British Homceopathic Journal October 1990, Vol. 79, pp. 239-241

Book reviews

Dogs: Homoeopathie Remedies. George Mac- Leod. Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel. Pp. 164. ISBN 0-85207-207-4. s

This book has become a standard work in veter- inary homoepathy since it was first published under the title of The Homoeopathic Treatment of Dogs. Its new format under a new title is a very refreshing presentation and is graced with an improved index, but the text remains unaltered.

Dogs: Homceopathic Remedies is written for owners and breeders of animals who have an interest in treating their animals homoeopath- ically. It has ample scope for this purpose, cov- ering a great many canine disease situations. The detail in which it deals with these problems is more than adequate for the purpose, rendering the book also very suitable for veterinarians who wish to use homoeopathy in their work. Since it was first published in 1983 it has been on the shopping list of every veterinarian using homoeo- pathy with any degree of seriousness and has proved invaluable to them in their work. The fact that there is so much detail attached to each treatment recommendation may almost prove daunting to the target reader--the dog owner-- but it provides great value to the veterinary reader. Having said that, the book will also prove a favourite with interested owners and breeders who will find ways of treating their ani- mals hom0eopathically where no local veterinary hom~eopathic help is offered.

George Macleod has divided his book into twenty two sections, each section either dealing with a particular body system or type of disease. Thus he has included every part of the body, dis- eases of brood bitches, diseases of puppies and diseases associated with viruses, bacteria or pro- tozoa. Allergic diseases also receive special mention. It is slightly disappointing to find no section dealing solely with the principles of homoeopathic prescribing other than a very short section in the preface. The book has also omitted to give special attention to disorders that are mainly characterized by mental disturbance.

Each chapter has a brief introduction to the

body system in question and then proceeds, under disease name headings, to list medicines which may be of value in a given disease. Under each medicine is a brief 'picture' of the particular context in which it may be useful. The author has been very specific about potencies in each case but not about frequency or duration. The specifi- cation of potency may serve to confuse the unin- itiated, but he does write clearly in the preface that not only may there be other medicines of use that are not listed but also that different potencies from those mentioned may be more suitable under certain circumstances. In this same preface he also gives very brief potency and dose regime advice. The principles behind hom0eopathic prescribing are so important that I believe that the book, intended as it is for the lay reader, could benefit from more detail in this res- pect. There is no mechanism offered whereby a reader can, in the case of failure, go back to the beginning and redesign a treatment. Despite this mild criticism, however, the detail under each medicine is so good (although brief) that I doubt the reader will find the need to do that very often.

All in all I consider this book to represent an extremely valuable addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in the hom~eopathic treat- ment of dogs, be they veterinarians or owners. Such is the quality of the work and its handy size that I doubt it will spend much time actually on the shelf.

CHRISTOPHER DAY

The Complete Hom~eopathy Handbook. A Guide to Everyday Health Care. Miranda Cas- tro. Macmillan. Pp. 257. ISBN 0-333-42888-9. s

In the past ten years several good short books about homoeopathy have been published to meet increasing public interest. But, having been stimulated by one of these, many people wish to read a more detailed guide. There has been little available other than professional publications. The Complete Homoeopathy Handbook aims to

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