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Silos: Theory and practice
450
Book reviews
particularly with a view to developing strategies for the use of entomopathogenic fungi as biological control agents; biotechnological aspects, especially the methods and dynamics of inoculum production (with R. Moletta as co-author); and the history and future of biological control. Each of these four chapters can stand alone as a review paper on the subject, and there is a bibliography of over 400 references, in addition to the taxonomic references in Chapter 2, but all are not included in the main bibliography and are not fully cited from a librarian's point of view. The production is good, with very few typographical errors, but with some imagination it could have been better. A more helpful use of a range of type faces would have allowed host and pathogen to be differentiated in the index~ and in the same way the plate page numbers could have been highlighted in the index. A host/pathogen index or known host range of the more important pathogens would also have been useful. These are, however, trivial points and as a combination of a useful taxonomic work and a series of review articles the book is to be recommended, although it may not be of much direct use to those engaged in the study ofbiodeterioration, except perhaps in relation to the mycological background encountered when investigating allergens and related problems. NI. J. Richardson
Silos: Theory and Practice. By M. L. Reimbert and A. M. Reimbert. 2nd Edition translated by A. B. Phillips, Lavoisier Publishing Inc., Paris and New York, 1987. ISBN 2-85206-365-4; LCCN 86-83349. Price: FF650, $111. This substantial book (564 pp.) is written by two French consulting engineers. It presents the results of their considerable theoretical and experimental research into the pressures that develop on silo walls during their use. In particular, it highlights the overpressures that develop during filling and emptying that can lead to structural failure~ and describes modifications in construction and use necessary to overcome these. It deals not only with cereal grain storage but also with other inorganic and organic materials including a range of seed types and flour. The content is highly mathematical and while it may be useful for advisers and consultants to know the general principles there is little reference to biodeterioration. The problems of preservation of cereals and oilseeds, storing of sugar, fires and asphyxiation in soils and explosions are all dealt with in one
Book reviews
451
chapter of 14 pages. The authors contend that without control measures, losses up to 10% or more may occur from the depredations of rodents, birds and arthropods and from 'the alteration which the grains undergo when their normal life is over-stimulated and when the development of harmful elements such as mildews, yeasts and bacteria is facilitated and often accelerated'. Silos protect the grain from vertebrates but not from other causes of deterioration. However, the authors' understanding of the microbiology and entomology of stored grain and the effects of gas compositions and water availability or respiration and infestation appear fragmentary. They give a brief, simplistic description of respiration and microbial dew~lopment and recommend preservation by maintaining 7 to 12% carbon dioxide in the intergranular atmosphere to inhibit respiration and to dry the grain (which will also incidentally inhibit respiration, although this fact is ignored) with storage in a sealed silo. Conversely, aeration is recommended to disperse water that spreads from the interior of the grain towards the outer covering and then into the surrounding air, leading to saturation, condensation and fermentation. However, this ignores all that is known about water content/equilibrium relative humidity (water activity) relationships and/or confuses this with mois.ture migration. Other French reports on insects and mites, modified atmosphere and low temperature storage of oilseeds are also mentioned and 1thereader is referred to the book edited by J. L. Multon, Preservation and ,Storage of Grains and Seeds (Lavoisier, New York, 1987), for more information. As it stands, the reference to biodeterioration in this book is inadequate. Unless the authors wish to restrict the coverage only to engineering aspects, with reference only to the effects of water and moulding on wall pressures, the description of the theory and practice of mould and arthropod control should be considerably expanded and take account of the considerable research outside France.
