189

BOOK REVIEWS. ~'he Physiology el the Kidney. By t t o ~ R S~ITH. Oxford Medical

Publ ica t ions . 15/- . This is a readable bu t one-sided p r e s e n t a t i o n of r ena l physiology, more

t h a n hal f of t he 32 d iag rams be ing p r e sen t a t i ons of the resUlts of S m i t h , S h a n n o n a~d co-workers.

The " c learance " concept of V a n Slyke et al., and the assumpt ion t h a t t h e i nu l in c learance measures s t r i c t ly t he g tomeru la r f i l t ra te i is the basis o f the t r e a t m e n t t h roughou t .

Concern ing t he ac tua l use of "clearances," we are assured t h a t " wherever two clearances are compared, i t is unders tood they are s imul- t aneous c lea rances , " which means t h a t Professor S m i t h is t h e n c o m p a r i n g c o n c e n t r a t i o n ra t ios ( the u r ine volumes cancel l ing) , t he e x t r a idea of a hypo the t i ca l a m o u n t of hlood cleared pe r m i n u t e be ing qui te i r r e l evan t . T h e a u t h o r is unaw ar e t h a t his t r e a t m e n t of t h e excre t ion of u rea in accordance wi th c lea rance- reabsbrp t ion views involves a con t rad ic t ion , the logical exposi t ion of which has been a l ready g iven in Nature (Vol. 141, p. 471) a n d based on evidence fully accepted by all workers in th i s field.

Since an i n t e r n a l con t rad ic t ion means t he logical demise of a theory , i t will be of i n t e r e s t to see w h a t use is made of t he remains .

,]f~ may be f u r t h e r po in ted ou t t h a t Professor S m i t h bui lds up his case la rgely by ignor ing the opposing evidence. Thus we hea r n o t h i n g of H o b e r ' s well-known exper imen t s wi th l ipoid and non: l ipoid soluble dyes, no~hing of S~ar l ing ' s famous cyai/ ide exper imen t s , no r of t h e effects of t e m p e r a t u r e nor a sphyx ia on t he u r ine volume. Ne i t he r do we hea r any- t h i n g abou t u r ea excre t ion beyond the level of 200 rag . /100 ml. in the blood. Metabol ic re la t ions a re completely avoided.

Such cr i t ic i sm apa r t , t he book will be found to provide some useful i n f o r m a t i o n and an account of t he r e c e n t i m p o r t a n t work f rom the P e n n s y l v a n i a labora tory .

I nc iden t a l l y i t h a s to be no ted t h a t , even wi th those convinced of ex tens ive wa te r absorp t ion in t h e tubules , t he Cushny theory has passed i n ~ h i s t o r y - - a c t i v e t u b u l a r secre t ion be ing fully accepted for m a n y subs tances and ~he absorp t ion of a fluid of cons t an t concen t r a t i on in sal t , e tc . , abandoned . I t is a sad fa t e for the " modern t h e o r y . "

E. J . C.

~e~$book of Medicine. By G. E. B~AV~CONT. Churchi l l . 3rd Ed. 21/- . Yhis new ed i t i on of B e a u m o n t ' s Medicine has unde rgone a very com-

p l e ~ revision. There are severa l new ar t ic les , and m a n y of t h e o the r sec t ions have been r e w r i t t e n to b r i n g t he volume ful ly up to date . An i m p o r t a n t f ea tu re of the book is the a m o u n t of space devoted to t r e a t m e n t a n d dietet ics . The M e n l e n g r a e h t d i e t in hsematemesis is new; so also a re two new die ts g icen by the a u t h o r for t he t r e a t m e n t of obesity. The ~h~rapeut ic advances of r e c e n t years a re clearly shown by t he inclus ion m ~he t e x t of 22 of t he newer drugs. There a re 14 new i l lus t ra t ions . W h e n th i s Handboolc first appea red in 1932 we wrote as follows : - - " This volmne is unques t ionab ly one of the bes t books on medic ine we have been pr iv i leged to read, a n d we foresee for i t a wide and well-deserved popu- l a r i ty , for i t fulfils all t he condi t ions of an ideal t e x t b o o k . " W e see no r e i n to modify o u r opinion.

