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Amphibia-Reptilia 28 (2007): 315 Chippaux, J.-Ph. (2006): Snake Venoms and Envenoma- tions . Krieger Publishing Company, Melbourne, FL, U.S.A. 287 pages. ISBN 1-57524-272-9. There are about six millions people bitten by snakes every year worldwide, and three mil- lions of them end with clinical treatments, se- rious symptoms and, not rarely, death. There- fore, it is evident that snake venoms and enven- omations constitute one of the most important aspects of current applied herpetological stud- ies, and indeed they continue to attract a great deal of research efforts and funds by compe- tent authorities worldwide. Obviously, also the market of scientific books is continuously inter- ested by new titles on venomous snakes, snake venoms and related matters, but in rare cases these books may have such a general interest to become small classics in their subject. Among the few exceptions, certainly we should men- tion this new book, the Chippaux’s ‘Snake Ven- oms and Envenomations’ recently published by Krieger. Chippaux is one of the foremost author- ities of the subject, and has linked his name to a long series of elegant epidemiological studies on the effects of snake bites in West Africa, but also in French Guyana and in France. Because of his immense experience, he has collated a great dealt of information in this book, and has provided the community of the ‘applied her- petologists’ with a very nice book that should be a must for everyone interested in the subject. The book is articulated into three large sec- tions: (i) zoology of snakes (including palaeon- tology, anatomy and systematics), (ii) venoms (including the venom apparatus, the toxicology of the venoms and antidotes and immunoter- apy), and (iii) envenomations (including the epidemiology of envenomations and the clinic treatment of the envenomations). The book also has four appendices (on practical measuring of snake venom toxicity, on the symptomatic ac- tions of certain plants, on the antivenom pro- ducers, and on the French legislation regarding the keeping of venomous snakes), and a Bibli- ographic list. The last appendix (on the French legislation) is frankly of very little interest for readers outside France and, considering that the book is written in English and is clearly di- rected towards a international readership, is use- less and redundant. The other appendices, on the other hand, may be useful and in any case of- fer the possibility of an interesting reading. The bibliographic list is far from being complete (it occupies just 4 pages and half!), and the readers may certainly be a bit unsatisfied by the very short selection of the literature entries. Consid- ering the huge and always growing body of liter- ature on venomous snakes, venoms and enven- omations, this is a serious point of critique for this book. On the other hand, the text is clear and con- cise, and is overall of very good scientific qual- ity. The synthesis on the ‘zoology of snakes’ is nice, and offers a very updated nomenclature for the genera and species cited. The section on the antidotes and immunotherapy is also excellent, as well as the section on snake venom toxicol- ogy. However, for me the most interesting sec- tion is that on the epidemiology of snake bites, where the author links in a clever way (and by using very good graphics and tables) aspects of snake ecology and demography with aspects of people’s demography, and shows how human behaviours may influence the likelihood of be- ing bitten in various parts of the world and under different environmental and habitat conditions. This introductory section to snake-bite epidemi- ology is exactly that a scientist (either biologist, sociologist, or medician) would have liked to read before deciding to investigating these as- pects in either tropical or temperate study areas. Overall, this is an excellent book and very useful that should deserve a place in the shelf of every ‘applied herpetologist’. Luca Luiselli Centre of Environmental Studies ‘Demetra s.r.l.’, Roma, Italy © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007. Also available online - www.brill.nl/amre
Amphibia-Reptilia – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 2007
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