A COLOUR ATLAS OF EQUINE PARASITES, By Dennis E. Jacobs; Published jointly by Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia and Gower Medical Publishing, London (1986); approximately 180 pages; four-color throughout; available in the U.S. from Pitman-Moore, Inc., Washington Crossing, NJ 08560, (609) 737-3700.

This beautiful, informative book was written by a profes- sor at the Royal Veterinary College, London, and is aimed principally at the United Kingdom audience-- students and veterinarians. Even dedicated horsemen will find much of interest in this book. In a foreword, Peter T. Fenwick of the British Horse Society writes, "I have no hesitation in com- mending this work to all in the horse world."

The author says it was written for use on three levels; practicing veterinarian, student and horseman. The author has taken the time to carefully collect the many photographs and illustrations from around the world, and they all have been reproduced in color.

Each series of illustrations tells a narrative story, the de- velopment of which may be followed with the aid of the picture titles. A more comprehensive version of the narrative is contained in the captions that accompany each group of pho- tographs. The amount ofj argon is reduced, and the author has been successful in making the explanatory captions under- standable.

The book is divided into the following sections: Depteran parasites of the skin; non-dipteran parasites of the skin; the blood; the stomach; the small intestine; the large intestine; the liver; the lung and other tissues.

Hugh McL. Gordon, of the Depamnent of Veterinary Pa- thology, University of Sydney, aptly describes parasitology in general and this book in particular:.

"Some year ago a parasitologist of note wrote that 'Para- sitology is the last refuge of the diagnostically destitute,' and indeed if one but looks closely there are parasites to be found in or on most animals, and human beings. However, rather than this aphorism the veterinary clinician might properly substitute that 'parasitic disease should be amongst the fore- most thoughts of the diagnostician,' and indeed in many situations the first possibility to be eliminated before looking to the viral, bacterial and nutritional disorders as causes of disease.

"So fwst to recognize the parasite and the lesions or clinical signs it may produce, and then to confirm the diagno- sis by quick reference to illustration and description. The para- Volume 7, Number 4, 1987

sitologist has then satisfied his discipline and must next become an epidemiologist-- perhaps with a brief excur- sion into ecology-- in order to seek the whence, how and whither of his parasitic disease.

This book aids these exercises. It reflects the long devotion of Dennis Jacobs to his science and its teaching, and especially emphasizes his obvious experience, usu- ally first-hand, in the practicalities of the diagnosis of parasitoses. When we need the support of 'seeing is believing' we are presented with a very fine set of pic- tu res - direct and dynamic of impact, bountiful of import. Where appropriate the away-from-host habitat is shown, to remind the diagnostician to look beyond the clinical and to acknowledge the ecology, which 'gone wrong' pro- duces epidemiology. The accompanying text is succinct and sufficient. Parasitologists in particular, and diagnos- ticians in general have long awaited a book of this na- t u r e - clear, comprehensive and comforting for the for- mer; clinical enough to convince the latter! A generation of veterinarians engaged in the recognition of disease in the horse will be duly grateful, and generations of students will be stimulated and their appreciation of the epidemiol- ogy of the parasitic disease expanded. Fellow parasitolo- gists will be envious, and encouraged in their discipline. Horseowners will be enlightened, their horses suc- coured." W.J.

THE MERCK VETERINARY MANUAL: SIXTH EDITION Edited by Clarence M. Fraser; Published by Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ (1986); 1677 pages.

It is with a bit of nostalgia that this reviewer, having graduated shortly after the first edition was published, thumbs through the latest edition of The Merck Veterinary Manual, thinking of all the graduates just out of veterinary school that former editions have helped through the trying first months of solo practice. The first edition was pub- lished in 1955. Frequent updates have kept this manual useful-- often indispensable-- to veterinary practitioners in all specialties.

In this edition, as in the previous ones, The Merck Veterinary Manual continues to provide an aid for the memory. It is a concise but authoritative reference for the veterinarian, and his colleagues in the animal sciences. W.J.

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