•ooK REWEWS 4.q5 The pattern of the book, admittedly reminiscent of the inestimable 'Cram & Hammond', is at first to introduce the necessary principles of nomenclature, structure and key reactions, before passing to the fundamentals of mesomerism, stereochemistry and structure correlation with reaction rate and equilibrium these 10 chapters provide a reasonable framework for developing a general analysis of organic reactions. In the remaining five chapters the preceding treatment is applied to various classes of relatively sophisticated natural and synthetic products: carbohydrates, peptides, heterocyclics, terpenes and steroids, and macromolecules (including synthetic polymers). These chapters frequently degenerate into tables of illustrative formulae of arguable paedogogic value but the examples chosen are in many cases undeniably topical. One welcomes a brief but readable account of the principles, as currently held, of the theory of acetate-mevalonoid biogenesis of isoprenoids. The ubiquity of contemporary deployment of spectrometric investigations has prompted a further chapter which briefly explains the absorption of electromagnetic radiation and then refers to frequencies for characteristic vibration (Jr) and electronic (uv) transitions • the treatment of the latter being restrictedto •-conjugated systems. There are three simple examples of diagnosis from ir spectra. Surprisingly the presen- tation of nmr spectrometry is rather less terse than for the more conventional tech- niques: chemical shifts and first order spin-spin coupling are briefly explained and exemplified. However, it is unfortunate that the chemical shifts are exclusively dis- cussed in terms of delta ppm, without even a reference to the alternative (a•id now preferred) use of tau (10 - delta) units. Mass spectrometry and its potential develop- ment are merely mentioned in two valedictory paragraphs- but then it is difficult to see what could have been given in a book of these limited dimensions and scope. The book should be judged as it is intended to be used, that is as a half-year introductory course for students who subsequently may proceed to a variety of life- science Honours courses. Given good tutorial support, orientated to the particular slant of the freshmen concerned, this text should provide a basic understanding of structural features and reaction driving forces, without overburdening memory with a welter of data in many cases unlikely ever to be retrieved. Honours chemistry schools would legitimately look elsewhere. G. F. PHILLIPS INFRARED SPECTRA OF ADSORBED SPECIES. L.H. Little. Pp. xii d- 428 d- Ill. (101313). Academic Press, London/New York. 100s. $16 Books on ir spectra are numerous but those devoted to adsorbed species are few and far between. A number of papers relating to this topic have been published and this book with its 700 odd references and supplementary chapters by A. V. Kiselev and V. I. Lygin is basically a review. The primary appeal will be for scientists interested in catalysis and for metallur- gists and geologists but the field covered in the book is very wide. There is extensive discussion of (a) the adsorption of gases and hydrocarbons onto metals and metal oxides, the mechanism of catalysis and differentiation between chemi- sorption and physical adsorption, and (b) surface hydroxyl groups and the general adsorption of molecules within clays and zeolites. There are other chapters covering early Russian work and studies of the pertur-

496 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS bation of physically adsorbed molecules. Relatively little space is devoted to experi- mental techniques. These are well described but there should perhaps have been more emphasis on the importance of ordinate expansion for weak absorbers and ATR for surface studies on non-metallic substrates. The techniques are a limiting factor particularly if the studies are to be extended to natural surfaces. There is no direct reference to any application in the toiletry or cosmetic field but where the hydrogen bond is involved there must be a link, however oblique, •vith the cosmetic research chemists' interests. The book is quite readable but somewhat heterogeneous in presentation. It is a useful review and provides background references for a topic which is likely to become important in the future. D.M. GABRIEL. INTERNATIONAL TABLES OF SELECTED CONSTANTS 15: SESQ,UITERPENOIDS. G. Ourisson, S. Munavalli and C. Ehret. Pp. 70 q- xxx. (1966). Pergamon Press, Oxford. 90s. At some time or another, most of us - particularly those working in perfumery - require information on materials of natural origin. High on the list are the sesquiter- penoids since they are relatively widespread and also rather complex materials. Days, weeks or even months may be spent searching forinformation on a specific material. Having found something one has to estimate its accuracy and value, or the relative value of conflicting pieces of information. Here is a book which does most of it for us, saving countless hours of often fruitless searching. information on nearly five hundred materials is'recorded'in tabular form. This information includes melting and boiling point, density, refractive index, specific rotation and wavelengths of the absorption peaks in the uv. Bibliographica references are given to all the data together with references to further data on syn- thesis, on uv, ir, Raman and nmr spectra, on rotatory dispersion or circular dichroism, and on mass spectrum, and X-ray structure. Facing each table are structural formulas for the materials included in the table, where these are known, and the number which are not known seems now to be remarkably small. Basically the materials are arranged according to the number and type of their carbon ring structure although the authors found this to be not entirely satisfactory and varied it in some cases. Separately there is an alphabetical list of the substances with details of their source or origin. Over 1750 bibliographical references are given and these are arranged in chrono- logical order from 1840 to 1965. An index of authors is included. Where discrepancies arise in results from different sources the authors have critically evaluated the original papers and used the figures which in their opinion are the most reliable. The volume is basically in French but English translations of the introductory sections and the symbols•. and abbreviations, combined with the fact that mostly it consists of tables of figures and structural formulas, makes this immaterial. There are bound to be some errors in a book such as this but none were noticed (except for minor translational quirks) and the overall excellent presentation inspires confidence in the fact that these are very minimal. This first-class volume is an essential reference work for everyone whose work nvolves the sesquiterpenoid compounds. R.P. REEVES