Book Reviews SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS AND DETER- GENTS, Vol. II, Anthony M. Schwartz, James W. Perry and Julian Berch, Robert E. Kriegger Publishing Co., Huntington, New York, 1977, xvii d- 869 pages. Price $35.50. This is essentially a reprint of the classic 1958 book with the addition of Chapter 22A, a 32-page insertion entitled "Modern Laundering Formulations." The index has been expanded to include this chapter with the same excellent coverage given the balance of the book. The newer cosmetic specialty surfactants developed during the last 20 years therefore cannot be found here. Indeed the 20-page Chap- ter 25, entitled "Medical and Cosmetic Applications of Surfactants," could not be classed as complete even in 1958. Chapter 15, "Biological Effects and Toxicity of Surfactants" (19 pages), was minimally adequate when published. Today an expensive reprint lacking in comprehensive completeness in this area is inexcusable. Similarly Chapter 14,"Analysis and Analytical Behavior of Surfactants and Surfactant Auxiliaries" (45 pages), was excellent when first printed. However the dramatic improvements in chromatogra- phy technology in the last 20 years make this largely outdated, particularly as it would relate to cosmetic specialty items. 65 In the initial chapters on fundamentals, the lack of any update is not as serious since advances here have been slow. The book aims at all specialities having needs with surfactants. These suffer, just as the cosmetic areas, to the extent that no update was attempted at the end of each section. For the library of a company having involvement with several facets of surfac- tant technology, this book has archivic value if the first edition is not available. The updated chapter hardly justifies the purchase for anyone. The cosmetic chem- ist does not need this for his personal library.--JOHN H. WooD--School of Pharmacy, Virginia Commonwealth Uni- versity. DISINFECTION, STERILIZATION AND PRES- ERVATION, 2nd Edition, Seymour S. Block, Editor, Lea & Febiger, Philadel- phia, Pa., 1977, xv -•- 1049 pages, ,126 figures, 149 tables. Price $48.50. The first edition of this major work appeared in 1968 and represented a much needed successor to Reddish's "Antisep- tics, Disinfectants, Fungicides and Chem- ical and Physical Sterlization" (1957). This second edition is likewise most welcome to a wide audience. As Dr. Block (Univer- sity of Florida) indicates, the book should

66 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS be useful to practitioners, researchers, teachers and students to those in indus- try, governmerit and universities to public health specialists, hospital person- nel, food processors, bacteriologists, plant pathologists, physicians, dentists, chemists, biologists, veterinarians and engineers and to professionals in many industries such as the production of phar- maceuticals, cosmetics and paper. The book consists of 49 chapters by 55 contributors and covers methods of test- ing antimicrobials, specific antimicrobial chemical agents, chemical and physical sterilization, medical and health-related applications (e.g., swimming pools, den- tistry, hospital waste), preservative and protective agents, antimicrobial modes of action and a historical and business over- view. As in all such compendia, individual chapters vary widely in quality of infor- mation, completeness and style. Particu- larly meritorious are units on testing sani- tizers and bacteriostatic substances (C.H. Shaffer, Jr.), sterilization filtration (C.W. Fifield) and Block's own section on preservatives for industrial products. Sev- eral chapters are barely more than a compilation of AOAC methods with little or no critical evaluation. In some ways, the format chosen is unnecessarily cumbersome. It makes little sense, for example, to separate by 300 pages two related chapters by Leland on antiproto- zoan and related compounds or to devote a complete unit to tuberculocidal agents and disregard antivenerals. The final chapter on definition of terms is simplis- tic and would prove of greater value as an introductory unit for the benefit of the student reader. One can only regret the almost complete absence of data on the normal microbial biota of the human skin, mouth, urogenital tract, etc., which would seem to be of some interest in a text so deeply involved with chemicals intended to alter or eliminate such am- phibionts. These caveats aside, the volume is an important resource, handsomely printed, and a major addition to the library of antimicrobial agents. The first edition was widely popular this second will probably prove equally so, and deservedly.--LEo GREENBERG--Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University.