314 Parasitology Today, vol. 16, no. 7, 2000

chapters would be interesting, but wouldcertainly constitute another book.

This book should encourage ongoing andnew research on the Acari, hopefullyincreasing the awareness to the intriguingworld of mites. Unfortunately, the first editiondoes lack some important references, but theauthors have provided an erratum that can bedownloaded from D. Walters’ personalwebsite. Some acarologists will regret that

‘French School’ terminology, inherited fromFrançois Grandjean was not used (eg. the term ‘instars’ rather than ‘stases’ toqualify the different steps of post-embryonicdevelopment). Although Grandjean’s works are one of the major advances inAcarology, they are reduced to only fourreferences in this book. It also lacks acomprehensive glossary and it is a shame that the reader is not pointed towards

L. Van der Hammen’s 1980 Glossary ofAcarological Terminology. I. General Terminology,Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.

However, I have no doubt that this book willbe a great contribution to the development ofacarology as a modern-day science.

Michel BertrandLaboratoire de ZoogéographieUniversité Montpellier III34199 Montpellier Cedex 9, France

Those in search of a meticulous history ofthe progress from seeing malaria as aconsequence of unhealthy fumes emanatingfrom swamps to a disease caused bymosquito-transmitted protozoans need lookno further than this book, which focusesalmost entirely on the 19th century. Duringthis period, the miasma (‘mal aria’ or ‘badair’) hypothesis was gradually replaced byvarious germ theories, culminating in theidentification of the malaria parasite in 1880,followed by the equally crucial elucidation ofthe parasite life cycle at the turn of thatcentury. At the same time, treatment ofperiodic fevers by blood-letting and emeticsslowly gave way to quinine-containing bark

powders. While this may all be well known,the account of the reluctance if not directstubborn resistance with which this progresswas met is an illuminating read. Throughout,the book is illustrated by an impressive, ifsomewhat dry, gallery of those researchersinvolved as well as frontispieces of some ofthe key papers and monographs.

However, the book does fall a bit shortof my expectations of a volume with as all-encompassing a title as this. The progress,and not least the set-backs in malariaresearch in the 20th century, particularlysince the Second World War, are dealt withvery summarily. Similarly, the history of howmalaria has affected the course of history,

and vice versa, is only briefly covered. This isprobably the reason why Africa, wheremalaria is felt much more acutely thananywhere else, is hardly featured.

This is clearly a book about the history of malaria in the limited scientific sense,concentrating on the use of cinchona bark and the ground-breaking parasitologicaldiscoveries in Europe in the 1800s, making it, within this scope at least, a veryvaluable source of reference. Perhaps someday there will be written an equallyelaborate narrative of the potentiallyfascinating topic of malaria in a broadersocial context.

Lars HviidCentre for Medical ParasitologyDepartment of Infectious Diseases M7641Copenhagen University Hospital

(Rigshospitalet) Tagensvej 202200 Copenhagen NDenmark

An Illustrated History of Malariaby C.M. Poser and G.W. Bruyn, Parthenon Publishing, 1999. £45.00 $75.00

(xv 1 165 pages, hbk) ISBN 1 85070 068 0

This text is a new addition to the already fairlywide choice of excellent introductory bookson the immune system. Given this widechoice, however, why should one choose thisbook? What distinguishes it from its rivals? Atfirst glance, The Immune System has a familiarfeel to it, the layout and many of the diagramsare identical to other books on the sametopic: it is in fact derived from Immunobiology:the Immune System in Health and Disease byC.A. Janeway et al. (1994) Current BiologyPublications, and both books arecopublications from Garland Publishing andCurrent Biology Publications. There is arecognizable layout to The Immune System,with the first seven chapters covering thetheoretical fundamentals of the immunesystem, followed by a chapter on the body’sdefence against infection, and then four chapters dealing with problemsarising from deficient or excess immunesystem function.

Peter Parham describes and explains thefacts in an easily understood manner, and

refers throughout to pertinent clinicalproblems and syndromes, which underlines the relevance of what is beingdiscussed and makes for more interestingreading. Important concepts mentioned forthe first time are in bold type, which enables quick and easy cross-referencing.There is, however, a heavy bias towards theadaptive immune system and, as a result,innate immunity is dealt with only in thesection on defence against infections. While this is understandable in light of thehistorical development of immunologyresearch and the vast accumulation of factsand depth of knowledge on this subject, thebook fails to reflect an increasing awarenessand interest in the organization of the primaryimmune response. Similarly, newer aspects of gene therapy andtransplantation of effector cells, and the growing body of knowledge aboutmolecular pathways of signalling and cell–cellinteraction are dealt with either very briefly ornot at all.

A major deficit is the complete lack ofreferences throughout the book. At no pointwas the reader directed towards othersources for further reading and I suspect thatthis will be sorely missed by readers, as it isessential for any introductory book. The bookhas otherwise succeeded in reducing anenormous subject to an easily readable andinformative introduction for students andothers seeking the essentials of the immunesystem. As the author mentions in the preface‘This book is an attempt to sketch that picturewithout complicating the presentation ofessential facts and principles or placingunnecessary burdens on those coming toimmunology for the first time.’ Such editing oracts of omission might well be viewed critically by others and whatone sees as worthy of jettison, the other willjudge as indispensable. Overall, however, Ifound this book a worthy, if not entirelyoriginal, alternative for a student’s first contactwith immunology.

Colin R. MacKenzieInstitute of Medical Microbiology and Virology

Heinrich-Heine UniversityUniversitätsstrasse 140225 DüsseldorfGermany

The Immune Systemby P. Parham, Taylor & Francis, 2000. £25.95 (pbk) (xv 1 408 pages)

ISBN 0 815 33043 X