The philosophical naturalists. Themes in early nineteenth-century British biology

impressive. Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Sweden all lost reigning monarchs, in the days when monarchs really reigned, to the disease. Dr Hopkins has not been satisfied with tracing the European history or even the Western history of the disease; he takes in the Asian dimension, and the African one, and details the effects of smallpox on the ruling houses of China and Japan, and among the South American Incas. It is a very impressive compilation, although it inevitably suffers from a superfluity of royal or ruling name-dropping and the narrative breaks down slightly in the chapters on other continents when the unfamiliarity of many of the rapid progression of names makes it difficult for the reader to grasp fully the historical context. It seems ungrateful in the circumstances to single out minor inaccuracies which have crept in, but for the sake of possible future editions an English reviewer cannot pass unopposed the casual comment that Edward Jenner was never "made a member of the Royal Society of Medicine" (p. 80). That Society did not, in fact, see the light of day until 1905 when it was established as an integration of a number of different London medical, pathological, obstetrical, and epidemiological societies. Its main parent body was Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, which was formed in 1805 and of which Jenner was a founder member. By then, he had long been a Fellow of the Royal Society of London; he was, however, never admitted to the Royal College of Physicians. The present volume is an impressive guide to the influence of one major disease on the working and ruling classes of the world. Dr Hopkins' own close involvement in the eventual eradication of the disease gives him a special insight into many aspects of its history and makes for a very valuable comment on its chequered career. There is an excellent bibliography of nearly 900 books and papers, and Dr Hopkins has made good use of them all. How he ever found the time is hard to understand, but the result is a welcome addition to the smallpox literature. Lise Wilkinson Royal Postgraduate Medical School