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Drugs and narcotics in history
known as water bears, are small aquatic metazoans that share several characteristics with members of the phylum Arthropoda. This volume begins with a brief introduction to the group and its history before examining its affinities and classification to the generic level. The author presents a possible phylogenetic scheme indicating a relationship between tardigrades and the Uniramia but nowhere does he indicate his own views on their phylogeny. The next two chapters provide accounts of the external morphology and internal anatomy of tardigrades, illustrated with numerous simple line drawings and some excellent electron micrographs. Data on reproduction and life history, including moulting and egg structure, are summarized. The chapter on cryptobiosis deals with one of the most interesting facets of this group the ability of freshwater tardigrades to suspend metabolism and survive prolonged dehydration in the form of a tun or a resistant cyst. The ecology of tardigrades, their trophic relationships and their distribution, particularly through bryophytedominated communities, are also surveyed. Notes are provided on collection and preservation techniques and there is a guide to common species. The author has succeeded in providing a synthesis of the modem literature on tardigrades but has added little in terms of his own views and interpretations of the data so carefully presented. G.A. Boxshall
Penguins of the World. By Pauline Reilly. Pp. 164. Oxford University Press, 1994. f 12.99. ISBN 0 19 553547 2. This is a nicely produced, well-illustrated, simple but accurate account of aspects of the biology of penguins. Most of the book comprises species accounts substantially based on the recent (1990) Handbook of the Birds of Australia, New Zealand and the Antarctic covering the following topics:
description; distribution, dispersion and populations, at sea and on land; behaviour; breading; threats and conservation. This standard pattern entails some unevenness in treatment and repetition. Two general chapters complement these accounts. The introduction is adequate but misses the opportunity clearly to define the adaptations and features that characterize the whole family (after all, the dominant group of land-breeding flightless marine vertebrates), to describe the main ecological groupings within the family and to highlight some of the unique species-specific adaptations. The final chapter, on threats and conservation, is too brief to do justice to the problems penguins currently face on land and at sea and why, outside the Antarctic,
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many species are inexorably moving towards threatened status - or worse. I fear the format and content of this book will not appeal much to the ‘unconverted’, nor will the detail provide enough new information for the scientific enquirer, who will be better served by the recent (1994) volume on penguins (by T.D. Williams) from the same publisher. J.P. Croxall
Drugs and Narcotics in History. Edited by Roy Porter and Mikulas Teich. Pp. 227. Cambridge University Press, 1995. f30.00. ISBN 0 521 43163 8. Changing attitudes among physicians towards opiates during the period 1890 to 1940, described here by Caroline Acker, were paralleled by the general public applying the term ‘drug’ to habit-forming substances. John Parascandola discusses this development and how it brought protests from the pharmaceutical profession. The term ‘narcotic’ also received a wider meaning, being applied to substances that did not induce sleep. The resulting ambiguity surrounding the terms drug and narcotic is reflected in this fascinating book. Writing about regulation of the supply of drugs in Britain before 1868, S.W.F. Holloway deals with medicinal substances, while Ann Dally provocatively asserts that when compared with alcohol and tobacco, ‘Some of the less harmful drugs, for example cannabis and heroin, are made dangerous by myth, politics, illegality, and other social factors.’ Chapters dealing with the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Germany and the United Kingdom, discussed by Erika Hickel and Judy Slinn respectively, provide excellent introductions to the subject, while John Scarborough’s welldocumented essay on the use of the poppy in Hellenistic medicine, Andreas-Holger Maehle’s on eighteenth-century experimentation with opium, and Rudi Matthee’s on the introduction of tobacco, coffee, cocoa, tea and alcohol, all provide further reasons why this book should be widely read. Walter Sneader
The Chemistry of Conscious States. By J. Allan Hobson. Pp. 299. Little, Brown, 1995. f17.50. ISBN 0 316 36754 0. Whereas most science books steer clear of questions such as whether we have an immortal soul or possess free will, this one tackles these issues head on. Although
I won’t spoil the book by revealing the answers given, I will intimate that all the reasoning in this book rests on reductionist scientific arguments. The author, a brain specialist, has been exposed to both the scientific side (neurobiology) and the humanistic side (cognitive science) of his discipline during his 30-year career. He has come up with a remarkable synthesis of philosophies and ideas, his main thesis being that the brain and the mind are one and the same thing. This non-traditional view leads to some exciting new conclusions. For instance, our brain-mind states span an infinite range of levels from coma to enlightenment and there is no clear-cut boundary between the states of other vertebrates and ourselves. Among the advantages of adopting this viewpoint is the possibility of bringing the brain-mind states under control. This can be hugely beneficial in terms of improved memory, more even moods, better sleeping patterns, and allround health. Much of the work is devoted to an analysis of sleep because of the indispensable role it plays in maintaining good health. The author cuts through the ponderous verbiage afflicting this field and writes in a down-to-earth and entertaining style. He has produced a book teeming with new insights and one that is essential for everyone interested in brain research. Dennis H. Rouvray
