814 
Book  Reviews. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       Nov.,  1921. 
Organic  Compounds  of  Mercury.  By  Frank  C.  Whitmore, 
Ph.  D.  397  pages.  The  Chemical  Catalogue  Company,  Inc., 
New  York.    Price,  $4.50. 
This  book  is  the  third  oi  a  series  of  monographs  to  be  issued 
by  the  American  Chemical  Society  on  subjects  of  current  interest, 
written  by  persons  who  are  considered  authorities  on  their  respec- 
tive subjects.  The  purpose  of  these  monographs  is  to  present  the 
available  knowledge  on  the  chosen  subject  in  readable  form  and  to 
promote  research  in  the  branch  of  science  concerned  in  each  partic- 
ular subject. 
This  particular  book  is  claimed  to  be  the  only  one  in  any  language 
on  this  subject.  Not  all  organic  compounds  which  contain  mer- 
cury are  considered,  the  book  treating  almost  solely  of  the  true 
organic  compounds  of  mercury  in  which  the  element  is  attached 
directly  to  carbon.  Compounds  of  mercury  not  discussed  in  the 
text  are  made  available  for  study  by  the  supplementary  biblio- 
graphical lists  in  the  Appendix. 
The  arrangement  of  compounds  is  such  as  serves  the  general 
chemist  who  wishes  to  know  what  has  been  done  in  the  field  as  a 
whole,  as  well  as  the  specialist  who  wishes  to  learn  quickly  what 
has  been  done  in  any  particular  portion  of  the  field. 
The  subject  matter  is  divided  into  fourteen  chapters  covering 
345  pages,  and  treats  of  General  Methods  of  Preparation  and 
General  Properties  and  Reactions  of  Organic  Mercury  Compounds, 
and  Mercury  Derivatives  of  the  various  classes  of  Organic  Com- 
pounds. 
Five  appendices  take  up  Analysis  of  Organic  Mercury  Com- 
pounds, List  of  Proprietary  Mercurials,  an  extensive  Bibliography 
of  Biological  and  Pharmacological  Work  with  Organic  Mercury 
Compounds,  List  of  Patents  dealing  with  Organic  Mercury  Com- 
pounds. Finally,  there  is  a  good  subject  index  as  well  as  an  author 
index. 
F.  P.  S. 
