Book Reviews PRACTICAL EMULSIONS--VOLUME I, MATERIALS AND EQUI?MENT, by H. Bennett, Jack L. Bishop, Jr., and Max F. Wulfinghoff. Chemical Pub- lishing Company, Inc., New York. 181 pages, illustrated and indexed. Price $12. This book is an extensive revision of the second edition, published in 1947. Formerly one volume, it is now two, with the second volume dealing primarily with formulations. Chapters 1 and 2 of Volume I deal with basic considerations regarding emulsions and discuss tt'_e proper- ties of emulsions such as particle size, rheology, micelle theory, stability, and instability. In Chapter 3 sur- factants and their function as emul- sifying agents, wetting agents, foam- ers, and defoamers are discussed. The analysis and testing of emulsions is covered in Chapter 4. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 have to do with techniques of emulsification and types of equipment that are available for laboratory, pilot plant, and pro- duction. Chapter 8 is devoted to related topics such as HLB and bio- degradability. This is an excellent book for those working with emulsions in the cos- metic industry, particularly the neo- phyte. As the title states it is a practical book, highly readable, with very little theoretical explanations or mathematical treatments. Yet for those who may wish to delve more deeply into the various topics dis- cussed, references are provided at the end of each chapter and a short bibliography is included at the end of the book. Of particular value to the newcomer to emulsions is a list of emulsifying agents and a twenty-page glossary at the back of the volume. A list of ASTM tests pertinent to emulsions at the end of Chapter 4 is also particularly useful.--D. HARTUNG --The Toni Company. DISINFECTION, STERILIZATION AND PRESeRVATiON, by Carl A. Lawrence and Seymour S. Block. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106. 7 X 10 in., 808 pages, illustrated and indexed. 1968. Price $30. This work is a successor to an earlier one known as "Antiseptics, Disinfectants, Fungicides & Disin- fectants" of which the late George F. Reddish was the over-all editor. In earlier reviews of this work 641

642 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS edited by Dr. Reddish, this writer found fault with the failure of the various authors to give a message, and from being aware of, or otherwise failing to mention important literature in their area of knowledge, no matter how elnbarrassing it may be. Specifically, Chapter 16, by Morton, fails to give the reader the benefit of his knowledge as to how much alcohol, ethyl or isopropyl, might be required to be a preservative. Instead, he prefers to quote loads of other work- ers and let them take the rap. He writes accommodatingly but lacks resolution. He fails to mention that alcohol has been found to prevent inactivation of preservatives by non- ionics. Work of various authors on the inactivation of preservatives by non- ionics appears to be unknown to author Grundy or to Kostenbauder and some other contributors to the present volume who write on preserv- atives. Only author Manowitz ap- pears to be sufficiently well read to know about it. The over-all editor is not expected to be well acqnainted with all of the facets of the subject he is editing, but he is expected to know his subject and to call attention to contributing authors' failings in their written word. There is, as there Inust always be, a certain amount of overlapping in the contributions of the various authors. A casual reading of all the chapters shows that none of the authors seemed to have worked with propylene glycol as a colnmercial preservative, based on their failure to report this. Perhaps it is buried in the archives of their company or de- partment. This much can be said: propylene glycol is much misunder- stood as a preservative. One expects much from a book with the imposing title of this work. One likewise anticipates much from a work edited by Carl Lawrence. One is let down on both counts. The present volume, like its predecessor leaves many unanswered questions. Where one expects cer- tainties, one gets ambiguities. It is merely a glorified review incomplete in a number of chapters. If you have the earlier edition, it is as good as the present one. If you don't have it save your money for something more helpful to come along.--M. G. N^v^• -Beauty Counselors, I