BOOK REVIEWS 5O5 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY SIMPLIFIED, by Rudolph Macy. Chemical Pub- lishing Co., Brooklyn 2, N. Y. 1955. 611 pages, 51/2 X 8'/2 inches, indexed and illustrated. Price $12. The present volume is completely revised and substantially enlarged. It can be a self teacher or a brush- up course. All the latest ideas and theories are reputedly incorporated. Forty-six chapters use up the 611 pages. The book plan is a little different than usual books, hence one must be first determined to get the most out of the book. The presentation is clear, thor- ough and easily understood.--M. G. DENAVARRE. ORGANIC SYNT, ESIS, Volume III, edited by E. C. Horning. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 16, N. ¾. 1955. 890 pages, 6 X 9 inches, indexed and illustrated. Price $12. Volume III is a combination of material published in annual Vol- umes XX to XXIX, revised and brought up to date using the latest methods of preparation. The litera- ture references include everything through 1952 Chemical/lbstracts. By printing a single edition, the material has been corrected and re- checked. This is particularly valu- able to researchers doing a given synthesis for the first time. The material is of the same high caliber as in the annual volumes. Volume I contains a collection of material appearing in annual Vol- umes I to IX. Volume II covers annual Volumes X to XIX. Organic research chemists will find these collective volumes most useful.--M. G. DENAVARRE. Buell DER AROMEN, 2nd edition, by Alfons M. Burger. Buchdruck- erei Werner Villiger, Wadenswil, Switzerland. 1955. 286 pages, 6'/2 X 9'/2 inches, illustrated and indexed. (In German.) Price 39 Swiss Francs. The book deals with the different methods of manufacturing about a dozen natural fruit aromas from fresh fruit to fermented fruit. Also described is the exact manufactur- ing of essential oils by methods, such as distillation with water, with wet steam, with over-heated steam and under vacuum. All these proc- esses are given in full detail with very clear illustrations. The rectification of essential oils and the manufacturing of terpene- less oils are described as well as the manufacturing of extracts from fruits and plants and the machinery used for these processes. Forty pages of the book deal with the description of all the natural plants and herbs which are used in the flavor industry. Another fifty pages describe the best aromatic chemicals used in the flavor indus- try. The cha. pter on co?pounded flavors contains very Interesting and modern formulas. Formulas are included for artificial flavors in general and flavors for specific pur- poses, such as lemonades, bakery products, soft and hard candy, chewing gum, pudding powders and so forth. It also gives advice for the manufacturing of flavors for meat sauces and tobacco. In his introduction the author mentions that all these formulas have been brought up to date since the last edition in 1935. Tips ob- tained from experience are suggested to the reader. The end of the book presents a new chapter on food colors and preservatives. There are spe- cific preservatives mentioned for different food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. A table is in- cluded giving the solubility of ter-

506 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS peneless and sesquiterpeneless es- sential oils. The book is clearly written and in a language very easy to understand. Every flavor chemist should have this book. It is also very valuable for perfume and cosmetic chemists. --Ernest Shiftan, van Ameringen- Haebler, Inc. THE LIFE OF BACTERIA, by Ken- neth V. Thimann. Macmillan Co., New York, N.Y. 1955. 775 pages, 91/2 X 61/4 inches, illustrated and indexed. Price $13.50. In order that the reader may bet- ter interpret this review, we wish to state that it is written from the point of view of the cosmetic chem- ist. It is the reviewer's opinion that this book is too advanced and spe- cialized for the majority of cosmetic chemists unless they have had a good elementary course in basic bac- teriology. For those who have this book will be found to be ex- tremely interesting reading and use- ful, The very important subjects of "How Bacteria Die, .... Are Held in Restraint" or "How Some of Their Undesirable Metabolic Proc- esses Can Be Checked," are not covered to any appreciable extent. The medical approach is minimized as are other correlated subjects of special interest to the cosmetic chemist, namely, the effect and ac- tion of viruses, antimetabolites, degerming agents, chelates, trace- metals, etc. This is perhaps as the author intended as he states in his preface that the book was written as a textbook for advanced students of biology, dealing with the struc- ture and activities of bacterial as a whole and with their influences on the surrounding world. The subjects covered include: Part I--Morphology and General Physiology of Bacteria, Part II-- Role of Microorganisms in the Ni- trogen Cycle, Part III--Metabolism of Carbohydrates and Part IV-- Growth and Synthesis. All these fields are well covered. The printing is excellent and the book easy to read. In the reviewer's opinion the book is extra heavy to handle and is oversized. It could be cut one inch in height to advan- tage thus eliminating the white space at the bottom of the pages. In conclusion this book is well recommended as a useful addition to the library of anyone who has an interest in the general field of phys- iology of bacteria or bacterial chemistry.--A. R. CADE. MECHANISM OF ORGANIC CHEMICAL REACTIONS, by E. de Barry Bar- nett. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York 1, N.Y. 1955. 58/4 X 88/4 inches, indexed. Price $4.75. This excellent, up-to-date treat- ment of the mechanisms of organic reactions is well worth reading by .anyone who is interested in the sub- ject. The author is obviously well versed in this field. He is able to convey to the reader the basic con- cepts used in modern theory with- out dwelling on complicated theo- retical background material which is difficult for new students in the field to grasp. The book includes an introduc- tion in which the nomenclature in use today is first defined according to the English school of thought. Here also is presented a brief dis- cussion of the tools and theories used to elucidate mechanisms such as the theory of mesomerism (reso- nance), reaction kinetics, molecular orbital theory and Dewar's •r com- plex. These subjects are all illus- trated by examples. The remaining portion of the book deals with the different types of reactions. Substitution, migration,