P. T. O 'F .

'~reatment in Generat Practice. By H.~BEcK~AI~. Saunders . 3rd Ed. 42/- i We have n o t h i n g bu t p ra i se for the t h i r d ed i t ion of th i s work. A b o u t

t he mer i t s of ~he a u t h o r ' s descr ip t ions of t he symptomat i c t r e a t m e n t of diseases for which no specific t r e a tmen~ exis ts we do no t v e n t u r e to express a n 6pin ion , for we have no t r ead t he book sufficiently closely, bu t as to t he completeness and t he accuracy of his summar ies of modern specific ~rea~ments t h e r e can be no doubt , for t hey are excellent . We have fai led to find any serious omission (assuming t h a t the book wen t to press some t i m e in t he middle of 1937), and as proof of the thoroughness wi th which Dr . Beckman has consul ted recent ly publ i shed ar t ic les we adduce his r e fe rence to Dr. MeSweeney 's p a p e r on the use of se rmn in typho id fever . Wha~ is even more i m p o r t a n t t h a n completeness is accuracy, and here

190 I R I S H J O U R N A L O F M E D I C A L S C I E N C E

a g a i n t he a u t h o r is to be c o n g r a t u l a t e d ; au tho r i t i e s for i m p o r t a n t s~abe- men t s a re quoted , d ivergencies of op in ion a re no t .concealed, and t he r e su l t is t h a t t he r e a d e r is lef t w i th t h e impress ion, a lmost c e r t a in ly a correc~ impress ion, t h a t he has before h i m the fu l les t possible s u m m a r y of reeeni~ advances collected by a n exper t .

A sho r t pe rusa l of t he book has a l ready shown us m a n y po in t s which a re no t to be found t oge the r in any o the r s ingle work ; for example , a uummary of t h e l i t e r a t u r e on inocula t ion a n d convalescent s e rum t h e r a p y in such fevers as m u m p s a n d chicken-pox, a n d very def ini te s t a t e m e n t s as ~o t he uselessness of all p rev ious d t t e m p t s a t specific t h e r a p y in a n u m b e r of o t h e r condi t ions . There a re discussions as to t he dosage of l iver e x t r a c t in pern ic ious anmmia , a very useful and Up-to-date sect ion on t h e t r e a t m e n t of acu te po i son ing ( t h e g e n e r a l app l icab i l i ty of ar t i f ic ial r e sp i r a t i on in all forms of na rco t i c po i son ing is ha rd ly enough stressed), a n d in fac t e v e r y t h i n g t h a t t h e phys ic ian ever wan t s to look up. Trea t - m e n t in General Pract ice is a book j u s t as much for the c o n s u l t a n t as t he gene ra l p r a c t i t i o n e r , and is t he best book of i ts k ind t h a t we have read.

R. H. M.

Prac t ica l Bacteriology, Ho~matology and A n i m a l Parasi to logy . By E. R. STITT, P. W. C~ouoH and ~[. C. CLOUGH. Lewis. 9 th Ed. 30/ - .

A new edi t ion of t he work fami l iar ly known as " S t i f f " in a lmost every l abora to ry in t he t e m p e r a t e and t rop ica l world will be g iven as g r e a t a welcome as was accorded to t he previous edi t ions . I t s excellence, whe the r as a t ex tbook or as a work of reference, t h r o u g h m a n y years has been firmly establ ished. This n i n t h ed i t ion is s l ight ly l a rge r , c o n t a i n i n g 113 more pages t h a n t he e i g h t h edi t ion.

Fu l l use has been made of small p r i n t (which is c lear and no t too small) in o rder to condense in to as l i t t le space as possi.ble t he wide r a n g e of subjects wi th which t he au t ho r s deal. The preface shows how m u c h new work has been inco rpora t ed in t he p r e s en t volume.

The c h a p t e r on hsematology has been en l a rged a n d improved, bo th by t he revis ion of t he t e x t a n d by the add i t ion of coloured p la tes and d raw- ings, which form a va luable addi t ion . The au tho r s make i t clear t h a t they have i n t e n t i o n a l l y omi t t ed from t he append ix t he s e c t i o n on his tological t echnique , since t hey claim th i s is avai lable in s t a n d a r d t e x t - books. W e t h i n k t h e omission a r e g r e t t a b l e one, as t h e subjec t could have been briefly dea l t w i t h in some few e x t r a pages.

The au tho r s have, however , t a k e n met iculous care and have spa red n o paros by t h e i r own efforts, and by o b t a i n i n g advice and assis tance, r make t he work up $o da te and co~nplete.

I t would n e i t h e r do jus t ice to t he volume no r be possible ~o review adequa te ly t he mass of i n f o r m a t i o n a n d wea l th of de ta i l dea l t w i th ~n a br ief m a n n e r .

The m a n y who are f ami l i a r wi th t he prev ious edi t ions and those who may ye t have t he p leasure and prof i t of s t u d y i n g the p r e sen t new one will find t he pr ice cheap for t he va luab le i n f o r m a t i o n so well ~iven.

W. R. O'F.

The I n f a n t . By D~. E~Ie PnITC~AR,. Arnold. 18]-.

