ethnobotany. principles and application

In conclusion, Wild Cats is an extremely valuable and well researched volume whichshould receive global attention from all concerned with the survival of some of the world'smost valuable species.

Dr George R. Hughes

Natal Parks Board, PO Box 622, Pietermaritzburg 3200, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Ethnobotany. Principles and Application

C. M. Cotton (author)(Chichester, New York, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore: John Wiley & Sons, 1996;UK£24.95, pp. 424, ISBN 0-471-95537-X)

According to the introduction, this book is `an attempt to synthesise . . . disparate in¯u-ences, and to present an introduction to the underlying principles and practical applicationof modern ethnobotany' (p. 17). Its target audience is ethnobotany students as well asanthropologists who want to know more about plant biology and botanists seeking in-formation on anthropology (p. vii). It is indeed a very useful manual for students and alsoestablished scientists, as it illuminates di�erent aspects of ethnobotany and serves as anexcellent introduction.

Main areas of modern ethnobotany (Table 1.7) are identi®ed: ethnoecology, traditionalagriculture, cognitive ethnobotany, material culture, traditional phytochemistry andpaleobotany, and the following chapters are organized accordingly. The author makes italso clear that with ethnobotany only a multidisciplinary approach is successful: `Thecrucial methods determining the real success of any project are those of the ethnographerand the plant taxonomist' (p. 126). Consequently, the methods chapter draws from boththese ®elds and the synthesis is successful. Other chapters complement each other, forinstance `plant structures, functions and applications' written from the perspective ofwestern science and `traditional botanical knowledge' explaining the local (`indigenous')perspective. Further, I found the combination of medical and non-medical uses of plantcomponents in the chapter on traditional phytochemistry very intriguing and a fruitfulapproach. Also very welcome and important from an anthropologist's point of view arethe chapters on indigenous perceptions of the natural world and on the applied side ofethnobotany.

However, there are drawbacks and ¯aws; not at all astonishing in such an ambitiousundertaking as delivering a comprehensive manual of such a disparate and multifaceteddiscipline as ethnobotany. Worst of these perhaps, is that the book only considers pub-lications in the English language; the important French contributions for instance are notincluded (what about the doyen of European ethnobotany, Jacques Barrau?). And ofcourse, as a specialist in Melanesia as well as in material culture, I missed, among theillustrating data, examples drawn from Melanesia (and Polynesia) ± apart from Australiandata, the Paci®c is largely neglected ± and would prefer a more comprehensive treatment

844 Book reviews

of the important area of material culture. Anyway, considering the comprehensive scopeof the book and its many achievements these ¯aws are ± although annoying ± of minorsigni®cance. The book is a very useful compendium for both students and researchers inethnobotany, and I am sure that it will help to further and consolidate the awareness of thevalues of multidisciplinary approaches to today's research questions.

Christin Kocher Schmid

Anthropology, The University of Kent at Canterbury, UK

Book reviews 845