PREFACE 



In 1045, tho senior author published a book entitled "Alierobial Antagonisms 

 and Antibiotic Substances," which presented a comprehensive review of the 

 knowledge of this subject at that time. Of the antibiotics listed, only six had been 

 isolated from cultures of actinomycetes. Only one of these, namely streptomycin, 

 had fovnid at that time practical application in the treatment of human and ani- 

 mal diseases. A second edition of the book appeared in 1947. The number of anti- 

 biotic preparations obtained from cultures of actinomycetes did not increase ap- 

 preciably during this brief period. 



In 1953, in a volume entitled "Guide to the Identification and Classification of 

 the Actinomycetes and their Antibiotics," we described more than a hundred 

 chemical compounds and preparations isolated from cultures of actinomycetes. 

 About ten of these had found practical application in chemotherapy. 



The publication of the present \'()lume, only 8 years later, emphasizes the tre- 

 mendous progress made in this field. Alore than 400 substances and preparations 

 have been isolated. More than 30 have found practical application in chemo- 

 therapy. 



No attempt has been made in this treatise to cover the very extensive litera- 

 ture on the isolation, identification, and utilization of antibiotics of actinomy- 

 cetes. Only the more pertinent references to the develf)pments of the subject are 

 presented in this volume. For a more detailed analysis of the background of our 

 knowledge of the antagonistic relationships among microorganisms and the forma- 

 tion of antibiotic substances, especially by species of actinomycetes, the reader 

 is referred to the 1945 and 1947 volumes. Detailed lit(>rature references are best 

 found in the special treatises dealing with individual antibiotics. 



The authors wish to express their sincere appreciation to Mrs. Mary P. Leche- 

 valier for her imselfish and painstaking efforts in the assimilation of most of the 

 literature for Part B of this \'ohmie. They are indebted to Dr. Maxwell Finland 

 of Boston City Hospital for re\-iewing Chapter 8; to Dr. Vernon Bryson of the 

 Institute of ]\Iicrobiology for reviewing Chapter 10; and to Dr. 0. K. Saz of the 

 National Institutes of Health for reviewing and suggesting various corrections 

 and changes in Chapter 9. We also wish to thank Dr. E. Borowski and Dr. N. 

 Gerber for many suggestions helpful in preparing Chapter 6. The editorial as- 

 sistance of Mr. R. A. Day and Mrs. H. B. Kitchen and the secretarial assistance 

 of Mrs. R. Nehlig are gratefully acknowledged. Some of the necessary transla- 

 tions were kindly supplied by Dr. Nobuo Sakurai, Dr. Tadashi Arai, and jNIiss 

 Sandra Czaplicki. 



Selman A. Waksman 

 Hubert A. Lechevalier 



