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glycyrrhetinic acid and derivatives. J Pharm Pharmacol 1958; 10:613-20.

16. Finney RSH, Tarnoky AL. The pharmacological properties of

glycyrrhetinic acid hydrogen succinate (disodium salt). J PharmPharmacol 1960; 12: 49-58.

17. Khan MH, Sullivan FM. The pharmacology of carbenoxolone sodium.In: Robson JM, Sullivan FM, eds. A symposium of carbenoxolonesodium. London: Butterworth, 1976: 5-13.

18. Monder C, Stewart PM, Lakshmi V, Valentino R, Burt D, EdwardsCRW. Licorice inhibits corticosteroid 11&bgr;-dehydrogenase of ratkidney and liver: in vivo and in vitro studies. Endocrinology 1989; 125:1046-53.

19. Voigt W, Femandez EP, Hsia SL. Transformation of testosterone into17&bgr;-hydroxy-5&agr;-androstanediol 3-one by microsomal preparations ofhuman skin. J Biol Chem 1970; 245: 5594-99.

20. Burdick KH. Various vagaries of vasoconstriction. Arch Dermatol 1974;110: 238-42.

21. Barry BW, Woodford R. Activity and bioavailability of topical steroids.In vivo/in vitro correlations for the vasoconstrictor test. J ClinPharmacol 1978; 3: 43-65.

22. Anon. Carbenoxolone sodium. In: Martindale. The extra

pharmacopoeia, 29th ed. London: Pharmaceutical Press, 1989: 1080-81.

23. Csonka GW, Murray M. Clinical evaluation of carbenoxolone inbalanitis. Br J Vener Dis 1971; 47: 179-81.

24. Annan AG. Hydrocortisone and glycyrrhetinic acid. Br Med J 1957; i:1242.

25. Adamson AC, Tillamn WG. Hydrocortisone. Br Med J 1955; ii: 1501.26. Somerville J. Glycyrrhetinic acid. Br Med H 1957; i: 282-83.27. Colin-Jones E. Glycyrrhetinic acid. Br Med J 1957; i: 161.28. Garden JM, Freinkel RK. Systemic absorption of topical steroids.

Metabolic effects as an index of mild hypercortisolism. Arch Dermatol1986; 122: 1007-10.

29. Ohman EM, Rogers S, Meenan FO, McKenna TJ. Adrenal suppressionfollowing low-dose topical clobetasol proprionate. J Roy Soc Med 1987;80: 422-24.

30. Edwards CRW, Stewart PM, Burt D, et al. Localisation of 11&bgr;-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase: tissue-specific protector of themineralocorticoid receptor. Lancet 1988; ii: 986-89.

BOOKSHELF

Principles and Practice of PediatricsEdited by F. A. Oski, C. D. DeAngelis, R. D. Feigin, and J. B.Warshaw. Philadelphia: Lippincott. 1990. Pp 2000.$95. ISBN0-397507070.

In size alone Dr Oski and his co-editors have produced animpressive book. It weighs over 3 kg, runs to 2000 pages,and boasts 261 contributors. Assuming that each of thecontributors was given a free copy, one might initiallywonder whether there are any paediatricians left to buy it,but in chapter 2 we are told that in 1985 there were 35 617paediatricians in the United States (there are about 750 inBritain). It is written by Americans for Americans: onechapter is entitled Getting Started in the Real World: Howto Set up Your Private Practice.

Lippincott’s glossy advertising brochure boasts that they"give you 5 books in one", but some paediatricians mayprefer to acquire their books as and when they need themrather than bulk-buying a volume that puts considerablestrain on the bookshelf as well as the back. The five sectionsinclude General Pediatrics, The Fetus and Newborn,Ambulatory Pediatrics, the Sick or Hospitalized Patient,and a section curiously titled Important Things You Forgetto Remember. To evaluate it as a reference book for an

experienced paediatrician I looked up some recent caseswhere I needed to get more information. For Menke’s

