Edited by N Bates, N Edwards, J Roper, and G Volans. (Pp 411; £59.) Published in the USA by Stockton Press, 1997. Published in the UK by Macmillan Reference Ltd, 1997. ISBN 0-333-60951-4.

• regional reports

The main part of this excellent book is based on the experience of the National Poisons Information Service, London, and consists of 78 chapters on poisonous drugs or chemicals, or groups of substances. Plants, fungi, and snakes are also included. Each chapter is similarly structured, with key points of presentation and management, followed by a description of the substance and its use, its toxicity, clinical effects and case reports, treatment, and references etc. There are 29 …