iv THE ANALYST [April, 1971THE ANALYSTEDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDChairman: A. A. Smales, O.B.E. (Harwell)YT. Allen (Bradford)*L. S. Bark (Solford)R. Belcher (Birmingham)L. J. Bellamy, C.B.E. (Waltham Abbey)L. S. Birks (U.S.A.)E. Bishop (Exeter)A. C. Docherty (Billingham)D. Dyrssen (Sweden)*W. T. Elwell (Birmingham)*D. C. Garratt (London)*R. Goulden (Sittingbourne)*R. C. Chirnside (Wembley)J. Hoste (Belgium)D. N. Hume (U.S.A.)H. M. N. H. Irving (Leeds)*A. G. Jones (Welwyn Garden City)M. T. Kelley (U.S.A.)W. Kemula (Poland)*G. F. Kirkbright (London)*G. W. C. Milner (Harwell)G. H. Morrison (U.S.A.)*G. Nickless (Bristol)S. A. Price (Tadworth)D. 1. Rees (London)E. B. Sandell (U.S.A.)W. Schoniger (Switzerland)H. E. Stagg (Manchester)E.Stahl (Germany)A. Walsh (Australia)*T. S. West (London)P. Zuman (U.S.A.)*Members of the Board serving on the Executive Committee.~NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS(Other than members of the Society)Subscriptions for The Analyst, Analytical Abstracts and Proceedings should besent through a subscription agent or direct to:The Chemical Society, Publications Sales OfFice,Blackhorse Road, Letchworth, Herts.(a) The Analyst, Analytical Abstracts, and Proceedings, with indexes . . ..index), and Proceedings . . .. .. .. .. .. ..index), and Proceedings . . .. .. .. .. .. ..(b) The Analyst, Analytical Abstracts printed on one side of the paper (without(c) The Analyst, Analytical Abstracts printed on one side of the paper (withThe Analyst and Analytical Abstracts without Proceedings-(d) The Analyst and Analytical Abstracts, with indexes .. . . .. ..index) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .index) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(e) The Analyst and Analytical Abstracts printed on one side of the paper (without(f) The Analyst and Analytical Abstracts printed on one side of the paper (withf 27-59 $66.00f 28-50 $69.00f34.75 $84.00€25.00 $60.00f 26.00 $63.00f32.25 $78.00(Subscriptions are NOT accepted for The Analyst and/or for Proceedings alone)Members should send their subscriptions to the Hon. TresureSUMMARIES OF PAPERS I N THIS ISSUE [April, 1971Summaries of Papers in this IssueDetermination of Eleven Metals in Small Samples of Blood bySequential Solvent Extraction and Atomic-absorptionSpectrophotometryA method is described for the determination of eleven metals in a 1-mlsolution of an oxidised blood sample. The metals, iron, copper, bismuth,zinc, cadmium, lead, cobalt, nickel, manganese, strontium and lithium areselectively extracted into small (0.30 to 0.50 ml) volumes of isobutyl methylketone as their chelates or ion-association complexes, and are determined inthe organic phases by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry .The enhance-ment effect of the organic solvent combined with the extraction and concen-tration of the metals results in average sensitivity increases of seven timesthat obtained by a direct determination on the aqueous solutions.The recovery of the metals added to blood is quantitative and, withtwo exceptions (lead and bismuth), a precision of better than 8 per cent.can be achieved at the 0.1 p.p.m.level.The results are given of an application of the method to a study of theproblem of metal ingestion by children who have pica.H. T. DELVES, G. SHEPHERD and P. VINTERDepartment of Chemical Pathology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Great OrmondStreet, and the Institute of Child Health, University of London, 30 Guilford Street,London, W.C.l.AnaZyst, 1971, 96, 260-273.Quantitative Determination of Taurine by ano-Phthalaldehyde - Urea ReactionTaurine is made to react with o-phthalaldehyde in the presence of ureaand phosphate ions, and on acidifying the mixture with acetic acid a purpleproduct is formed with an extinction maximum at 560 nm.A method basedon this reaction is described for the quantitative determination of taurineand it is applied to the determination of this amino-acid in rat brain afterpassage of the tissue extract through ion-exchange resins. The effect of otheramino-acids on the accuracy of the method is discussed.M. K. GAITONDE and R. A. SHORTMedical Research Council Neuropsychiatry Unit, Woodmansterne Road , Carshalton,Surrey.Analyst, 1971, 96, 274-280.A Spectrofluorimetric Method for the Determination of SmallAmounts of Sulphate IonThe enhancement of the fluorescence of the binary complex of zirconiumwith Calcein blue at pH 1-9 is used to determine sulphate ion in the range0.2 to 12 mg (2 to 12 000 p.p.m.). Excitation and fluorescence maxima occur a t350 and 410 nm, respectively.The fluorescence is stabilised immediatelyand remains unchanged for over 4 hours. Fluoride present in low con-centrations gives rise to high results and must be absent. Other anions thatform complexes with or precipitate zirconium, e.g., oxalate, phosphate,tartrate and tungstate, cause low results, but there is a high tolerance towardsmost cations except iron(II1) and cobalt(I1).LAY HAR TAN and T. S. WESTChemistry Department, Imperial College, London, S.W.7.Analyst, 1971, 96, 281-285xii THE ANALYST(. CARL@ ERBA[April, 1971Divisione Chimica lndustriale I Via C. lmbonati 24 / 20159 MilanoRS solvents forUV and IRsaectr OD hot ornetr VAcetone UV and IRAcetonitrile UV and IRBenzene UV and IRCarbon tetrachlorideUV and IRChloroform UV and IRCyclohexaneUV and IRN-N-DirnethylformamideUV and IRDichloroethane IRDimethylsulfoxide UVDioxane UVEthyl acetate IREthyl alcohol UVEthyl ether UVn-Heptane UVn-Hexane UVlsooctane UV and IRlsopropyl alcohol UVMethilene chlorideUV and IRMethyl alcohol UVn-Pentane UVPotassium bromide 1RTetrachloroethylene I RTetrahydrof uranUV and IRToluene IRTrichloroet hylene I