The Merck Index deservedly occupies a very central position in any research laboratory worthy of the name, providing an invaluable source of information in a readily accessible and easy-to-read format. Inevitably, the availability of this volume on CD-ROM has the potential to provide a more topical version of the printed text, since it will be updated on a far more frequent basis.
The present Chapman and Hall electronic version of the Merck Index is easy to install and fairly intuitive to use in the PC Microsoft Windows version provided. Compounds can be located on the basis of their CAS Registry number, molecular formula, therapeutic category, manufacturer name, melting point density, use, refractive index, molecular weight, Merck Index number, toxicity, etc. The program includes a chemical drawing program to allow entry of structures for similarity and substructure searching.
My initial experiments with the CD-ROM were uniformly disappointing. Keywords that were near and dear to my heart came up blank as, fortunately, did the term "chickens" that I found listed in the quick search menu. Suspecting user incompetence or outlandish expectations, I was able to talk with both the editor of the CD-ROM, Fiona McDonald at Chapman and Hall in London and the Associate Editor of the Merck Index, Ann Smith. Both were extremely helpful and once my aspirations for, and usage of, this CD-ROM were properly aligned with the fact that it is an