John Lacey
Cotton Strip Assay: An Index of Decomposition in Soils. ITE Symposium No. 24. Edited by A. F. Harrison, P. M. Latter and D. W. H. Walton, 176 pp, HMSO, London, 1988, ISBN 187-039-306-6. Price: £12.50. This publication represents the proceedings of a symposium held at Grange-over-Sands in the autumn of 1985. That a symposium could be held on one technique indicates its
Book reviews
particularly with a view to developing strategies for the use of entomopathogenic fungi as biological control agents; biotechnological aspects, especially the methods and dynamics of inoculum production (with R. Moletta as co-author); and the history and future of biological control. Each of these four chapters can stand alone as a review paper on the subject, and there is a bibliography of over 400 references, in addition to the taxonomic references in Chapter 2, but all are not included in the main bibliography and are not fully cited from a librarian's point of view. The production is good, with very few typographical errors, but with some imagination it could have been better. A more helpful use of a range of type faces would have allowed host and pathogen to be differentiated in the index~ and in the same way the plate page numbers could have been highlighted in the index. A host/pathogen index or known host range of the more important pathogens would also have been useful. These are, however, trivial points and as a combination of a useful taxonomic work and a series of review articles the book is to be recommended, although it may not be of much direct use to those engaged in the study ofbiodeterioration, except perhaps in relation to the mycological background encountered when investigating allergens and related problems. NI. J. Richardson
Silos: Theory and Practice. By M. L. Reimbert and A. M. Reimbert. 2nd Edition translated by A. B. Phillips, Lavoisier Publishing Inc., Paris and New York, 1987. ISBN 2-85206-365-4; LCCN 86-83349. Price: FF650, $111. This substantial book (564 pp.) is written by two French consulting engineers. It presents the results of their considerable theoretical and experimental research into the pressures that develop on silo walls during their use. In particular, it highlights the overpressures that develop during filling and emptying that can lead to structural failure~ and describes modifications in construction and use necessary to overcome these. It deals not only with cereal grain storage but also with other inorganic and organic materials including a range of seed types and flour. The content is highly mathematical and while it may be useful for advisers and consultants to know the general principles there is little reference to biodeterioration. The problems of preservation of cereals and oilseeds, storing of sugar, fires and asphyxiation in soils and explosions are all dealt with in one
Book reviews
451
chapter of 14 pages. The authors contend that without control measures, losses up to 10% or more may occur from the depredations of rodents, birds and arthropods and from 'the alteration which the grains undergo when their normal life is over-stimulated and when the development of harmful elements such as mildews, yeasts and bacteria is facilitated and often accelerated'. Silos protect the grain from vertebrates but not from other causes of deterioration. However, the authors' understanding of the microbiology and entomology of stored grain and the effects of gas compositions and water availability or respiration and infestation appear fragmentary. They give a brief, simplistic description of respiration and microbial dew~lopment and recommend preservation by maintaining 7 to 12% carbon dioxide in the intergranular atmosphere to inhibit respiration and to dry the grain (which will also incidentally inhibit respiration, although this fact is ignored) with storage in a sealed silo. Conversely, aeration is recommended to disperse water that spreads from the interior of the grain towards the outer covering and then into the surrounding air, leading to saturation, condensation and fermentation. However, this ignores all that is known about water content/equilibrium relative humidity (water activity) relationships and/or confuses this with mois.ture migration. Other French reports on insects and mites, modified atmosphere and low temperature storage of oilseeds are also mentioned and 1thereader is referred to the book edited by J. L. Multon, Preservation and ,Storage of Grains and Seeds (Lavoisier, New York, 1987), for more information. As it stands, the reference to biodeterioration in this book is inadequate. Unless the authors wish to restrict the coverage only to engineering aspects, with reference only to the effects of water and moulding on wall pressures, the description of the theory and practice of mould and arthropod control should be considerably expanded and take account of the considerable research outside France.
John Lacey
Cotton Strip Assay: An Index of Decomposition in Soils. ITE Symposium No. 24. Edited by A. F. Harrison, P. M. Latter and D. W. H. Walton, 176 pp, HMSO, London, 1988, ISBN 187-039-306-6. Price: £12.50. This publication represents the proceedings of a symposium held at Grange-over-Sands in the autumn of 1985. That a symposium could be held on one technique indicates its