54 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS this would certainly assist those senior students whose tutors do not expect them to collate for themselves data on the rarer elements. G.F. PHILLIPS. HANDBOOK OF COMPRESSED GASES. Compressed Gas Association. Pp. xvi q- 398 q- Ill. (1966). Reichold Publishing Cor- poration, New York. $20. 160s. The handling of compressed and liquefied gases has developed into a vast and still rapidly growing domain of industrial technology, with its own specialised tech- niques, hazards and official regulations for safety. This book covers American and Canadian practice in both general terms, and in specific detail for 49 materials, in- cluding gases derived from the atmosphere, fuels, medical gases, fluorocarbons, ammonia, halogens, vinyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide, etc. The basic physical data enumerated, and the standards and regulations governing the containers from small cylinders to large tankers, make the book of great value whether to specialists or to safety officers and public officials who have to administer the regulations. An unsatisfactory feature in the field of cryogenics and handling of gases is the contradictory nature of the various national requirements in different countries, and a similar book detailing British and/or European regulations would be a welcome addition to technical literature. S.A. MILLER PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM ON THE CHEMIS- TRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY OF FUNGI AND YEASTS. I.U.P.A.C. Pp. v q- 525-705 q- Ill. (1963). Butterworths, London. 50s. This book contains the subject matter of fourteen lectures which were presented originally at the Symposium on the Chemistry and Biochemistry of Fungi and Yeasts, held in Dublin, Ireland, July 1963. Important work on this subject has been carried out in several different countries, by contributors all expert in their particular field. This work has been published in a special volume by the International Union and ranks as a valuable contribution to knowledge on the subject of fungi and yeasts. The main topics have been conveniently divided into three major sections: Section I is concerned with Fungal Metabolites Section II describes the Biochemistry of Fungi, and Section III deals with the Chemistry and Biochemistry of Yeasts. In the first paper, The biosynthesis of antibiotics, A. J. Birch (U.K.) speculates on the manipulation of fungal metabolites. 'The synthetic chemist who is developing a useful drug usually has two objectives: to make it more efficiently, and to synthesize by minor structural alterations, analogues which may have more useful properties'. In this paper, the author examines the question whether the chemist can, in principle, manipulate the processes of production of antibiotics with the same objective in view. Other valuable contributions on the subject of fungal metabolites are described in papers on: The vitamin B•, coenzyme--D. Dolphin, A. W. Johnson, R. Rodrigo and N. Shaw (U.K.). Constitution of rifamycins--V. Prelog (Switzerland), and the sclero- tiorin group of fungal metabolites: their structure and biosynthesis--W. B. Whalley (u.•.).

BOOK REVIEWS 55 Section II, The Biochemistry of Fungi, places special emphasis on metabolism. In an interesting paper on fungal metabolism of certain aromatic compounds related to the lignin-- Moira E. K. Henderson (U.K.) examines the role of soil microfungi and certain wood rotting basidiomycetes in relation to lignin plant decomposition. Carbo- hydrate catabolism by fungi is reviewed by D. Gottlieb (U.S.A.). Here, only the hyphal fungi are commented on, since the yeast fungi have been adequately described else- where. The influence of peat and peat substances on the metabolism of fungi is con- sidered by E. Kuster (Ireland). This author examines the question which components of peat are utilizable and ho•v they influence the microbial gro•vth. In the third and final section, D. ]. D. Hockenhull (U.K.) discusses the changing approaches to antibiotic production. This very experienced contributor gives an inter- esting account of the changing pattern of microbial culture on the industrial scale. Major technical innovations and recent developments such as continuous culture are discussed and a bright future predicted for this process. Time will tell, but in some fields there would still seem to be a useful place for batch culture despite the success of continuous culture. The concluding papers on the biochemistry and chemistry of the yeasts are very comprehensive and form a useful supplement to the earlier standard work of this title by A. H. Cook. This book was published in 1958 and is now somewhat out of date. These papers include protein synthesis in yeast--A. H. Cook (U.K.), Changes in the cell constitution of bakers' yeast in changing growth conditions--H. Suomalainen (Finland), Sulphur utilization by yeast--G. A. Maw (Ireland), The structure and organisation of the polysaccharides of yeast--D. H. Northcote (U.K.), Biochemistry of yeasts--an analysis of some conditions for growth---G. Ehrensv•.rd (Sweden), and Some data on the metabolism of dicarboxylic amino-acids and their amides in yeast- S. R. Mardashez {U.S.S.R.). N. ]. VAN ABBt• APPLICATION OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL METHODS IN CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. I.U.P.A.C. Pp. v q- 437-581 q- Ill. (1967). Butterworths, London. 50s. This edition contains the ten plenary lectures presented at the Conference on the Application of Physico-Chemical Methods in the Chemical Analysis" held in Budapest, April 1966. Six contributions are in English, two in French and one in German. Most papers are of a highly specialised nature, which will appeal only to those other scientific workers in the same field. However, we noted two exceptions: one article shows the trends in the development of instrumental analysis in Hungary another describes how the students at the Prague Institute of Chemical Technology are being taught both the theory and practice of physical and instrumental methods of analysis. G. CARRIERE NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE FOR ORGANIC CHEMISTS. Editor: D. W. Mathieson. Pp. ix q- 287 q- Ill. (1967). Academic Press, London/New York. 65s. INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL HIGH RESOLUTION