PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 



THIS text-book is the outcome of lectures on Bacterio- 

 logical Chemistry presented as part of the course for 

 the University of London Academic Diploma in 

 Bacteriology, and recently to students taking Bacteriology 

 as an Honours subject in the University of Edinburgh. 

 During the period over which these courses have extended 

 the need has been increasingly felt for a text -book of 

 reasonable size yet covermg a sufficiently wide range of 

 topics. Whilst many excellent monographs on various 

 aspects of the subject exist, there seems to be no single 

 book giving a survey of the whole field in a form suitable 

 for students of such courses as those mentioned. 



The present volume makes no claim to be encyclo- 

 paedic, but an endeavour has been made to cover the 

 requirements of students, and j)erhaps of those research 

 w^orkers whose interests may not be primarily chemical 

 but who feel the need for some understanding of the 

 metabolic behaviour and chemical nature of the organisms 

 which they are handling. In order to keep its size within 

 reasonable limits it has been necessary to assume a 

 knowledge of elementary organic chemistry and of a 

 certain amount of bacteriology. In view of the rapid 

 expansion of the subject within the past ten to fifteen 

 years, and the consequently ever-changing views and 

 opinions expressed concerning the various reactions in- 

 volved, the selection of the appropriate material has not 

 been easy. Without doubt much has been omitted 

 which should have been included, and certain matters 

 admitted which the future will show to be of only passing 

 importance. Only certain aspects of immunochemistry 

 have been considered and no attempt has been made to 

 deal with the subjects of disinfection and chemotherapy, 



