438 THE QUARTERLY
the text could serve as a referencework and lecture
material for the usual course in radioisotope
methods.
The book is strongestand best on the physical
aspects of the subject. These parts, such subjects as
on radioisotopes,particles and theory,on counting,
decay, interaction of radiation with matter, and
detection and measurement,can serve as profitable
reading and referencefor biologists who employ,
but are not primarilyconcerned with, radioisotopes
and radiation, or as a laboratory reference book
for students.
The biological part of the book is quite brief,
only 23 pages of a total of 372. Five experiments
are given,on percentageof isotope going to various
tissues (in the mouse or rat), on measurement of
excretion products (urine, feces, and respired CO2
fromacetate), on localization of label in situ (1131in
thyroid),on conversion of C14 acetate into choles-
terol, and on protein-bound iodine conversion
ratios.
There are handy appendices of constantsand con-
version factors;symbols and abbreviations; nuclear
terms; reference books; and of exponential func-
tions, and problems.
In brief, this is a book that may be used as the
textbook and laboratory manual or as a reference
work for radioisotope courses; and it will serve as
a handy exposition,referencebook, and refresherin
laboratorieswhere isotopes are used either on occa-
sion or frequently.
ALAN D. CONGER
ULTRAMICRO METHODS. For Clinical Laboratories.
Second Edition.
By Edwin M. Knights, Roderick P. MacDonald,
and Jaan Ploompuu. Grune & Stratton, New
York and London. $6.75. x + 213 pp.; ill.
1962.
The authors have tried in theirfirstedition (Q.R.B.,
34: 175. 1959), and now in an enlarged second edi-
tion, to make microgramanalytical methods availa-
ble to the clinical laboratory. Such methods are of
increasingpractical importance in this area simply
because the battery of blood tests has expanded
so much. One must either get larger and larger
syringeswith which to bleed the sick person or else
convertto procedureswhere a complete surveymay
be done on 0.3 ml of blood.
The firstquarter of the book is devoted to a gen-
eral introduction to ultramicro techniques, to a
descriptionof the laboratory itself,and to the col-
lection of blood and pipetting and special equip-
ment. The chapter on special equipment includes
discussionsabout the choice, care, and use of ultra-
pipettes, ultraburets, spectrophotometers, flame
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REVIEW OF BIOLOGY
photometers,ultramicro centrifuges,micro gasom-
eters, pH meters,paper electrophoresisequipment,
and other general items.
The remaining three-quartersof the book de-
scribe 23 specificultramicro tests essential for hos-
pital laboratories. These include tests for amylase,
bilirubin, calcium, chlorides, cholesterol, glucose,
proteins, pH, sodium and potassium, phosphate,
carbon dioxide, and others. For each of these tests,
a list of the apparatus and reagentsrequired,step by
step proceduresto be followed,calculations,calibra-
tions, and normal values are given.
The general formatof the book, therefore,seems
primarilyintended for breaking in or reorientinga
more classically trained medical technologist (or
perhaps, administrator). I believe that some of the
directions could as easily be obtained from the
operation manuals of the equipment.
In general, I feel that the book should enable a
good technician to perform the tests and, in fact,
to set up an ultramicro chemistrylaboratory.The
tests are good applications of ultramicrochemistry,
and the need for such a laboratory is essential. I
doubt, however, that the said technician would
understandmuch of the basis of what he was doing.
SHERWOOD M. REICHARD
ANALYSE IMMUNO-tLECTROPHORETIQUE. Ses Applica-
tions aux Liquides Biologiques Humains.
By P. Grabar, P. Burtin, and 19 other contribu-
tors. Masson & Cie., Paris. 38 NF (paper).
294 pp.; ill. 1960.
The development of the technique of immunoelec-
trophoresis,a method in which the advantages of
electrophoreticresolution are added to the speci-
ficityof double diffusionantigen-antibodyreactions
in agar gel, representsone of the significantad-
vances in the fieldof immunochemistry.This book
contains the most comprehensivesurvey yet pub-
lished of immunoelectrophoresisand of its applica-
tion to the analysis of human body fluid proteins.
Arranged in three sections,this publication com-
prises 26 chapters of which 11 were written by the
authors and the remainder by 12 collaborators,all
in the forefrontof immunochemistry.The first
section (4 chapters) covers methodology in a de-
tailed and precise manner. Exact descriptions are
given for the preparation of gel media, of electro-
phoretic apparatus, and of conditions necessaryfor
successful experiments. The sections dealing with
the interpretation of precipitin reactions, their
quantitative analysis, and their biochemical char-
acterizationare outstanding. Staining reactions are
described for identifyinglipids and phospholipids,
glycoproteins, ceruloplasmin, peroxidases, catalases,
and esterasesas componentsof precipitin reactions.
 NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS 439

This aspect of immunologic reactions has been acids, and of iodide in digestsof iodinated proteins;
largely neglected in the past, and its more general (9) A semi-automatic system of microchemical
application should yield abundant informationcon- clinical analysis; (10) An automated fluorometric
cerning the functional activity of biological pro- method for the determinationof serum magnesium;
teins. (11-13) "AutoAnalyzer"methods for the determina-
The second section of the book (14 chapters) is tion of liver glycogen, sugar, urea, and glutamic
devoted to an analysis of the serological specificity oxaloacetate transaminase; (14-15) Rapid automatic
of ndrmal and abnormal serum proteins. Included electrophoreticanalysis; and (16-17) A panel dis-
are detailed accounts of normal adult, newborn, cussion on automation and simplification in the
and umbilical cord serum proteins,as well as im- clinical chemistrylaboratory. The papers include
munoelectrophoreticcriteria for determining the ample photographs, tables, figures,and references.
purity of fractionatedserum components. Precipi- EUGENE W. RICE
tin reactions of myeloma proteins and of serum
protein abnormalities found in disseminated lupus
erythematosus,agammaglobulinemias,liver disease,
leukemias, and other pathological conditions are
described in mostlyshort accounts.
The thirdsection (8 chapters)covers the immuno- MICROBIOLOGY
electrophoreticanalysisof proteinsfound in cerebro-
spinal fluid,synovialfluid,colostrum,seminal fluid, MARINE MICROBIOLOGY. Deep Sea.
perilymphaticfluid (of the inner ear), and blood By A. E. Kriss. Translated by J. M. Shewan and
cells. Z. Kabata. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh and Lon-
Although all sections of this book are not of an don. $15.25. xviii + 536 pp.; ill. 1963.
equally high standard, it neverthelessis a success- This English translation has some new material
ful presentation of the scope of immunoelectro- not found in either the original Russian (1959) or
phoresis and its potential in advancing our knowl- German (1961) versions. Not only has Kriss added
edge of protein chemistry. This publication is data on the geographicdistributionof heterotrophic
highly recommended to anyone who is currently bacteria in the oceans of the world and on micro-
involved in immunodiffusiontestsor is contemplat- organisms as indicators of deep-sea currents but
ing the use of this method in the solution of bio- he has also extended and introduced some changes
logical problems. A carefullyselected bibliography in the section discussing the distribution and de-
and excellent illustrationsadd to the value of this scription of a controversialclass of microorganisms
book. called Krassilnikoviae.
HARRY MAISEL For more than 20 years Kriss has been one of the
most active workers in the field of marine micro-
biology. He has rendered an important service by
AUTOMATED AND SEMI-AUTOMATED SYSTEMS IN CLINI- summarizingin this volume a tremendousamount
CAL CHEMISTRY. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. 102, of data accumulated by himself and other Soviet
Art. 1. workers,a service for which he was awarded the
By Adrian Hainline, Jr.and 27 othercontributors. Lenin prize in 1960. The preponderance of Soviet
The New York Academy of Sciences, New York. effortin this field is reflectedby the 448 Russian
$5.00 (paper). 180 pp.; ill. 1962. titles listed in the bibliography as compared with
This series of 17 papers is the result of a conference only 148 non-Russian titles.
held by the New York Academy of Sciences on The text, tables, and graphs place the emphasis
April 12-13, 1962. Although a meeting like this upon the numerical abundance, calculated biomass,
one, in a very rapidly developing field,quickly be- and vertical distribution of heterotrophicbacteria
comes obsolete, the papers presented here disclose detected at hundreds of stations in the Arctic,ant-
some of the paths along which automation in chem- arctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Con-
istryis now moving. The following topics are dis- siderable space is also devoted to describing the
cussed in detail: (1-2) Measurement of respiratory kinds or varieties of such microorganisms.Sections
and blood gases by gas chromatography;(3) Elec- of the book having to do with the biochemical
trode monitoringsystemsin cardiovascularsurgery; activities of marine microorganisms deal largely
(4) Continuous in vivo measurementof para-amino- with observationson the transformationof chitin,
hippurate and creatinine; (5) Ion exchange chro- nitrogen compounds, sulfate, and hydrogen sulfide
matographyof free amino acids in serum; (6) An in the Black Sea. Observations in the Black Sea
evaluation of the Coleman Nitrogen Analyzer; (7-8) also provide most of the informationfor discussing
Determination of protein-bound iodine, iodoamino the importanceof microorganismsin the biological

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All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).