558 BOOK REVIEWS

by the total number and size of melano- somes within the dermal unit; the rate of melanin formation and melanization; and the rate of melanosome transfer to keratin- ocytes. In contrast to the detail on melanin formation and distribution, much of it de- rived from electron microscopy, the section on the genetics of skin color is disappointing. The nature of the processes so fully de- scribed suggests the possibility of a compli- cated interaction of genetic factors in the determination of skin color. However, Rob- ins explains the genetics of skin color as schemes, long ago proposed, of multiple fac- tors assumed to be simply “equal and addi- tive” in effect. This, again, is not Dr. Robins’ fault, but that of the available information.

Detail is also given on the distribution of melanin in hair, and some information on the eye, but the conclusion, genetically speaking, is similar; the genetics of human hair and eye color are complex. It is unlikely that we will see much progress in the genet- ics of pigmentation until we find students who are willing to leave their spectrographs and electron microscopes and study family groups in the geneticist’s classic fashion.

The effects of ultraviolet radiation on the skin and pigmentary system, the time se- quence of tanning, and the effect of skin pig- ment on heat absorption are fully described. The anomaly that dark skins, more common in equatorial areas, actually generate more heat when exposed to sunlight, is reexam- ined. I would suggest that the situation is more complicated than generally supposed. The heat generated by the dark skin is pro- duced at the surface, where it is more readily dissipated. But since lighter tissues transmit as well as reflect more light, some heat is produced at deeper levels, where it is more readily delivered to the blood stream and thus conserved for the body, in analogy, actually, to the effect of white fur in arctic mammals. Do dark-skinned and light- skinned individuals perceive the warmth of the sun in different ways? Such a subjective question would be hard to answer.

Dr. Robins’ longest chapter is on the evo- lution of skin color. He reviews the various factors which make skin color adaptive to climate: sunburn, liability to skin cancer, vi- tamin D formation, camouflage (Gloger’s Rule) and the still unexplained greater sus- ceptibility of heavily pigmented skin to seri- ous cold injury. He concludes, appropriately that the chapter was difficult to write and one based more on speculation than fact.

An interesting chapter considers the sym- bolic and social meaning of skin color in many cultures. It is surprising t o find how commonly, among dark-skinned as well as light-skinned populations, lighter skin is considered a mark of female beauty, proba- bly because it is to some degree a hormon- ally caused sex difference. Of course in many cultures, light skin in women is a mark of social status (for men in the family as well as herself) because it indicates that she does not have to work in the fields. Skin color in many parts of the world has become associ- ated with status difference between groups, or at least with antagonistic and disparag- ing relations between them. This re\ riewer ’

would suggest that since chronically hostile relations can also become associated with language, religion, or other cultural differ- ences, in the absence of difference in physi- cal appearance, that racism, along with trib- alism and nationalism, is a human version of the territorial hostility of the baboon troop. All these “isms” involve identification with some sort of “group”; efforts to make one’s group dominant, by force or otherwise, and, in the sophisticated human version, claims of intrinsic superiority in any quality one chooses. The exact criteria of group dis- tinction are convenient rationalizations. All these hostilities will be exacerbated by com- petition for limited resources, whether terri- tory or jobs.

Though this reviewer was disappointed in the coverage of some things in this book, it is a very complete survey of the available liter- ature. There are, in fact, some 500 refer- ences, covering many aspects of pigmenta- tion, which the length of this review made impossible to mention. It will be most useful to anyone who wishes to add t o that litera- ture, and there is much that could be added, particularly in genetics.

ALICE M. BRUES Department o f Anthropology University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado

The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. By Buido Majno. xxiii + 571 pp. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1991. $1 9.95 (paper).

Whether deliberate or accidental, the problems attending trauma can be cata- strophic unless the body receives assistance. Uncontrolled haemorrhage can lead to

BOOK REVIEWS 559

shock and death, while an ensuing infection can compromise the body’s defense mecha- nisms with equally fatal consequences. Al- though deaths attributable to severe haem- orrhage and post-traumatic infection can still occur, such life threatening situations are more readily managed today with the aid of blood transfusions and antibiotic ther- apy. Rut how did our ancient ancestors deal with these and related medical problems? Dr Guido Majno of the Department of Pa- thology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, explores this question, and in doing so provides a fasci- nating review of the history of the healing arts from pre-Neolithic times through to the era of Galen.

Following an introductory chapter which quickly provides the nonmedical reader with background information on how the human body normally repairs its damaged parts, as well as a brief review of some examples of perhistoric surgery, the author begins his explorations in earnest with Mesopotamia. The source of information on Mesopotamian medicine is from cuneiform writing pre- served on some 1,000 clay tablets which have been collected from this region since the mid 19th century. But despite this ap- parent wealth of archival material, our un- derstanding of Sumerian medical theory re- mains superficial, the reason being that the vast majority of these Mesopotamian tablets turn out to be medical prescriptions. By con- trast, far more is known of ancient Egyptian medical practice and theory. A major source is the famous papyrus purchased by the American scholar Edwin Smith in the mid- 19th century and later translated and pub- lished by James Breasted of the Oriental Institute, Chicago, which Majno examines along with other hieroglyphic medical docu- ments. From Egypt, Majno proceeds to an equally detailed review of the Greek healing arts based on documentary evidence ex- tracted from the Corpus Hippocraticum. During the late fifth and early fourth cen- turies B.C., another equally sophisticated medical tradition was being established in China at the same time the Corpus was be- ing composed. By far the most important of the surviving ancient Chinese medical texts is the Huan Ti Nei Ching (the oriental equivalent of the Corpus Hippocraticurn), the essence of which is neatly distilled by Majno. This chapter is followed by an equally absorbing survey of the healing arts in India viewed through the lens of the

Sushruta Samhita and Charaka Sarnhita. While the dates of their composition is shrouded in uncertainty, Majno argues rea- sonably for placing them in the same time- frame as the Corpus Hippocraticum. But where the latter system was subsequently absorbed and transformed by subsequent events in the Greco-Roman world, the In- dian system, like that expounded in the Nei Ching, continued to flourish and has re- mained essentially intact on through to the present. Majno completes his survey with a chapter aptly entitled: “Galen-and into the night”.

While the above captures the general scope of Majno’s text, it does not do it justice. To begin with, Majno has effectively labored to illuminate his analysis of ancient prac- tices with modern insights. In particular, he has endeavored to reconstruct and evaluate a number of ancient remedies using modern laboratory techniques. For example, a popu- lar ancient Egyptian wound salve is known to have contained honey and “grease”. Fol- lowing up on contemporary observations re- lating t o the antiseptic properties of honey- bees and their honey, Majno conducted a number of laboratory experiments employ- ing varying mixtures of honey and animal fats and oils, and found such mixtures do have demonstrable bactericidal properties, capable of killing common pathogens such as Staphylococcus and Escherichia coli. Through such exercises, Majno brings (un- obtrusively) to his his1,orical narrative a pal- pable sense of relevance and immediacy. Fi- nally, the entire work is clearly grounded in a high-level of scholarship, with all of the primary and secondary literature employed admirably documented and supplemented by profuse endnotes. The overall level of pro- duction of this book, which is also beauti- fully illustrated, is quite remarkable, given its price. Here is a c a e where the author and publisher have been been well-served, and both deserve our congratulations.

FRANK SPENCER Department of Anthropology Queens College City University of New York Depar trnent of Anthropology New York, New York

Variability and Evolution. Edited by J. Szweykowski. 136 pp. Poznan, Poland: Adam Mickiewicz llniversity. Volume 1, 1991. $1 4.00 (paper).