Book reviews THE HALOGENATED HYDROCARBONS OF INDUSTRIAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE. W. F. Von Oettingen. Pp. x -• 300 h- Ill. (1964.) Elsevier Publishing Company/Amsterdam/ London/New York. 60s. Those who have had occasions to consult the literature on the toxicology of the halogenated hydrocarbons will certainly be familiar with the name of the author, Dr. Von Oettingen, who has compiled this volume. To cosmetic chemists, the subject is primarily of interest in connection with the use of aerosol propellants and they will find here a comprehensive review of relevant material, even though it does not deal specifically with all the propellants in current use. The book is quite small and easy to follow, provided that the reader has some knowledge of physiology. The compounds with which it deals are divided into methane, ethane, ethylene and Butadiene derivatives, each chapter being subdivided for individual compounds such as methylene chloride and vinyl chloride, for example. Each of these selected com- pounds has a concise monograph, outlining its chemigtry, manufacture, uses, detection and determination, absorption rate and excretion, determi- nation in biological materials, toxicity for animals and man, prognosis, treatment and prevention of toxic effects. The paragraphs dealing with toxic effects are written mainly as reviews of the literature and are well referenced. There is a subject index, simply and adequately arranged for ease of consulting the main items in the book. The cosmetic chemist is quite likely to encounter situations demanding a decision on whether a particular compound is safe for a special application and he cannot expect to find a ready-made answer in this or any other work of reference. He will still have to estimate or determine the acute and chronic exposure in the actual conditions of use and then utilize information such as Dr. Von Oettingen provides, in order to evaluate the hazards. For such purposes, this is an excellent contribution and it will be useful as a guide to the toxic hazards that might arise in manufacturing and packaging areas, as well as in relation to the final consumer. N.J. VAN ABBE. 413

414 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS L'AEROSOL EN PARFUMERIE. Tran Anh Tuan. Pp. 28 + Ill. (1964.) Editions Varia, Paris. 20s. This booklet deals very briefly with general principles, with propel- lants, active ingredients, containers, valves, filling methods and laboratory techniques. It is always difficult to deal with a large subject in a relatively brief manner, and this publication suffers from the faults which one would expect in such circumstances. It is generally conceded that it does take quite a while to publish a textbook and parts of it could therefore become out-of-date between writing and actual publication. These difficulties are not, however, inherent in a small booklet and it is therefore incompre- hensible why this particular publication should be so out-of-date, e.g. in the note on propellants reference is made to a German manufacturer who has not supplied propellants for some time, and what is remarkable is that the trade names of a group of French propellants is given wrongly. The obsolete commercial numbering of Arctons and Algofrene is given in fact these propellants were renumbered to the generally accepted form in 1960. Numerous spelling mistakes also occur. EVALUATION OF DRUG ACTIVITIES: PHARMACO- METRICS. Editors: D. R. Laurence and A. L. Bacharach. Vol. 1. Pp. xvii + 456 + Ill. 95s. Vol. 2. Pp. vii d- 457-900 d- Ill. 90s. (1964.) Academic Press, London and New York. The coining of new hybrid words for subdivisions of sciences which have expanded sufficiently to have exclusive books written on them is always an interesting intellectual exercise. Whether in fact it necessarily contributes to the science of communication is another matter. When confronted with such a term one tends to work through a mental list- pharmacography, pharmacodynamics, etc., and arrive at the meaning rather slowly by a process of elimination. Pharmacometrics is defined as the identification and the comparative evaluation, qualitative and quantitative, of drug activities. It comprises the screening tests used in development of new drugs, and is distinguished from bioassay in which the object is to measure quantities of active materials. The objective of the book is to provide a review and a critical dis- cussion of general and special pharmacological techniques used in the search for new drugs. It is aimed at the pharmacologist who needs a