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Book reviews I.U.P.A.C. Editor: M. N. Kolosov. The chemistry of natural products-7. Pp. viii -•- 304 q- Ill. (1971). Butterworths, London. oe7.80. $23.40. This work is a collection of the plenary lectures given at the VIIth International Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products, held in Riga, U.S.S.R. in June 1970. In general the topics covered illustrate the wide application of the principles of modern organic chemistry to important and complex problems of biochemistry and mole- cular biology. The quality of the contribu- tions is outstanding, which is not surprising when one notes the lecturers. Thus, Prof. D. H. R. Barton describes approaches to the synthesis of the tetra- cyclines Prof. H. G. Khorana gives an account of his brilliant synthesis of yeast alanine transfer RNA, while Prof. R. B. Woodward continues the saga of attempts to synthesize vitamin Bx2. Other contributions of note are Prof. E. Lederer's on present knowledge of the chemistry of the cell wall of Mycobacteria and related organisms Naka- nishi's account of the ecdysones and Van Deenen on the chemistry of phospholipids and biological membranes. Antimetabolite chenfistry and enzyme catalysis and topo- graphy are also dealt with. An important paper, surveying the develop- ment of natural product chemistry in the U.S.S.R. over the last 10 years, was given by Prof. M. M. Shemyakin, whose sudden death occurred during the meeting. This volume is to be recommended for general reading and essential to any organic chemist interested in the application of his subject to the study of the biological sciences. A. G. BROWN 773 THE APPLICATIONS OF MOLECULAR DISTILLATION. J. Hollo, E. Kurucz and A. Borodi. Pp. 210 q- I11. (1971). Akad6miai Kiad6, Budapest. oe1.75. This book surveys the principal uses of molecular distillation up to the mid-1960s, from a practical viewpoint. The theoretical aspects of the process are briefly dealt with in an introductory section, and there is an account of the available t.•pes of still and ancillary equipment. The main part of the book is a comprehensive literature review (226 references, with a further 400 or so in a sup- plementary classified list) covering laboratory analytical and preparative applications as well as industrial uses. The greatest emphasis, naturally enough, is on the processing of glyceride oils and the production of vitamin concentrates, some such processes being de- scribed in useful detail other topics such as tall oils, mineral oils and plasticizers are more briefly discussed. The book has the common fault of trans- lated technical literature, an awkwardness of expression which leads sometimes to a lack of clarity, particularly in the theoretical section. The brief chemical process descrip- tions contain one or two minor lapses from strict accuracy. However, the book justifies its unpretentious claim to be a 'modest appendix' to the monographs already available it may be found of use as a practical introduction to the subject and as a key to the literature. P. L. WILLIAMS MARTINDALE: THE EXTRA PHARMA- COPOEIA. 26th edn. Pp. xviq-2320 (1972). The Pharmaceutical Press, London. oe14. The Extra t'harmacoj•oeia is so well known that a new edition calls for little more than a