Dr. P r i t c h a r d ' s m a n y va luable con t r i bu t i ons to pa~diatr ie l i t e r a t u r e are. well known, and a f u r t h e r work of l a rge r size f rom his pen is t he r e fo re pa r t i cu l a r l y welcome. This handbook on t he i n f a n t will cons t i t u t e one of t he mos t i m p o r t a n t books of re fe rence on th i s subject . Though Dr.. P r i t c h a r d ' s views are f r equen t ly unor thodox , and much of his theory is open t a cr i t ic ism,, never the less we have here the p roduc t of his very ful l a n d m a t u r e exper ience and a book which is packed w i t h va luable p rac t i ca l poin ts . The a u t h o r uses the t e r m " i n f a n t s " to inc lude ch i ld ren up t o five years old, t he age for admiss ion to t he i n f a n t s ' hosp i ta l of whicll he has been, up t i l l recent ly , t he medical d i rec tor , and the re fo re c e r t a i n condi t ions s t r i c t ly ou ts ide t he scope of in fancy are included. F o r example , i t is a l i t t l e su rp r i s ing in a book on i n f a n t s to find such diseases as Graves ' disease, m i t r a l s tenosis and even b u n i o n s ! This e x t r a sub j ec t -ma t t e r could, we t h i n k , have been omi t t ed w i th a d v a n t a g e , as i t t ends some- wha t to focus a t t e n ~ o n away f rom those condi t ions me t w i th in t he first; y e a r of l ife a n d which, are so ably dea l t wit]3.

R. E. S.

B O O K R E V I E W S 191

Feeding Behaviour of Infants. By.G~.s~LL and ILG. Lippincott. 21/-. This book deals with the normal infant from an entirely new angle.

The growth of the infant from birth during the first years is presented from the point of view of " behaviour," and the scope of the book is wider than the ti t le would suggest, since such subjects as finger-sucking, bladder and bowel control and other emotional adjustments are included.

A delightful feature is the 132 photographs illustrating the text. The work is a very fine psychological--or, one might say, philosophical--study of infant behaviour, the product of many years' detailed study, and as such should be of great interest to those specialising in children's diseases, welfare workers and those mothers who have sufficient intelligence to follow the text, which at times is somewhat intricate. I t would be of less value to the busy general practitioner who wishes a concise answer to his problem.

R. E. S.

The Sanitary Inspector's Handbook,. By H. It . CLA:r Lewis. 3rd Ed. 1616. First printed in ]933, the latest edition is enlarged by nearly 100 pages.

S'paco is thus afforded to present much recent data on matters of public health. For the medical officer of health and his subordinates a wealth of information is always thus available, the book being an excellent one for the purpose of reference.

The Public Health Act of 1875 (which was adopted in Ireland in 1878) gradually improved the planning of building construction drainage ventilation of .schools, factories, dwellings and otlier buildm~s~. Typhus and smallpox haves ince ceased to be regarded as the " inevitable visita- tions of Providence." Clearly and concisely the course for ,sanitarians and various social workers is surveyed. A useful memorandum and glossary of building terms is a feature which will be appreciated.

K . R .

A Manual o] Zoology. B.y L. 'A. BOR~AnAILn. OxfOrd University Press: Humphrey Milford. 9th Ed. 16]-.

The fact that within the space of three years it has been found necessary to bring out another edition is ample proof of the continued excellence of this book. Although it is intended primarily for the medical student the scope of ~he work is wide enough to provide an elementary rex-b-book for the general student of zoology. From the medical aspect, the stressing of parasitic forms will be found especially valuable, not only for passing the preliminary scientific examination, but also in mor~ advanced stages, the protozoan, nematode and insect parasites being clearly and adequately dealt with. Possibly the most valuable part of the whole book is the tong and plentifully illustrated chapter on embryology. The student generally fin~s the early stwges Of development---gastrulation, f~rmation of germ ~ayers, etc.--most difficult to understand, but in this book they are reduce~l to the simplest possible form. ~he significance of recent discoveries in experimental embryology is explailmd in elementary terms, and there are also short chapters on ecology and evolution. Altogether the book is one which may be heartily recommended.

T . J . M .

Medical Emergencies. 2rid Ed. By. C. NSw~tAN. Churchill. 8]6.

This, as its name implies, is a book of action. There is no place in it for theories and controversies. Dogma reigns supreme, with experience and practice behind the throne.

The emergencies dealt with are poisoning, coma, convulsions, circula- tory failure, h~emorrhage, asphyxia, the colics, sudden insanity, and some miscellanea such as blood transfusion. I t is a small book (140 pages), but the author has spread himself on the subject of poisons and their effects and treatment, to the extent of 36 pages. That section alone would make a splendid monograph. I t would be a very valuable wddition to the emergency bag, and can be well recommended to those o f us who wish to be able to answer with confidence the mesh urgent call.

J . M .