disease, Blount’s disease, CHARGE syndrome, andmitochondrial cytopathy the book gave concise and usefulinformation. Unfortunately, Joubert’s syndrome was notedonly in passing. Eight marks out of ten. How did it performas a text for junior paediatricians working for theirexaminations? I was impressed with the extensivebackground information on history taking, examinationskills, paediatric pharmacology, molecular genetics, and thespecial needs of children with chronic illnesses. Ten out often. In the preface Dr Oski suggests that the book isdesigned to meet the needs of the medical student, but Icannot recommend it for British undergraduate use-two

out of ten. Is it a good practical guide to diagnosis andtreatment for the busy intern or registrar? There are severalexcellent sections including lists of differential diagnoses ofcommon symptoms, normal laboratory values for differentage-groups, and a well illustrated section on paediatricprocedures. Nine out of ten.

This good and comprehensive text is excellent value formoney and I strongly recommend it. For the second editionI would advise the publishers to put the colour plates in thetext rather than at the front (to save the reader leafingbackwards and forwards) and to divide it into two volumes,since its spine will not survive four years if the book is used asmuch as it should be.

University Department of Paediatricsand Child Health,

General Infirmary,Leeds LS2 9NS, UK MALCOLM LEVENE

Modern Coronary Care

Edited by G. S. Francis and J. S. Alpert. Boston: Little,Brown/Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. 1990. Pp 797.

,C70.00. ISBN 0-316291595.

Eighty years ago Dr James Herrick was asked to see a patientwith severe chest pain. The doctor thought the diagnosiswas myocardial infarction, but then, in a response familiar toall of us, he spent a restless night wondering whether he hadmade the right decision. The patient died, necropsyconfirmed the diagnosis, and the syndrome of myocardialinfarction began its modem career as a recognisable disease.Eighty years on we are still discovering fundamental aspectsof this fascinating condition-it was only ten years ago thatthe central role of coronary thrombosis, as postulated byHerrick, was finally proven, opening the way to a decade ofthrombolysis. Francis and Alpert have attempted to pulltogether the major themes that have dominated coronarycare and to present an up-to-date summary of currentthoughts and management. The book is a series of reviews

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written by experts from the USA; it is neither a manual ofcoronary care nor a comprehensive review of all aspects ofmyocardial ischaemia.Does the book succeed? In my view, yes. The format is

traditional: pathology and pathophysiology, clinical aspectsof the routine case, electrical and mechanical complications,special interventions, and post-infarction assessment arecovered in sequence. Most contributors are interventionistsbut enthusiasm is tempered by the cold reality of clinicalexperience. The reviews are judiciously and

comprehensively documented, and all the major growthareas seem to be represented. Should the book be bought?Perhaps. State-of-the-art books have intrinsic obsolescence:in areas of rapid advance (thrombolysis, specialinterventions, post-infarct management) relevance may betransient, and there is no scarcity of competing reviews injournals and magazines. Even so, I enjoyed it.

Milton Keynes General Hospital,Milton Keynes MK6 5LD, UK D. J. GWILT

The Non-Hodgkin’s LymphomasEdited by Ian T. Magrath. London: Edward Arnold. 1990. Pp430. /;62.50. ISBN 0-713145447.

There have been half a dozen books on non-Hodgkinlymphoma published in the last few years so any newcomerwill be very critically examined to see if it really makes auseful contribution. Most of the others have been multi-author collections of reviews without much evidence of a

strong editorial input, and they have often been of limitedvalue. Dr Magrath’s book, I suggest, is the best book onnon-Hodgkin lymphoma of recent years and should moverapidly to become the standard text with which all otherofferings will be compared. It is comprehensive andbalances basic biological understanding with clinicalinformation. Magrath uses an appropriately cautious

interpretation of current classifications and is as up-to-dateas it is possible to be in a fast-moving clinical and basicscience area. The strengths of the book lie in the consistencyof the chapters, which are appropriately balanced for length,style, and content. I suspect a great deal of editorial effort hasgone into maintaining this consistency and filling gaps leftby individual contributors. Although dominated by NorthAmericans the text has appropriate contributions fromEurope and elsewhere. The reference lists are up-to-date to1988 and are adequate if not encyclopaedic. All thoseinterested in non-Hodgkin lymphomas should make surethey have access to this book, which I expect to see in manyeditions as the future standard specialist text.

