On Various Passion Plays

The Life Of Margaret Fuller by Madeleine B. Stern. Illustrated. E. P. Button Co. 549 pp. $3.75.

Torch And Crucible: The Life And Death Of Antoine Lavoisier by Sidney J. French. Princeton University Press. 275 pp. $3.50.

Education: Family Living And Our Schools: The Joint Committee on Curriculum Aspects of Education for Home and Family Living, Bess Goodykoontz and Beulah I. Coon, Chairmen. D. Appleton-Century Company, Inc. 450 pp. $2.50.

Radio And English Teaching. Edited by Max J. Herzberg. D. Appleton-Century Company. 243 pp. $2.00.

That They May Have Life: The Story Of The American University OF Beirut, 1866–1941. By Stephen B. L. Penrose, Jr. 335 pp. $3.75.

The Foundations Of Conservation Education. Henry B. Ward, Editor. The National Wildlife Federation. Washington, D.C. 242 pp. Sixty cents (paper); one dollar (cloth).

History: The Kentucky by Thomas D. Clark. Illustrated by John A. Spielman. Farrar and Rinehart. 431 pp. $2.50.

Religion: The Inner World: An Introduction To The Philosophy Of Christianity by John Wright Buckman. Harper and Brothers. 285 pp. $3.50.

Social Studies: Censorship 1917 by James R. Mock. Princeton University Press. 240 pp. $2.50.

Economic Consequences Of The Second World War by Lewis L. Lorwin. Random House. 510 pp. $3.00.

Travel: We Follow The Western Trail by Ruth Wheeler. The Macmillan Company. 157 pp. $2.00.     

Lead toxicity as a result of herbal medication

Awareness about the toxic effects of non-essential metals is still lacking in developing countries. Lead is one among them, which ranks second in the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’ s top 20 lists of toxic metals. Some of the herbal medicines prepared from certain roots and leaves are known to contain this toxic metal at alarming levels. We have a case of a person who suffered from the toxic effects of lead such as vomiting and colicky abdominal pain after consuming a herbal remedy for Jaundice treatment. This went unrecognized initially because of the presence of multiple problems like Malaria and Renal calculi. Lead poisoning as causative factor for anemia, vomiting and colic were confirmed only when blood lead concentration was estimated. A combination of chelation therapy and nutritional supplementation was found to be useful in reducing the body lead burden.     

On the Spanish Yesterday and Today

Pain is an agglomeration, not a fusion, of two eras, the medieval S and the modern; of two attitudes, the romantic and the realistic; and of three continents, Europe, Africa and Asia. T o understand recent history, the Spanish temperament must be studied, and the peculiar history of Spain must be surveyed.     

Pharmacists’ online information literacy: an assessment of their use of Internet‐based medicines information

Introduction: Pharmacists need effective skills in accessing and using Internet‐based medicines information (IBMI) for themselves and their consumers. However, there is limited information regarding how pharmacists use the Internet. Objectives: To develop and use a research instrument to measure pharmacists’ Internet knowledge, search skills, evaluation of and opinions about using IBMI. Methods: A structured questionnaire examining general Internet knowledge, ability to search for and select pertinent IBMI, evaluation of IBMI, opinions about using IBMI and current Internet use was developed. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to analyse IBMI evaluation. Results: 208 pharmacists responded (response rate 20.6%). There was a large variation in pharmacists’ scores. Mean scores were low for General Internet Knowledge (mean 7.91 ± 3.62; scale 0–16), Search and Selection of IBMI (4.98 ± 2.91; 0–10) and Opinions on IBMI (44.51 ± 9.61; 0–80). Four factors [Professionalism of website (4 items; factor loading 0.62–0.87; Cronbach’s α 0.84), Disclosure (5; 0.37–0.79; 0.73), Appropriateness of content (5; 0.32–0.50; 0.65), Standard of information (6; 0.31–0.48; 0.58)] were extracted from the evaluation scale, explaining 36.89% of the total variance. Conclusions: A tool was developed to evaluate pharmacists’ skills and opinions in using IBMI. A wide range of skills and opinions highlighted the need for training in online information literacy.