Environmental Epidemiology: Effects of Environmental Chemicals on Human Health. Edited by William M. Draper. Pp. 266. American Chemical Society, 1994. Hardback f69.00; paperback f39.00. ISBN 0 8412 2517 6/O 8412 2933 3. Title notwithstanding, this is not a comprehensive textbook. It comprises the edited papers, by experts from academia, industry and government, from a US symposium on environmental epidemiology which sought ‘to provide an overview . . . useful to chemists and others interested in environmental chemicals.’ The book plunges in at the deep end. Houk explores the role, limitations and social impact of routinized (US-style) quantitative risk assessment in relation to diverse chemical pollutants. This is the business end of epidemiology - gathering in the published empirical risk estimates, assessing exposures, and then estimating risks to populations. Houk mistrusts the frequent extrapolation from high-exposure data-sets to much lower ambient exposures, and the assumed low-dose linearity of the effect. There follow basic chapters on epidemiological concepts, methods, basic research design (with an unorthodox classification of study types), and data interpretation (which, curiously, misplaces ‘confounding’ between
Penguins of the World. By Pauline Reilly. Pp. 164. Oxford University Press, 1994. f 12.99. ISBN 0 19 553547 2. This is a nicely produced, well-illustrated, simple but accurate account of aspects of the biology of penguins. Most of the book comprises species accounts substantially based on the recent (1990) Handbook of the Birds of Australia, New Zealand and the Antarctic covering the following topics:
description; distribution, dispersion and populations, at sea and on land; behaviour; breading; threats and conservation. This standard pattern entails some unevenness in treatment and repetition. Two general chapters complement these accounts. The introduction is adequate but misses the opportunity clearly to define the adaptations and features that characterize the whole family (after all, the dominant group of land-breeding flightless marine vertebrates), to describe the main ecological groupings within the family and to highlight some of the unique species-specific adaptations. The final chapter, on threats and conservation, is too brief to do justice to the problems penguins currently face on land and at sea and why, outside the Antarctic,
134
many species are inexorably moving towards threatened status - or worse. I fear the format and content of this book will not appeal much to the ‘unconverted’, nor will the detail provide enough new information for the scientific enquirer, who will be better served by the recent (1994) volume on penguins (by T.D. Williams) from the same publisher. J.P. Croxall
Drugs and Narcotics in History. Edited by Roy Porter and Mikulas Teich. Pp. 227. Cambridge University Press, 1995. f30.00. ISBN 0 521 43163 8. Changing attitudes among physicians towards opiates during the period 1890 to 1940, described here by Caroline Acker, were paralleled by the general public applying the term ‘drug’ to habit-forming substances. John Parascandola discusses this development and how it brought protests from the pharmaceutical profession. The term ‘narcotic’ also received a wider meaning, being applied to substances that did not induce sleep. The resulting ambiguity surrounding the terms drug and narcotic is reflected in this fascinating book. Writing about regulation of the supply of drugs in Britain before 1868, S.W.F. Holloway deals with medicinal substances, while Ann Dally provocatively asserts that when compared with alcohol and tobacco, ‘Some of the less harmful drugs, for example cannabis and heroin, are made dangerous by myth, politics, illegality, and other social factors.’ Chapters dealing with the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Germany and the United Kingdom, discussed by Erika Hickel and Judy Slinn respectively, provide excellent introductions to the subject, while John Scarborough’s welldocumented essay on the use of the poppy in Hellenistic medicine, Andreas-Holger Maehle’s on eighteenth-century experimentation with opium, and Rudi Matthee’s on the introduction of tobacco, coffee, cocoa, tea and alcohol, all provide further reasons why this book should be widely read. Walter Sneader
The Chemistry of Conscious States. By J. Allan Hobson. Pp. 299. Little, Brown, 1995. f17.50. ISBN 0 316 36754 0. Whereas most science books steer clear of questions such as whether we have an immortal soul or possess free will, this one tackles these issues head on. Although
I won’t spoil the book by revealing the answers given, I will intimate that all the reasoning in this book rests on reductionist scientific arguments. The author, a brain specialist, has been exposed to both the scientific side (neurobiology) and the humanistic side (cognitive science) of his discipline during his 30-year career. He has come up with a remarkable synthesis of philosophies and ideas, his main thesis being that the brain and the mind are one and the same thing. This non-traditional view leads to some exciting new conclusions. For instance, our brain-mind states span an infinite range of levels from coma to enlightenment and there is no clear-cut boundary between the states of other vertebrates and ourselves. Among the advantages of adopting this viewpoint is the possibility of bringing the brain-mind states under control. This can be hugely beneficial in terms of improved memory, more even moods, better sleeping patterns, and allround health. Much of the work is devoted to an analysis of sleep because of the indispensable role it plays in maintaining good health. The author cuts through the ponderous verbiage afflicting this field and writes in a down-to-earth and entertaining style. He has produced a book teeming with new insights and one that is essential for everyone interested in brain research. Dennis H. Rouvray
Environmental Epidemiology: Effects of Environmental Chemicals on Human Health. Edited by William M. Draper. Pp. 266. American Chemical Society, 1994. Hardback f69.00; paperback f39.00. ISBN 0 8412 2517 6/O 8412 2933 3. Title notwithstanding, this is not a comprehensive textbook. It comprises the edited papers, by experts from academia, industry and government, from a US symposium on environmental epidemiology which sought ‘to provide an overview . . . useful to chemists and others interested in environmental chemicals.’ The book plunges in at the deep end. Houk explores the role, limitations and social impact of routinized (US-style) quantitative risk assessment in relation to diverse chemical pollutants. This is the business end of epidemiology - gathering in the published empirical risk estimates, assessing exposures, and then estimating risks to populations. Houk mistrusts the frequent extrapolation from high-exposure data-sets to much lower ambient exposures, and the assumed low-dose linearity of the effect. There follow basic chapters on epidemiological concepts, methods, basic research design (with an unorthodox classification of study types), and data interpretation (which, curiously, misplaces ‘confounding’ between