something is wrong; encouraging more serious injury through the masking of pain is always a questionable practice which should only be undertaken after considerable soul-searching.

Perhaps even more disappointing is the nature of the appeal for support among veterinarians for the practi~e of chemical neurolysis: "it is a technique which is almost guaranteed to remain completely the property of a veter- inarian and only a veterinarian...The horseman himself tends to be out and out frightened of even attempting the technique, thereby ensuring chemical neurolysis as a veter- inary monopoly." It is dismaying that such a blatant attempt to motivate by greed must discolor an otherwise instructive guide to a potentially useful therapeutic practice. (MJG)

Equine Ergogenics, Martin I. Levman Simcoe Hall Publishing Company 1986

The title of this book is taken from the greek "ergo" meaning work and "gennan" meaning to produce. "Ergo- genics" is defined as the scientific study of increasing work output. As practiced by Levman, it is taken to mean "artificially increasing an athlete's capacity to work." This book is intended by the author to be a revision of "Veter- inary Race and Performance Preparation", a guide to the pre- race alteration of a racehorse's fitness. This update has been necessitated, according to its author, in part because "A great many products can no longer be used because the testing laboratories have learned to detect them." However, the continued development of artificial performance en- hancers is desirable because "an uneconomical horse in the world of competitive equine sport is an animal on its way to destruction."

Virtually every ergogenic aid available is discussed and evaluated. B-vitamins, tyrosine, arsenic and strychnine are considered to be effective stimulants of even healthy condi- tioned horses. Thiamin (vitamin B-l) is also treated as a "motion tranquilizer", effective in calming horses that be- come excitable when performing. Tryptophan, by virtue of its conversion to serotonin within the central nervous sys- tem, is cited as a potential tranquilizer ("sleep inducer") for the nervous horse between competitions. Tyrosine, in amounts 5 to 6 times those given when used as a stimu- lant, is identified as another quieting agent.

Analgesic compounds recommended include the cortico- steroids, ACTH, D-leucine and D-phenylalanine. Interest- ingly, etorphine use is strongly criticized; it is difficult to determine whether its negative reception results from its extreme narcotic danger or its illegality and the potential for DEA prosecution ("these heavy-duty boys carry guns").

The issue of the therapeutic management of exercise- induced pulmonary hemorrhage is covered in some detail. The pharmacology of clotting inducers (vitamin K, calcium and hesperidin ), estrogens, furosemide, camphor and iodides is discussed in relation to their effects on ventilatory func- tion and "bleeding".

The metabolic ergogenic aids advocated by Levman fall

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into 2 categories: those which are anaerobic in effect and those which increase aerobic capacity. Aerobic aids consi- dered promising (i.e., purported to stimulate the rate of ATP production during aerobic work) include phosphate loading and supplementation with L-carnitine, dimethyl- glycine (DMG; B-15; pangamic acid) and trimethylglycine. Anaerobic aids buffer the lactic acid produced during anaer- obic work, thereby presumably delaying the onset of fatigue. Among those that are described as being effective are sodium bicarbonate, histidine and alanine (via carno- sine). In the author's opinion, claims of the effectiveness of ATP or inosine supplementation or carbohydrate loading are not justified.

The potential ergogenicity of various hormones, growth factors, DMSO, vitamin E, selenium and the glycosamino- glycans is also considered. The effectiveness of these compounds apparently awaits further experimentation.

While the array of potential undetectable (or if detectable, legal) ergogenic substances made available by this guide is vast, the author does temper the reader's enthusiasm with an admonition to practice self-restraint: "1) we cannot give or do anything to an animal which could be dangerous to that animal; 2) we cannot give or do anything to an animal which could be dangerous to humans involved; 3) we cannot give or do anything to a horse which could be dangerous to any other humans or animals involved in a given athletic competition."(MJG)

Limbs of the Equine, LeRoy Amos, Ashberry Acres, 1986

The motivation for the creation of this large-format atlas was the realization that no suitable collection of illustra- tions to aid farrier-client communication was available. Originally begun as a poster, the project quickly grew beyond such a modest presentation.

The atlas consists of beautiful detailed multi-colored three dimensional drawings of the extensor muscles and tendons of the left front and hind limbs, the synovial sheaths and bursae of the distal fore and hind limbs, and the bony and ligam~entous architecture of the knee and hock joints (viewed from 4 directions). Even more impressive are the forelimb and hind limb "flip charts". The bottom layer of each chart displays the skeletal structure of the limb. Successive layers of transparencies illustrate the tendons and musculature of the legs. The complex structures of the hoof are similarly presented in a "flip chart."

All of the illustrations are large, clearly labelled and ex- tremely graphic. Approximately half of the pages of the atlas are taken by brief descriptions of the most common unsoundnesses. The combination of charts and text should prove invaluable during those occasionally confusing decision-making discussions. The only drawback to obtain- ing this atlas is that its appearance and presentation are of such high quality that it will probably remain in the office while additional copies will need to be purchased for the barn. (MfG)

EQUINE VETERINARY SCIENCE