For all those interested in wider aspects of some of the darker of our analyses, I can thoroughly recommend the book

Merde. Excursions into Scientific, Cultural and Socio-Historical Coprology. Ralph A Lewin. Aurum Press 1999. ISBN 1 85410 634 1. Price £9.99, hardback.

This is an absorbing read, well suited for those dark hours when constipation lurks, and full of useful facts which are guaranteed to stun dinner-time conversation. Were you aware, for example, than 'science', 'scatology' and more unprintable words all derive from the same Indo-European root? My thanks to Alan Curry for lending me a copy.