Viral Diseases: a Symposium

THIS is a weighty and heavily documented textbook which should prove of great value to experimental toxicologists. It is arranged in four sections, each section consisting of a number of chapters reviewing the literature on a single aspect of toxicology. There are 35 contributors. The first section of 150 pages is concerned with general principles of toxicology, the absorption, metabolism and excretion of toxins, and the way in which these influence the dose response relationship. This rather detailed treatment is probably not appropriate for medical readers who would be better served by consulting medical textbooks of pharmacology and biochemistry. However, it should be valuable to non-medical toxicologists. In the next two sections occupying 400 pages, the current experimental toxicological field is reviewed in two ways. First by going through the systems of the body (central nervous system, liver, kidney, etc.) and second by going through all the groups of toxins (teratogens, carcinogens, pesticides, metals, etc.). Consequently, there is an almost complete duplication of information in these two sections. This is made worse by a duplication of coverage between say the section on carcinogens which deals with metals and the section on metals which deals with carcinogenesis. This duplication of coverage, coupled with the emphasis on information derived from animal experiments and neglect of clinical information, reduces the value of the book to medical readers.