Book reviews HISTONES AND OTHER NUCLEAR PROTEINS. I-I. Bush. Pp. xiii -b :2•3•3 -b Ill. (19•35). Academic Press, New York and London. 7•3s. Recent advances in molecular biology have shown how deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the initiator of the chain of reactions which, through the biosynthesis of messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA), leads to synthesis of the cellular proteins. Not all proteins in the cell are synthesized at the same time, however, or even at the same rate, and a mechanism must exist by which one set of reactions may be made several hundred times more active than another. There is evidence that the proteins of the nucleus play a part in this controlling mechanism ' in particular, the basic proteins can be shown to have a suppressire action on some nucleic acid- induced reactions. There has consequently been a revival of interest in these proteins, and it is the object of this book to give an introduction to the current status of research in this field. The greater part of the book concerns the basic nuclear proteins. A chapter deals with the profamines - no dynamic function has yet been demonstrated for these proteins, and they may serve only as carriers for DNA. Histories, which are more complex, and which occur more widely in plant and animal tissues, are dealt with at greater len•h. Chapters are first devoted to classification and to methods of iso- lation. The spatial relationships between DNA and histones are discussed, and it is shown that histones may help to maintain the coiled structure of the nucleoprotein. Evidence for the concept of histones as gene modifiers is then reviewed, following from the observation that histones can block RNA synthesis in systems containing DNA. The growth and functions of cells in vitro are also inhibited by histones it is of interest that the antiviral substance, intefferon, is a histone-like protein. Chapters on the primary structure of histones, and on their biosynthesis and cata- bolism, complete this section. Work on acid proteins of •he nucleus has not yet developed to the same extent. A chapter describes the state of research on their isolation, amino acid content, and biosynthesis. Finally, the enzymes of the nucleus are reviewed, with particular reference to those involved in nucleic acid synthesis. Author and subject indexes are provided, and each chapter has an extensive list of references. The book provides a succinct review of the current position in a field which will certainly expand rapidly within the next few years. t3. G. OVERELL. ADVANCES IN HETEROCYCLIC CHEMISTRY. Vol. 3. Editor: A. R. Katritzky. Pp. xiii + 4:21 + Ill. (19•34). Academic Press, New York and London. 96/6. The third volume in this series contains three reviews devoted to specific groups of heterocyclic compounds and four reviews dealing with topics of general interest in heterocyclic chemistry. 57

58 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS The three goups of compounds discussed are the Carbolines (129 pages) by R. A. Abramovitch and Ian D. Spenser 1, 2, $, 4 - Thiatriazoles (22 pages) by K. A. Jensen and C. Pedersen and Pentazoles (11 pages) by Ivar Ugi. G. F. Duffin reviews the Quaternization of Heterocyclic Compounds (56 pages) the Reactions of Heterocyclic Compounds with Carbenes (22 pages) are covered by C. W. Rees and C. E. Smithen Applications of the Hammett equation to Hetero- cyclic Compounds (53 pages) is an excellent and useful review by H. H. Jaffe and I-I. Lloyd Jones finally G. Illuminati presents a comprehensive survey of Nucleophilic Heteroaromatic Substitution (87 pages). Each review is fully supported by references to original papers and the truly international character of this series is reflected in the authors of the reviews in this volume from Great Britain, U.S.A., Canada, Denmark, Italy and Germany. The volume concludes with comprehensive author and subject indexes. Included in this volume are the lists of contents of Volumes 1 and 2 and also Errata to these volumes. This is a first class production and an excellent addition to the growing list of review literature. R.P. REEVES. NON-AQUEOUS SOLVENT SYSTEMS. Editor: T. C. Waddington. Pp. xiv •- 408 -[- Ill. (1965). Academic Press, London and New York. 90s. The book is organized into nine chapters-four dealing with protonic solvents, four with aprotic media and a final one on the solvent properties of molten salts. The editor has wisely recognized that it would not be possible to cover adequately the vast range of non-aqueous solvent systems in one volume he has avoided a superficial discussion of this gamut and chosen instead to treat fairly exhaustively a limited number of solvents that are important per se and which may be held to exhibit type behaviour. Liquid ammonia is worth a book in itself a recent article (1), for instance, only covered the chemistry of inorganic reactions therein. Here those aspects susceptible to quantitative treatment are dealt with. First there is a considerable accumulation of physical, magnetic and spectroscopic properties and thermodynamic and electro- chemical data for liquid ammonia particularly useful is the list of half-wave potentials and the details of metal-ammonia systems. The balance of the chapter is concerned with a relatively comprehensive general survey of reactions in liquid ammonia contrast is drawn with water as well as with less polar solvents. Finally the oxidation potential, ionic solvation, acidmbase reactions, and the interaction of metals in and with ammonia are reviewed. Despite the favourable ionic radii, the aggressive properties of hydrogen fluoride had until recently rendered it unpopular as a protonic solvent. The development of nuclear chemistry, and especially fluoroplastics resistant to HF, changed this dramatically. This chapter - by two workers at the Argonne atomic energy labora- tory - begins appropriately with a discussion of apparatus and equipment adapted for conductimetric and spectroscopic studies, and then extensive physical and spectro- scopic properties are set out. The ionised, and particularly the associated, structures of hydrogen fluoride and the nature of its acidity, are examined in detail. Examples of solutes in HF are taken from metals, interhalogens, proton acceptors (oxonium (1) Fowles, G. W. A. and Nicholls, D. Quart. Rev. 16 19-43 (1962).