Book reviews ANTIBIOTICS. Editors: D. Gottlieb and P. D. Shaw. I. MECHANISM OF ACTION. Pp. xii 4- 785 + Ill. (1967). DM 156. $$9. II. BIOSYNTHESIS. Pp. xi + 466 + Ill. (1967). DM 96. $24. Springer- Verlag, Berlin. In this encyclopaedic work the editors have called on the services of many experts in the writing of sections on many individual antibiotics or groups thereof. They have attempted to "include any and all antibiotics about which some pertinent information had been published". The work is the outcome of the editors' attempt to keep abreast of the literature and maintain a bibliography on antibiotics. As the subject was enlarging so rapidly, this soon became impracticable, and they have attempted to ensure that the present volumes are as up-to-date as possible by including 'addenda' for many of the sections where new information has become available shortly before going to press. This has added greatly to their value. There is little of the clinical aspects, except of the penicillins, but the details of mechanism of action and biosynthesis are so complete that there is much to interest both the clinician and laboratory scientist. The many tables of sensitivity of organisms is but one example of the way in which these books will serve as valuable reference works to all who use these materials. There is a useful list of antibiotics according to their sites of action at the end of Volume I. There is much variation in mode of presentation of the material, as one would expect where the authors (58 in Vol. I and 34 in Vol. 11) are from all parts of the world, from both academic units and industrial laboratories, but this adds to the interest of the volumes and the editors have achieved a high standard of integration of the various sections. In a work of this kind, the references and index are all important and one is not disappointed. The references are full and extensive and in each volume there is both a 'Subject index' and 'Index of organisms'. Although knowledge in this field is advancing rapidly, the present volumes will serve as encyclopaedic references for a long time, and indeed will prove of permanent value as a record of the early years in the history of antibiotics. M.A. COOKE. ORGANOMETALLIC COMPOUNDS. Vol. II. 2nd Edn. Editor: R. W. Weiss. Pp. xix q- 697. (1967). Springer-Verlag, Berlin]Heidelberg/New York. DM 98. $24.50 Volume II of this series follows closely the pattern of the first volume in the series [reviewed J. ll) 262 {1968)]. The preparation and reactions of organic compounds 551

552 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS of germanium, tin, and lead are admirably covered for the period 1937-1964. Although an addition to the title "Including biological activity and commercial application" not present in Volume I implies an extension of the coverage of the subject there is the most meagre list of references in this area. In 155 pages devoted to germanium com- pounds there are only two biological references, both to toxicity. As previously, the information on applications is that gleaned from the patent literature. This is a book for synthetic chemists. The field of applications has been neglected by comparison and would seem to offer great scope for the future. j. M. BLAKEWAY. PRACTICAL EMULSIONS. Vol. 1. Materials and equipment. H. Bennett, J. L. Bishop and M. F. Wulfinghoff. Pp. vii q- 181 q- Ill. (1968). Chemical Publishing Co., New York. $12. Mr. Bennett's original text has now been brought up-to-date in a third edition and, as in the original, sets out to provide a comprehensive review of emulsion technology. This book will be of most use to a recent graduate becoming involved for the first time in emulsion technology and the references to the "laboratory neophyte" show the authors had this much in mind. The title "Practical" emulsions is perhaps slightly misleading since the main value of the book will be to provide a broad picture of the types of materials, equipment, processing and methods of testing which are used. The book is full of lists describing in brief, but concise terms, the scope available in each of these areas. However, should one wish to engage in practical emulsion tech- nology one would need to go further than this book, and one would question whether the references provided are perhaps as full as might be desirable for somebody seeking to gain practical experience in specific aspects. Whilst most of the references are reasonably recent, there is one on the emulsification of mineral oil dated 1909 and another from 1920 on optimum foaming with a number of compounds, and one does wonder if this is still very relevant in view of the speed of development in the chemical industry. The book concludes with an up-to-date list of emulsifying agents and their com- position which is satisfactorily comprehensive and a good Glossary of technical terms. For the new emulsion chemist this should be a very useful survey of the field however, English readers might find the price of f5 a little high for this purpose. C. PUGH. DISCUSSIONS OF THE FARADAY SOCIETY, No. 42 1966: COLLOID STABILITY IN AQUEOUS AND NON-AQUE- OUS MEDIA. Pp. 322 -+- Ill. (1967). The Faraday Society, London. oe5. Research into colloid stability is of fundamental importance to anybody inter- ested in cosmetics, and the current report of this 1966 discussion of the Faraday Society is, therefore, of potential interest to all the readers of this Journal. The papers tend to reflect the predictable balance between fundamental and applied research in