The varieties of psychohistory

GEORGE M. BAER (editor), The natural history of rabies, 2 vols., New York and London, Academic Press, 1975, 8vo, vol. 1: pp. xvi, 454, illus., £31.60; vol. 2: pp. xvi, 387, illus., £27.35. Rabies has become an increasingly important disease in the last few years, although it remains quite rare, These volumes, comprising forty-two chapters, deal with all types and all aspects of the disease. They are, except for the first, concerned with the biology and pathology of rabies and the animals that carry it, and with its control, prevention, and treatment. Each is a detailed and authoritative account, often lavishly illustrated and always fully documented. Together they provide an up-to-date, definitive work. As is the case with many treatises of multiple authorship, there is a lack of cohesion and the editor has made no attempt to summarize modern concepts and principles in either an introduction or an epilogue. Nevertheless, the work will have wide appeal and will maintain its status as a comprehensive reference work for some time to come. Most of the authors give a brief account of the history of their special area of study, but this is usually quite brief and more a review of the literature than history per se. This is also true of the first chapter in Volume 1, 'History of rabies'. It seems a pity that a professional historian with experience of the history of virology was not enlisted to write this chapter. After all, it seems unlikely that the other contributors to the book are amateurs, for, as the publishers say, each is"... an authority in the field...."