JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS 245 THE PRODUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND APPLICATION OF PERFUMES, 8th Ed., Vol. 2, by William A. PoucheL Chapman and Hall, Lon- don, Halsted Press, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1974. VIII + 379 Pages, indexed. Price $24.00. This presentation by Mr. Poucher is concise, neatly outlining some aspects of perfumery. The Cos- inetic Chemist is usually not directly concerned with many of these in the course of his day-to-day responsibil- ity nonetheless, it is worthwhile for him to take time to become acquaint- ed with information of this type. Over the years, various historical sketches have been published. The opening chapter again reviews some of these sketches in brief form. The production of perfume gives an in- sight into methods of manufacturing that are of a passing interest to the cosmetic chemist. Purchase of these materials provides nothing of inter- est. The author's odor classification was originally presented to the Soci- ety when he received the SCC Medal Award in 1954. It is dated, but nevertheless, worthy of atten- tion, since it provides a facet with which most Cosmetic Chemists are unfamiliar. The main thrust of the book deals with the monographs on flower per- fumes. Each flower is defined, as to its source and area of origin. The material concerning odor classifica- tion, production, and the chemistry is minimal, and it is a disappoint- ment that this information has not been more fully developed. The compounding notes are very inter- esting, but dated in today's climate of increasing dependence on syn- thetics. For those who have a limited or have no background at all in per- fumery, it does provide a basic in- sight. The chapters referring to jas- rain, lily, orange blossom, violet, and especially rose, go into more detail and, perhaps, more of this book should have been comprised of similar information. The chapters which deal with fancy perfumes, toilet waters, and soap perfumery do little more than outline a d diti o nal formulations, again, most of which do not have a place in today's creative climate. The chemistry and odor description is once again lacking in these chap- ters. These three chapters do pro- vide, however, information which the Cosmetic Chemist seldom sees. The closing chapters, which are con- cerned with tobacco flavors, floral cachous, incense and fumigants, sa- chets, solid perfumes, and fruit fla- vors provide very little of significant interest. In general, this volume is interest- ing to read. Although not a must to include in one's library, it is worth- while volume that provides informa- tion of value.-losEva H. KRATOCI-I- vI•,--Firmenich Inc. PERFUMES, COSMETICS AND SOAPS, Vol. 3, by W. A. Poucher, revised by G. M. Howard. Halsted Press, New York, N.Y., 1974, 465 pages illustrat- ed, indexed. Price $24.00. The venerable Poucher has not been revised since 1960 the current edition is the 8th edition. The new author tells us that this is a complete revision. Certainly, it is nearly dou- ble in pages. The chapters, 14 alto-

9.46 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS gether, are arranged alphabetically, as they were in the original work. The new chapters cover aerosols, antiperspirants and deodorants, de- pilatories, and also include a men's toiletdes chapter, which is the new title for the earlier work on shaving preparations. Chapters on smelling salts and theatrical requisites were dropped. Author Howard states in his pref- ace that the outstanding feature of Poucher's work is readability with the subiect matter stripped of pseudoscience or advanced technol- ogy. This was certainly hue of Poucher, even if it meant being out- dated. Howard's aim is to continue the pattern of his predecessor... but updated. When Poucher was written origi- nally, cosmetic practice was not a science. It is today, however. To avoid the deeper discussions of the science behind cosmetics takes a bit of doing. Author Howard has quite successfully emulated Pouther. British spelling and terminology stamp the origin of the work. There are a few misspelled words, at least one printer's error. The references are few and mainly dated. They ap- pear in the text proper. One must fault the manufacturing editor for style, lack of headings, and split formulas. The type is readable. Howard's writing is amazingly faithful to the Poucher style, even to the continued use of some now sus- pect materials in the amounts found in formulations. This particularly re- fers to boraz, bithional, phthalates, and the parabens used along with ethoxylates. Cautions in the use of some finished products, which may yet not be mandatory in England, but are increasingly becoming im- portant in other countries, are not in- cluded. One questions the mention of gums karya, tragacanth, and zinc oxide in depilatories. The aerosol chapter is condensed, possibly a bit too much. The chapter on hair dyes is weak. The bromo acid solution (described on page 204) is unique. Being a sole author of a book en- ables one to have complete control at all times. However in today's eli- mate, few of us, no matter how long our tenure in the cosmetic industry, can cover all fronts. So while this revision is certainly better than the original work, it does suffer from this deficiency.-M. G. DENAvARRE--Van- da Beauty Products.