GESELLSCHAFT DEUTSCHER KOSMETIK-CHEMIKER E. V. THxs YEAR the conference of the German Society of Cosmetic Chemists took place from November 1st through 5th at Baden-Baden, Germany. The scientific sessions were given together with the meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Fettwissenschaft--section cosmetics-- which was held at the same time at Baden-Baden. Further particulars may be had by contacting the secretary of the Society, Dr. Herbert Neugebauer, Baden-Baden, Metzgerstrasse 30, Germany. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF SOCIETIES OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Maison G. deNavarre Is First President Of International Feder- ation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists On September 8th in Brussels, Belgium, the International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists became a reality with the election of Mai- son G. deNavarre of the Soe•E•r¾ oF COSMETic C•gM•sTs of the United States as its first President, and the appointment of a working committee consisting of Dr. R. H. Marriott of England, Dr. L. W. Masch of Germany and Pierre Velon, of France. Eight countries were represented at a meeting held on September 7th and 8th, and the new Federation will include the So- cieties of Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, England, France, Spain and the United States, whose representatives attended the meeting and also Den- mark and Italy, who were not represented. Societies of other countries have already indicated an interest in the new Federation. Sabbat J. Strianse, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee, who also represented the American SoeigT¾, reported that work was begun on a new constitution and that many of the points upon which there was dis- agreement are now being worked out 4-23

BOOK REVIEWS D•S•SFF•CT•OS a•D STER•L•ZaT•OS-- THEORY AND PRACTICE, by G. Sykes. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., Princeton, N.J. 1958. 396 pages, size 6 X 9a/4 inches, illustrated and indexed. Price $10.75. As might be expected from the author's experience and background, this book is distinctly British in style, contents and definitions. The same applies to the bibliographic material presented. Much Amer- ican literature is omitted, which detracts somewhat from its value to the American reader. Errors are mostly those of omission rather than of commission. A few of the latter type were noted, but space does not permit listing them here. None of those found were of major im- portance. The material is presented in six parts, covering three principal fields or groups of subjects, namely (1) Theoretical Information (2) Practical Applications and (3) Chemical Substances. Each covers about one-third of the book, re- spectively. The book is, as stated on its front cover flap, basically "a considered appraisal. .of progress made," rather than'a more extended com- pendium or compilation of the basic field of antiseptics (disin- fectants) and allied subjects. It, therefore, has a more specialized use, especially for the neophyte in the field of the control of micro- organisms, rather than for the ex- perienced bacteriologist screening in this field for new products, or re- searching for the compounding of others. Much more literature should be read in order to success- fully accomplish this aim. The sections discussing theoreti- cal factors as involved in the various antiseptic, disinfectant, etc., proc- esses and their respective effects on the efficiencies of the various prod- ucts are quite complete, •nter- esting and instructive. Your re- viewer recommends these chapters as worthwhile reading for all-- beginners, technicians, practical workers or researchers alike. The second section carrying ma- terial on the various practical ap- plications, especially of sterilization by the various procedures as used in practice today, contains a good re- view of this field as it applies par- ticularly to the public heal th worker. It is basically British experience, however, and should be read with that fact in mind. What there is, is good. ' The third sectio% basically on chemical disinfection, is good as far as it goes. It is far from complete, however, and it is not up to date. Many new, good, practical com- pounds appearing during the past five years are not mentioned. It would appear that the author of this book did not have available, or use, considerable of the more recent American literature in the field. As noted, information from good works and valuable data there- from are missing nevertheless, if 424