Abstract
THIS work should be of special value to all those in any way interested in the plants of southern Africa and their curative and toxic properties? to both man and beast. Considerable advance has been made in South Africa in recent years in the study of poisonous and medicinal plants, but the literature is for the most part scattered and the need of a general reference work has long been felt. The authors have themselves contributed in no small measure to the advancement of the knowledge of these plants from the pharmacological point of view, and their excellently compiled volume will no doubt be accepted as the standard work on the subject. The authors appear to have worked in close liaison with the technical staffs of certain State Departments in South Africa and the good work that has been done on vegetable poisons in the veterinary field is included in annotated form in the pages of the book. It is pleasing to observe that special care has been taken in securing accuracy of identity of the species they have themselves investigated. Acknowledgment is made in the introduction to the staff of the Division of Plant Industry for having determined more than 2,500 specimens.
The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern Africa: Being an Account of their Medicinal Uses, Chemical Composition, Pharmacological Effects and Toxicology in Man and Animal.
By Prof. John Mitchell Watt Dr. Maria Gerdina Breyer-Brandwijk. Pp. xx + 314 + 25 plates. (Edinburgh: E. and S. Livingstone, 1932.) 25s. net.
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The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern Africa: Being an Account of their Medicinal Uses, Chemical Composition, Pharmacological Effects and Toxicology in Man and Animal. Nature 132, 336 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132336a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132336a0