Description

The literature is still one of our biggest frustrations to-day. There is, in one sense, too much of it, and in another not enough - for there are insufficient and inadequate published guidelines through this jungle. Last year two excellent books for students of ecological chemistry were published, one in France and one in England. The concordance of the references was a mere overall 3% rising to 7% in the chapters on pheromones. Even in the computer age, the channel remains a formidable barrier to the rapid exchange of biological information. At the present time we are in urgent need of compilations similar to John Feltwell's "The Large White Butterfly"; since the literature has become virtually unmanageable. This insect is now a demonstration object in the sixth form schoolroom; an experimental "rabbit" in the University laboratory; a test animal in virus and bacterial research projects; a tool for the study of flight mechanisms, migration, plant biochemistry, hormones, genetics, allergies, pigments, mimicry, etc., etc. John Feltwell has, by this massive compilation, rendered us a great service - in fact he has given us a present of 4,000 hours of library time spent in 50 different libraries in seven countries. In the process he has collected 8000 references to the Large White. Of these, 4000 have been selected, and we are given a brief indication of their contents.