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The development of latent fingerprints using chemical techniques is well documented and for the purist it contains information relating to early development techniques which have been superseded by more sensitive and responsive systems.

The electronic techniques section is a fairly up to date summary of current research in this field and covers such areas as the use of X-rays, laser beams, for latent mark development and automatic scanning for record and latent mark searching.

After a section dealing with the lifting of prints the book concludes with a section dealing with the recovery of latent fingerprints on various substrates.

An interesting feature of this book is the inclusion of a series of study and review questions at the end of each section which, if used correctly, will ensure that the reader does have a more than rudimentary understanding of the fingerprint system and its practical use.

This book with its excellent bibliography and quoted references is interesting and informative and in spite of my various criticisms will be a useful reference book for novices and specialists.

I must, however, give one final word of caution. It must be remembered that this book is an American publication, written by an American author and therefore reflects the American viewpoint and philosophy regarding fingerprint identification; it could therefore conflict with the disciplines practised in other countries.

G. T. C. Lambourne

Trace Elements in Human Hair By: Vlado Valkovic. Publisher: Garland STPM Press, New York and London, 1978, pp. 194, illustrations in black and white, price $19.95

The inclusion and presentation of the many tables and figures in this book together with the double-spaced typing of the text make this a relatively short but easily readable book. The book will be of interest to forensic sci- entists and others who want to learn about hair and trace elements in hair and want an easily read text which brings together important facts on the subject. The author incorporates many useful references in his book which on the whole is well set out.

The book is, however, a relatively short one in which to attempt to cover human hair growth, the structure of hair, trace elements in hair, the role of trace elements, applications of trace element measurements in hair and methods for measurement of trace element levels in hair. Inevitably, many of the sections are superficial and some areas of importance to forensic science are hardly mentioned. For instance, techniques for analysing hair are referred to only briefly and the references in this section are probably insuf- ficient to be helpful to anyone contemplating undertaking any work. The

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advantages and disadvantages of each technique are not covered adequately and while problems surrounding whether or not to wash hair before analysis and the difficulties due to the variation of trace elements over a single head are properly discussed in the book, the attempts which have been made by numerous authors to carry out a statistically meaningful interpretation of the results are omitted. Arsenic, which has received considerable attention in forensic science because of its importance in cases involving suspected poi- sonings, receives scant attention in the book.

There are obviously typographical errors; “anagen”, for example, is fre- quently misspelled and there are other errors too many to mention here.

This is not a book that I could warmly recommend. It would be of limi- ted value to those forensic scientists who have already made a detailed study of hair or who are trying to characterise hair by trace element analysis. How- ever, those who want some light background reading about hair are likely to find it a helpful and readable book.

Eric Pearson

Toxicology Annual Volume 3 Edited by C. L. Winek. Publisher: Marcel Dekker, New York, 1979, pp. 356, price Sfr. 90

The present volume 3 comes close to the preceding volumes in appear- ance and editorial design. It consists of a collection of surveys and articles on a wide variety of topics, which have nothing or very little to do with each other. To give an impression of the contents it will be necessary, therefore, to cite the topics covered in this book:

Toxicity of pyrithiones, of poinsettia (which is completely non-toxic), of heroin, phthalate esters, fluorescent whiteners, chloroprene and organo- chlorine pesticides (carcinogenicity), tin hydroxide, ethylene glycols, and of poisonous plants in Sudan. In addition, the use of the uricase-inhibited rat in studies of gout and the use of propranolol as a cocaine antagonist.

Each subject is treated by experts in that particular field, ensuring thorough and up-to-date information for the reader.

Alf Lund Assistant Professor of Toxicology

University Institute of Forensic Medicine Copenhagen, Denmark