

 of from lack of opportunity, or time, or knowledge whence to acquire it. 



P. H. 



Principles of Biochemistry. By T. Brailsford Robertson, Ph.D., D.Sc. 

 [Pp. xii + 633, illustrated with 49 engravings.] (Philadelphia and 

 New York : Lea & Febiger, 1920.) 



This is an extraordinarily interesting and suggestive book ; it is professedly 

 designed for students of medicine, agriculture, and related sciences, and, as 

 stated in the preface, emphasis has been placed upon the practical applications 

 in medicine, industries, and general biology. The book is divided into six 

 parts, entitled The Foods, The Properties of Protoplasm, The Chemical Correla- 

 tion of the Tissues, The Chemical Processes which underlie and accompany 

 Life Phenomena, The Products of Tissue Activity, and The Energy and Balance 

 of the Organism. A mere recital of these headings conveys no idea of the 

 diversity of subjects described, and we know of no one book on Biochemistry 

 which deals with so many diverse aspects of the subject. To those who work 

 in any one branch of Biochemistry the author introduces a host of new ideas 

 from other branches. To many readers it will come as a surprise to find what 

 a number of applications are to be found for Biochemistry ; in this respect 

 Part IV is perhaps one of the most striking, and a perusal of its 140 odd pages 

 shows how chemical principles can be applied in some way or another to such 

 varied subjects as Bioluminescence, The Influence of Race, Sex, and Environ- 

 ment on the Growth Process, Memory and Sleep, etc. The reader may open 

 the book at any page and be confident of finding some interesting and useful 

 information, always set forth with extreme clearness, however difficult or 

 unpromising the subject may be, and the book should be welcomed and 

 appreciated by an ever-increasing circle of readers. P. H. 



An Introduction to the Chemistry of Plant Products. Vol. I. By P. Haas, 

 D.Sc, and T. G. Hill, Ph.D. [Pp. xiii + 417. With diagrams. 

 Third Edition.] (London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1921. Price 

 i6s. net.) 



The collaboration of a plant chemist and a vegetable physiologist has resulted 

 in the production of a book of use to all biologists. The histologist, cytologist, 

 general zoologist, and of course the botanist, will all find something useful. 



