BOOK REVIEW'S $• BOOK REVIEWS THE CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF NATURAL FATS. Third Edition. By T. P. HILDITC}•, C.B.E., D.Sc. (LoaD.), F.R.I.C., F.R.S. Published by Chapman & Hall, 37, Essex Street, London, W.C.2. Price 95s. net. 664 pagesq-xix. WaEN the first edition of this book appeared in 1940 it was immediately hailed as a classic. It was the first comprehensive treatment of the funda- mental chemistry of fats, and the author surveyed and collected together a whole mass of scattered facts and presented them in a logical manner, at the same time adding his world-wide authoritative judgment on controversial points. The appearance of a third edition will be welcomed later investigations have been incorporated and it now includes all the more important results published up to the end of 1954 (with a few in 1955). Several chapters of the book have in consequence to be entirely rewritten. To illustrate the extent of the revision the tables now include fatty acid data on fats from almost twice as many species as the first edition. Since the : first edition appeared, vast extensions have been made in the approximate knowledge of the component glycerides present in a wide range of plant and animal fats, solid and liquid, which has necessitated the three chapters on • glyceride structure being completely rewritten. The book consists of eleven chapters, Chapter I being an introductory '. survey of the natural fats dealing mainly with the classification and nomen- . clature of natural derivatives of the higher fatty acids, the component acids , of natural fats and the component glycerides of natural fats. Chapter II , deals with The Component Acids of Fats of Aquatic Flora and Fauna, ' Chapter III with The Component Acids of Fats of Land Animals, Chapter IV with The Component Acids of Vegetable Fats. The next three chapters are devoted to a review of the glycerides: Chapter V deals with The Component Glycerides of Natural Fats: General Survey Chapter VI deals with The Component Glycerides of Individual Vegetable Fats, while Chapter VII deals with The Component Glycerides of Individual Animal Fats. A very stimulating chapter follows on Some Aspects of the Biosynthesis of Fats, in which the various suggestions put forward are critically reviewed. Chapter IX deals with the Constitution of Individual Natural Fatty Acids, Chapter X with Synthetic Glycerides: Individual Naturally Occurring Fatty Alcohols and Acyl Ethers of Glycerol. The final chapter deals with Notes on Experimental Technique employed in the Quantitative Investigation of Fats. The volume is supplemented by a series of indexes, a general index being followed by one on Individual Fats and Waxes, one on Plant Families, one on Individual Fatty Acids and finally one on Individual Glycerides. All of the chapters have been thoroughly brought up to date, especially the last one dealing with the experimental techniques used in the study of the fats. Examples of the employment of crystallisation from solvents at low temperatures and the spectrophotometric determination of certain unsaturated acids such as linoleic, linolenic and elaeostearic are illustrations of this point.

56 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS This book is one which will occupy for many years to come a position of honour amongst the literature on fats, and one in which any chemist seeking for information on the subject will find all that he needs. DAS GROSSE REZEPTBUCH DER HAUT-UND K/JRPERPFLEGEMIT- TEL. By K^RI. ROTUEM^NN. Second Edition revised and enlarged with the collaboration of Gustav A. Nowak. Published by Dr. Alfred Hiithig Verlag, Heidelberg. Price 38 DM. 592 pages. TUE fact that a second edition of this well-known German book on cosmetics is called for within the space of ten years is evidence of its useful and practical character. In the preparation of the second edition the author has been fortunate to be able to call upon the wide and versatile knowledge of Gustav Nowak. The result is that a thorough revision has taken place and the text has been brought up to date. The book is divided into three parts. The first part, comprising about one-tenth of the book, is concerned with biological materials such as vitamins and amino acids and also with medicinal plants and their use in cosmetics. Some ten pages in this section deal with hor- mones and their applications in cosmetics. The second part of the book deals with the raw materials of cosmetics. A detailed description is given of such bodies as fats and oils, waxes, colours, chemicals, drugs, auxiliary materials followed by sections on new raw materials and accessories, preserva- tives, the perfuming of cosmetic preparations and skin injury. The glossary of raw materials is alphabetically arranged and under each the synonyms are given, followed by the source, method of extraction, physical and chemical properties and its applications in cosmetics. In the section on new materials accounts are given of the new antibiotics, sun- screening agents and anti-enzyme preparations. The third part of the book covers some three hundred pages and is the most important part of the book, and the one which gives the book its practi- cal usefulness. It begins by discussing the planning of a laboratory and then goes on to discuss in turn the various classes of hair preparations such as brilliantines, hair fixatives, permanent waving, including the cold type, depilatories and hair dyes. The preparations for the skin are next discussed, commencing with soaps and cleansing creams, and following with creams, cold creams, night creams, liquid creams. Then follows a section on paints, nail preparations, mouth and teeth preparations, and shaving preparations. The book concludes with a directory of suppliers of raw materials and a very comprehensive index. In each case two or three practical formulas are given with actual working directions, stressing the errors to be avoided. The practical cosmeticfan will find that by using these formulas as a basis he will have at his command a set of modern products. The authors are to be congratulated on having carefully pruned the literature and from it selected the worth-while material and collected it together in a convenient practical form. This book can be confidently recommended as a laboratory companion for reference at all times.