142 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS tories, recognized this need both in their own work and for others. The result is that a group of 16 such series have been prepared, the most recent of which is the title book herein being reviewed. The list price may seem high, as it did to me at first, but in reality it is about a half dollar per spectrum. If the user client has purchased over 5000 "Standard Spectra" then there is a considerably reduced price on the current title, which is then available at half price. The present spectra are printed on 81/2 X 11 in. paper and contained in one three-hole binder. The list is alphabetically indexed starting with acetisoeugenol and ending with Yara Yara. The various required data appear on each sheet which gives cell thickness, chemical or/and trade name of compounded structural formula, per cent transmittance and source of the test substance. In many cases, the instrument used in preparing the spectrogram is also listed. For the main part, the substances tested are straightforward aromatic chemicals. However, a few special- ties are included. The only adverse criticism one might make is that in some instances the test sample was not obtained from the producer. This is indeed a minor fault. This set of spectra will be useful to all dealing in perfumery or flavor materials. To those in the cosmetic industry it may be interesting to note that the following sets of spectra are also available: polyols, soaps and fatty oils, surface-active agents, solvents and waxes.--M. G. DEN. STUDIES ON TUE TECUNIqUE OF SKIN TESTING IS ALLERGY, by W. J. F. Van Der Bijl, Charles C Thomas Publishers, gpringfield, Ill. 96 pages, illustrated. Price $5.50. There are a number of novelties in the publication of this book and not all are of the best. For example, the authors preface indicates that the present work was originally a graduate thesis. He rescues some pure allergists parlance. He ana- lyses all the facts confronting the allergist in testing his patient for allergies. All this is good. However, in the hundreds of books this writer has read or/and reviewed, never has the preface been used as a podlure for "errata." Maybe it is not a bad idea to do it this way because it does enable the author to catch flagrant errors which are easily missed in proofreading, after the page proof has been pre- pared without extensive cost to the author (plate costs usually are charged against the author). But there is no condoning the poor handling of the references. Thus on page 13, there are references to Rostenberg and Sulzberger. The bibliography shows this to be a book by Karometer and Michel, no page number given. Other similar handling of references can be found throughout. This is a well done study and a tribute to both student (author) and his adviser, Prof. H. A. E. Van Di- shoeck. The deductions and sum- mary are very useful. Derma- tologists and allergists will find the book quite instructive for the author points out the errors that can easily creep into skin tests--and they are indeed many. So much so, one wonders if skin testing is a reliable tool at all.--M. G. DEN. REAGENT CHEMICALS AND STAND- ARDS, Ed. 4, by Joseph Rosin, Van Nostrand and Co., Inc., Princeton, N.J. 554 pages, indexed, Price $14.50. Since the first edition in 1937, this standard reference book has

JOURNAl. OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS 143 gradually become indispensable to those engaged in the production, testing, or use of reagent chemicals and ranks in importance with such references as The National Formu- lary, The United States Pharma- copoeia, and The Merck Index. This fourth edition covers prop- erties, standards, and tests for over 600 substances, including about 30 new agents, such as Cellosolve, n-Hexane, Lead Tetraacetate, Mu- rexide, and Tetrahydrofuran. Methods of testing and assay have been revised in accordance with the newer, more accurate and precise procedures developed in the past half dozen years, such as titration in nonaqueous solvents. In addition to over 250 assays, the volume gives sensitiveness tests for close to 70 organic reagents, a pH table for about 120 chemicals, and a table of gravimetric factors which includes factors for quinolinates, potassium tetraphenylboran and for uranium sodium complexes with magnesium and zinc. This comprehensive edition will certainly rank with its predecessors as a standard work on the subject.-- R. E. FAUST, Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories SYNTHETIC METHODS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Vol. 15, edited by W. Theilheimer. Interscience Pub- lishers, Inc., New York 1, N.Y. 1961. 680 pages, indexed. Price $46.75. Since the publication of the first volume in 1946, "Theilheimer" has been a useful reference volume for organic chemists. Every year since 1948 a yearly volume has been added to keep the series up-to-date. The 1961 volume includes not only syntheses published during 1959 and 1960 but also references to all syntheses described in Volumes XI through XIV. The abstracts of the synthetic methods are, by necessity, brief but detailed enough so that organic chemists can follow the steps of the syntheses without the need for consulting the original literature. The classification system which has been employed in "Theilheimer" since its inception is decidedly artificial and creates strange bed fellows: a synthesis for azulenes appears on page 421 next to a synthesis for an a-substituted glu- taric acid. On page 470, azulene is reacted with phosphorous oxychlo- ride and an amide to yield a 1-azulyl keton under a reaction identified as a carbon-nitrogen exchange. Only one page later, under carbon- halogen exchange, the reaction of azulene with phosgene is noted as a method for making 1-azulene car- boxylic acid and its derivatives. Incidentally, the two reactions can- not be found in the index under either azu]ene, the starting product, or under the two end products. However, these syntheses are in- dexed under phosphorous oxychlo- ride and phosgene respectively. This reviewer and many organic chemists would welcome a compre- hensive index to all starting ma- terials and end products mentioned in this series. Such an index would enhance the utility of"Theilheimer" as a reference work. Despite this shortcoming "Theil- heimer" will continue to be a quick and easy entry into the rapidly growing maze of newly published synthetic procedures. In this re- spect, these volumes deserve the acceptance given them by organic chemists throughout the world.-- M. M. R•EGER, Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Co. KERATIN AND KERATINIZATION, by E. H. Mercer. Pergamon Press, Oxford, England. 1961. 316 pages, illustrated and indexed. Price $12.00.