The harvey lectures. Series 51 (1955–1956)

The harvey lectures. Series 51 (1955–1956)

BOOK 487 REVIEWS characteristics of ascites tumor cells during various stages of their origin from mammary carcinoma. Fields of teaching represente...

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BOOK

487

REVIEWS

characteristics of ascites tumor cells during various stages of their origin from mammary carcinoma. Fields of teaching represented by the participants and by the subject material include Botany, Zoology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Physiology, and other sciences included in the curricula of medical and agricultural schools. Recent decades have been characterized by great progress in isolation, purification, and synthesis of substances detected by their biological activity. The papers presented at this Symposium indicate that many unexplained activities remain, and that the problem of understanding the mechanism of regulation is even more challenging. 0.

H.

GAEBLER,

Detroit,

Michigan

Methoden der organischen Chemie (Houben-Weyl). Fourth edition compiled by Eugen MUELLER, Tubingen. Vol. XI. Part I: Stickstofhrerbindungen. II. Herstellung von Aminen. Bearbeitet von H. GLASER, F. MILLER, G. PIEPER, R. SCHR~TER, G. SPIELBERGER und H. SILL. 1957. lvi + 1224 pp. Price $49.59. Volume IX was reviewed in Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 63,272 (1956). In the present part of Vol. XI are discussed the general methods for obtaining amines. In view of the fact that the preparation of the 1,2- and 1,3-alkyl imines, of the natural amino acids as well as of the complex-forming imino acetic acids requires special methods, this group of compounds will be described in detail in two particular sections of Vol. XI, part II. Following the original design of the present encyclopedia, methodical viewpoints served as the basis in the organization of the amine chapter. The grouping according to systemic principles, i.e., aliphatic and aromatic amines, as is customary in textbooks, had to be abandoned, inasmuch as the methods for the preparation of these amines are often identical. By the same token the division into primary, secondary, and tertiary amines was found unsuitable, because the preparation of the three different types of amines follows the same technique. It should be also mentioned that the description of alkylations and dealkylations of the amines, inasmuch as they again result in amines, is not to be found in the chapter of transformations of amines but is included in the respective sections of the present part of this volume. The closing date for the literature of this unique collection is 1956. Its author index consists of 77 pages, the subject index of 61 pages. For organic chemists and biochemists the volume is indispensable. F. F. NORD, New York, New York

The The

Harvey Lectures. Series 51 (1955-56). Academic Press Inc., New York, 1957. present volume continues the high standard we have come to associate with this series. It opens with a summary by J. C. Eccles of recent experiments which yield some insight into mechanisms of nervous excitation and inhibition at synapses. Eccles concludes that excitatory and inhibitory impulses liberate transmittor substances which respectively depolarize or hyperpolarize the subsynaptic

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membrane. Whether or not an impulse is generated is determined by the resultant of these two types of effect. Ernest F. Gale has contributed a carefully documented review of work bearing upon the role of the nucleic acids in the synthesis of specific enzyme systems by disrupted bacterial cells and cell fractions. Gale presents here also the argument for his conviction that already formed proteins exchange their amino acid residues continuously with whatever amino acids are available-what he calls “exchange incorporation.” He describes the partial isolation of factors which selectively promote the incorporation of single amino acids (glycine, valine); it is curious that though these are obtained by the digestion of ribonucleic acid, they do not appear to be nucleotide in nature. Karl Meyer discusses in detail the acid mucopolysaccharides of connective tissue. As the author says, “This type of old-fashioned biochemistry which almost has gone out of vogue, still can result in interesting and surprising findings”; and offers as example the observation that the uranic acid of chondroitin sulfate B appears to be iduronic acid, closely similar in configuration to ascorbic acid, and perhaps formed from the latter. Joseph S. Fruton discusses the specificity and mode of action of the intracellular proteinases, and defends the view that these enzymes may play a leading part in protein synthesis. In the only directly clinical contribution to this volume, Charles H. Rammelkamp, Jr. discusses the epidemiology of streptococcal infections. Ephraim Racker has written a discussion of what he calls micro- and macrocycles in carbohydrate metabolism, distinguished for its breadth of outlook and literary elegance. Particular attention is paid to the pentose phosphate cycle and its role in respiration and photosynthesis. Keith R. Porter has written a beautifully illustrated account of the submicroscopic morphology of the cell as revealed in the electron microscope. The temptation is strong at present to infer physiological function directly from the appearance of some of these structures; yet for the present much of this, as Dr. Porter concedes, is largely surmise. A. D. Hershey has written a lively discussion of the interrelations of bacteriophage and host cell under the title, “Bacteriophage TP: Parasite or Organelle?” Hershey concludes that it is a little of both. The volume ends with a lucid and detailed exposition of the chemistry and physiology of firefly luminescence by W. D. McElroy. GEORGE WALD, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Advances in Pest Control Research. Vol. I. Edited by R. L. METCALF, Citrus Experiment Station, University of California, Riverside, Calif. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, N. Y., 1957. vii + 514 pp. Price $11.00. This compilation of 14 articles is designed to bring the facts on pest control together so that the nature of the problems involved in developing more effective and safer pesticides could be understood better. Although pesticide research has developed along more or less independent lines in the fields of plant pathology, plant physiology, entomology, pharmacology, and veterinary medicine, there is a community of interest that will not be denied in the design of molecules and understanding their mode of action. As the Editor indicates in the Preface, the knowl-