416 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS necessary to introduce any radical changes. It is interesting to note that practically every chapter has been expanded to some extent, with the exception of the one on dyes presumably this is one group of antiseptics that is tending to wane in popularity. Literature citations have been extended to 1963 and apparently the early part of 1964. More attention is now devoted to the background theory of sterilization, in the light of the current state of knowledge on the effects of heat, cold, radiation and desiccation. In the section dealing with sterilization by gases and yapours, it is interesting to observe that/•propiolactone is now elevated to the status of having its own monograph. Methods of testing disinfectants and antiseptics have long been the happy hunting ground for microbiologists with a taste for dialectics Mr. Sykes has brought the subject up to date in his text, though still leaving the reader with the impression that current methodology is as debatable as ever it has been since the turn of the century. Chapter 17 dealing with Preservation has been re-written and extended considerably, though the amount of detail it is possible to give on individual aspects is still rather limited. The author devotes only two paragraphs to the inactivation of preservatives by the nonionics. It is of interest to wonder whether he feels that this topic has been unduly magnified by others, or whether he was just a bit weary by the time he came to write these very last paragraphs of the book. Mr. Sykes is well known as a powerful exponent of the need for termino- logical exactitude in the field of -cides and -stats. But his writing style is neither pedantic nor unduly academic and it has an easy flow coupled with the care taken in adequately quoting the published literature and the comprehensiveness of the volume as a whole, this helps to produce a readable text book as well as a serviceable treatise for general reference purposes. THE CHEMISTRY OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 13. I.U.P.A.C. Pp. vii -t- 191 -t- Ill. (1964.) Butterworths, London. 60s. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry republish lectures by senior contributors to its symposia on the chemistry of natural products. At Prague (1962) the eleven papers included a number of specialist topics, e.g. chemotaxonomy, conformational analysis and photo- chemical transformations, but at the third symposium, held in Kyoto, Japan, in April 1964, the emphasis shifted more towards physical methods. In addition to three speakers specifically surveying physical techniques,

BOOK REVIEWS 417 many of the structural studies reported rely heavily on instrumentation. In a useful historical review, S. Sugasawa, traces the development of organic chemistry in Japan up to 1940, from early training in the famous fin de siecle European schools of Willstatter, Hofmann and Emil Fischer. Investigations in agricultural chemistry include various vital growth factors derived from rice, and naturally occurring pesticides. The pharmaceutical field embraces classical work on ephedrine and its congeners, and more recent attention to the amaryllidaceae alkaloids. Reference is made to the impressive contribution made to lichen chemistry by Prof. Asahina. Other groups of plant products studied include components of Japan lacquer, phenolic pigments, heartwood tropolones, triterpenes, flayones and biflavones fish toxins and hormone and bite steroids are cited as examples of studies on factors of animal origin. Prof. Buchi (M.I.T.) concerns himself with the chemistry of certain dimeric indole alkaloids. The special interest in bisindoles derives from calabash curare, but at least three types of linkage are now distinguished simple dimers such as dihydrotoxiferin-C, an aminoacetal, e.g. geissosper- mine, and C-C linked moieties, as occur in a number of Voacanga and Vinca rosea bases intensive interest in the latter bisindoles has been prompted by their reputed anti-tumour activity. Particular emphasis is laid on the support that mass-spectroscopic and NMR studies have given to the elucidation of these exceedingly diverse series of indole alkaloids. Prof. D. H. R. Barton (Imperial College, London) traces his active interest in biogenesis from his revision of the structure of Pummerer's ketone (the crystalline oxidation product of pcresol) and an elegant syn- thesis of the lichen product usnic acid. He proceeds from a generalisation of phenolate radical coupling to a lucid exposition of mechanisms of alkaloid biogenesis, giving special attention to a derivation of the morphine group from a benzylisoquinoline tricyclic intermediate, to demonstration of the natural occurrence of dienone isoquinoline intermediates in bio- genesis of the apophine series and to speculation regarding the interrelation- ships of the Stephanie alkaloids. Prof. R. B. Woodward (Harvard) follows with a fascinating account of the elucidation of the structure of one of the most virulent poisons known: Tetrodotoxin- found in some organs of Japanese puffer fish. The in- vestigation is notable for many features, including the considerable initial difficulty of obtaining crystalline substances to determine even the mole- cular formula, the diagnostic use of NMR spectroscopy at every stage, the caution in interpreting facile rearrangements in a polyfunctional