R E V I E W S A N D N O T I C E S O F B O O K S

this volume have been well chosen and are nicely pro- duced. There is no doubt that this fourth volume lives up to the great reputation of the former ones.

This whole work, which was so ably initiated by Surgeon Commander Keevil, is a permanent and valuable addition both to medicine and the Navy. It will make a strong appeal not only to surgeons but to the whole medical profession.

The publishers are to be congratulated on the able way they have produced these volumes and at so moderate a cost.

A Synopsis of Surgical Anatomy. By A. LEE MCGREGOR, M.Ch., F.R.C.S. Ninth edition. 7 t x 43 in. Pp. 920, with 825 illustrations. 1963. Bristol: John Wright & Sons Ltd. 35s.

IT is just thirty years since the first edition of this book appeared and today the new ninth edition is one of the really useful books not only for the student but also as a reference book for the postgraduate.

Although, as the author so rightly says, ‘Much ana- tomical knowledge never goes out of date’, yet the progress of medicine and surgery often demand new emphasis on anatomical details which were considered unimportant.

In the last ten years the surgery of the heart, lungs, and bronchi have demanded a complete reassessment of the anatomy of these parts.

Mr. Lee McGregor has indeed made surgical history in the writing of this very practical and interesting book.

Every student will be well advised to buy this book and keep it by him throughout his training period.

Modern Trends in Neurology. Vol. 3. Edited by DENIS WILLIAMS, C.B.E., M.D., D.Sc., F.R.C.P., Neurologist, St. George’s Hospital, London. 8) x 54 in. Pp. 384+vii. Illustrated. 1962. London: Butterworth & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. 75s.

THIS monograph is one of the well-known Modern Trends series and it has been ably edited by Dr. Denis Williams, who writes a fascinating chapter on Dynamic Trends in Neurology. Other chapters, of which there are eighteen, are concerned with such subjects as muscle biopsy, the circle of Willis today, the surgery of epilepsy, the surgery of pain, the neurological basis of memory, and hallucino- genic drugs.

This volume contains a wealth of information and it portrays the personal views of a selection of authorities on the present state of the many and varied aspects of neurology.

Chirurgische Anatomie-Thorax. By Dr. D. NAGY. 1 1 t x 8 in. Pp. 455, with 295 illustrations. 1962. Budapest: Publishing House of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. $22.00.

THIS book, from behind the Iron Curtain, is in two parts of about equal length.

The first part gives an excellent account of the anatomy of the thoracic wall (including the female breast and the axilla) and the intrathoracic organs. There are many

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illustrations and diagrams, and surgical aspects are indi- cated. The bronchopulmonary segments are particularly well described and illustrated.

The second part describes a number of standard operations, each illustrated by a sequence of very good colour photographs : Radical mastectomy; Major thoraco- tomy; Mitral valvulotomy ; Patent ductus arteriosus; Coarctation of the aorta; Mitral and tricuspid stenosis; Extrapleural exposure of anterior and superior medi- astinum; pneumonectomy ; Isolation of segments of right and left lungs.

There is a bibliography which includes a good propor- tion of British and American references.

The book is well produced. Binding and paper are of good quality and the illustrations are excellent. It is a credit to the author and publishers and well up to the best Western standards.

Hypothermie de la Physique A la Physio-Pathologie Per-Operatoire. By L. VADAT. 82 x 7% in. Pp. 126, with 59 illustrations. 1962. Paris : L’Expansion Editeur. 26 N.F.

THE author of this book is an engineer who designed and produced the ‘artificial heart’ which is used by the cardiac surgery team at Lyons. He has become interested in the problems of hypothermia and (as Professor Pierre Marion says in the preface) has grafted a good deal of physiology and pathology on to his basic physical and mechanical knowledge.

The early chapters are concerned with the physics of body cooling and re-heating, calculations of heat loss, rate of heat transference, temperature gradients within the body, and so forth. Mathematical formulae are put for- ward, but established by calculation from first principles rather than by experiment, and one can discern at times more than a trace of ‘ pseudo-scientific meticulosis’. The two main methods of cooling-‘ peripheral’ cooling by immersion and ‘ central ’ cooling by extracorporeal circula- tion and heat exchanger-are contrasted. Cooling by immersion of the head and neck only is discussed and it is pointed out that, although this is slower than cooling by complete immersion, thoracotomy can be carried out while cooling is proceeding and, because it produces lower cerebral than cardiac temperature, a longer period of circulatory arrest is possible without danger of ventricular fibrillation.

The author goes on to consider changes in blood viscosity and peripheral resistance under hypothermia, and oxygen needs and availability. E.C.G. changes during operation and during fibrillation are examined, and finally E.C.G. changes are considered.

The analysis of medical problems by a non-medical author who is familiar with them and who brings to bear his precise mathematical methods is interesting, stimulat- ing, and important. The physics and mathematics need deter no one who has reached matriculation standard.

The book is well printed on good quality paper but is worthy of better binding. Its paper back detached itself very quickly and unfortunately the book is made up, in the modern manner, of glued single sheets, so that normal binding is not possible.

REVIEWS OF BOOKS Additional Reviewers are required for books in the French

Such books would become the property Surgeons interested should communicate with

and German languages. of the Reviewer. the Editorial Secretary.

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