Poisonous and Venomous Marine Animals of the World

Abstract

Sponsored by the Department of Defense and handsomely gotten out by the Government Printing Office, the first volume is now available. For almost a quarter-century, its author, a physician, has been preparing the work, initially to be limited to fishes, but now devoted to all marine life, from protozoa to turtles. During a preliminary phase (14 years), 30 major expeditions and field trips were made to many places, from the Carolinas to the Mediterranean. As the preface states, thousands of histologic sections were made of venom organs and 25,000 fish samples screened for toxicity. Volume 1 ranges from protozoa to platyhelminths; the other volumes, promised for 1967 and 1968, will be devoted to fishes, sea snakes, turtles, etc. For whom is the work intended? To begin with, any lover of natural history, especially if he enjoys numerous and striking photographs, both in black-and-white and in color. For the dermatologist, particularly