Institute for Cancer Studies,St James’s University Hospital,Leeds LS9 7TF, UK PETER SELBY

Rebel with a Cause: the Autobiography of HansEysenck

Hans Eysenck. London: W. H. Allen. 1990. Pp 310. 14.95.ISBN 1-852271620.

Hans Eysenck is a psychologist; in fact, as his autobiographyemphasises, the most cited living psychologist-althoughFreud, his long-term bete noire, beats him in the all-timestakes. He is best known for the much used EysenckPersonality Questionnaire (EPQ), which accounts partly forits authors’ citation success (plural, since Sybil, his wife, alsoranks high). Perhaps here one merely grows suspicious of

bibliometry as a scientific tool: if properly cited then theinventors of the ruler and the clock should continuouslyhead the citation lists. Eysenck has also worked on

psychometrics and factor analysis, helped establishbehaviour therapy and the profession of clinical psychology,and published on experimental aesthetics, personality, andintelligence.

Principally, though, Eysenck is seen as a popularist and acontroversialist. Three Pelican paperbacks of the 1950s and1960s, starting with Uses and Abuses of Psychology,undoubtedly first interested many in psychology; and in thelate 1960s, when I worked as a hospital porter betweenschool and university, they were often in my brown-coatpocket. Eysenck particularly loves fighting for a

controversial, unfashionable position. After battles overFreud and psychotherapy, he became embroiled over raceand intelligence, astrology and personality, and cigarettesand cancer, the last fuelling his life-long distrust of medicineand doctors.The personality seen in the book is less attractive than

colleagues suggest; and it is hardly revealed in the EPQ’sdescription of a stable introvert of average psychoticism. Hisego is strong and knows its own rectitude; as his mother said,"Uncalled-for modesty was never a fault of his". Poorattention to detail manifests in proof-reading errors: herefers to the "great mathematician, T. Hardy", he believesDHSS means Directorate of Health and Social Services, hemisquotes foreign quotations (Puccini’s Che gelida manilapresumably being a paean of love to a cold little brownenvelope), and he refers to "African-speaking whites" inSouth Africa (a sign that the book was dictated not written).He also apparently conflates two controversial Birminghamlectures of the early 1970s; my diary account suggests that itwas Feb 7, 1973, not Nov 16, when the University Librarywas daubed with the oxymoronic graffiti, "Fascist Eysenckhas no right to speak! Uphold genuine academic freedom!".The author’s rather cold style works well for popular

science but reveals neither the inner man nor his drivingforces. The title reflects the failure: the cause for which herebels is never clear. Nevertheless the book provides aninteresting if partisan account of British psychology sincethe 1939-45 war. Eysenck speculates little on his

personality’s origins beyond attributions to genes for a"naturally good hand-eye coordination", a "natural

aptitude for skiing", excellent memory, linguistic ability,and even specific attitudes, and an inability at drawing ormusic. Even if half of personality variance is genetic, onehoped for a little more insight from a major personalitytheorist.

Department of Psychiatry,St Mary’s Hospital Medical School,London W2 1 NY, UK CHRIS MCMANUS

New Editions

Chemotherapy of Gynecological and Breast Cancer.-2nd ed. ByF. Kaufmann, F. Kubli, P. Drings, H. Burkert, G. Bastert. Basel: Karger.1989. Pp 94.13.40.

Principles of Clinical Electrocardiography.-l3th ed. By Nora

Goldschlager, Mervin J. Goldman. London: Prentice Hall. 1989. Pp 356.19.60.

Myotonic Dystrophy.-2nd ed. By Peter S. Harper. London: WBSaunders. 1989. Pp 384. /;40.

Studying a Study and 7esting a Test: How to Read the MedicalLlterature.-2nd ed. By Richard K. Riegelman, Robert P. Hirsch. Boston:Little Brown. 1989. Pp 349.$22.50.

Liprnan-Massae Chmcal ElectrocardlOgraphy.-8Ù1 ed. By Marvin 1. Dunn,Bernard S. Lipman. Chicago: Yearbook Medical Publishers/London: WolfeMedical. 1989. Pp 620. /;55.50.