This Review covers selected portions of the literature appearing between late 1971 and late 1973. Activity in the field has continued at a high level since the previous review in this series (1), and it seems neither possible nor desirable to give a comprehensive coverage of the published literature. The emphasis here will be on the chemical applications of Raman spectrometry, especially in the areas of analysis and instrumentation, as being most like-ly to be of interest to the readers of this journal. Where possible, reviews and other secondary sources which give more detailed coverage of smaller areas will be referenced.Several new books have appeared during the time covered by the review (2-7), evidence of the need for consolidation and ordering in a rapidly growing field. A critical compilation of vibrational frequencies of 55 polyatomic molecules has been published (8). Inorganic vibrational