Reviews 113

already been achieved in this area, which is unfortunately little compared to the tremendous work to be done in future.

J. MEIER

BAKUS, C. J., TARGETT, N. M. and SCHULTE, B. Chemical ecology of marine organisms: an overview. J. chem. Ecol. 12, 951 (1986).

AN OVERVIEW of marine chemical ecology, with emphasis on antipredation, invertebrate-toxic host relationships, antifouling, competition for space, species dominance and the chemistry of ecological interactions, is presented in this article.

Toxic and other biologically active compounds, like antibiotics, antitumoral and anti-inflammatory agents, prostaglandins and irritants are widespread in marine species. This article is full of information on the subject, reviewing nearly 300 publications. However, some citations given as personal communication should have been replaced by original papers, for example on pages 955 (paragraph next to the last) and 957 (last paragraph).

It is inexplicable why the authors use the sea anemone Stoichactis sp. as an example, while the toxic polypeptides and the proteinase inhibitors from Anemonia sulcata have been more thoroughly investigated chemically, as well as physiologically and pharmacologically.

The number of chemical structures must be rather limited, of course, in such a review article. However, it would be much better to use structures which have been described more recently. For example, the structure of asterosaponin A has been known for 15 years, while recently a great number of new compounds have been described.

H. CHR. KREBS

FROHNE, D. and PFAAIDER, H. J. Giftpflanzen, 344 pp. (3. Auflage). Stuttgart: Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (1987). (In German.)

THIS IS already the third edition, now revised and completed, of a successful book about toxic plants within five years.

The book starts with two short, introductory chapters on plant poisoning in general and on groups of chemical compounds relevant to envenomation. The information given there is rather limited, for example in the part about animal intoxication. However, here, as well as in the other parts, several original papers, books and review articles are cited. The third part, which was already excellent in the first edition, has been revised extensively and completed by eight families, totaling 49 now. Here, the most important poisonous plants of Central Europe, including imported species occurring in gardens and homes, are described. The description of these plants, which are represented by beautiful figures, most of them in colour, comprise botany, symptoms of poisoning and recommended treatment. Chemists, however, may miss a more detailed treatise about structures of toxic compounds, which is limited to 64 drawings, not taking stereochemistry into consideration.

Two further chapters, dealing with fruits and leaves, are followed by a greatly extended list of references, leading to nearly 1400 original papers and books.

This book is not only recommendable to botanists, toxicologists, pharmacists and medical doctors, but it is also a useful reference book for the interested laymen. In spite of the poorness of the chemical information, it is also rather useful for chemists, especially since this is compensated for by numerous references.

Because of its excellent presentation, this book will, like the first two editions, certainly find its way to the customers.

H. CHR, KREBS

PIEK, T. fed.) Venoms of the Hymenoptera: Biochemical, Pharmacological and Behavioral Aspects. London: Academic Press (1986).

SCIENCE moves so fast these days that, as someone has said, we see the present only when it is already disappearing. This compendium, edited by Tom Pick, comes as close as any I know to being current, as well as highly informative. The editor and authors are to be complimented on a well written and cohesive presentation.

The book begins with a historical review. How nice to find that we still have authors who can browse the literature B.C. (Before Computers). Piek does an admirable job of leading us through Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Egyptian, Biblical, Greek, Chinese and more modern accounts of bees, their behavior and their relationships to mankind. He concludes this chapter with a short entry on the scope of the book, for the most part limited to the suborder Apocrita, which includes the Aculeata and Terebrantia.