sive reviews and original reports dealing with hamster, chicken, and mouse dystrophies. ?’here is a chaptei. OII

miscellaneous motor unit diseases in animals that re- views current knowledge of goat myotonia and malig- nant hyperthermia in pigs, and also reviews the large number of motor unit diseases seen in veterinary med- icine which have counterparts in human diseases. The relevance of the animal dystrophies to human disease w’as questioned in several presentations, and appropriate concern was expressed about overemphasizing thcra- peutic trials that utilize these animal diseases. Presenta- tions o f newer lines of investigation provide information about current concepts of nerve and muscle disease in general and about some newer techniques in detail.

Each paper contains its own bibliography, and the book provides ari overall subject index.

Ihe papers range from general reviews to preseri- tations of original research, and are generally of high quality. There is some overlap in subject matter, but this has the advantage of exposing different viewpoints.

This book is the best single source of current knowl- edge about animal dystrophies. I n addition, it surnma- riz.es many of the active lines of investigation in other neuromuscular diseases iri man and animals.

How well the papers presented identify the gaps in oui- knowledge and thus stimulate work to fill those gaps is a moot point, but tliia book is an essential tool for any- one working with neuromuscular disease in man or in animals.

_ _

D0NAI.D B. SANDERS, hID Ckirlottu.cuilk, Virginia

NEUROANATOMY AND FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGY, 17th Edition By J . G . C h t i d , 464 pp, illus. Langr Medical Publications,

Chusid’s Correlative Neuroanutomy and Functional Nrurul- 00 is now i n its 17th edition. It has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Polish, and Ger- man, and a Serbo-Croatiari edition is said to be in prep- aration. All of this suggests that many people find the book useful, but I am not one of them.

Students who use the book as a pony for standard neuroanatomic texts get 65 pages on neuroanatomy of the brain and 15 pages on spinal cord ariatomy. Sixty- five pages are devoted to cranial and peripheral nerves, and muscle. The treatment of central neuroanatomy is as skimpy as the number of pages would suggest; the peripheral nerves receive better coverage.

One hundred arid twenty-three pages are used to discuss diagnostic tests. There are chapters on motion, muscle innervation and testing, sensation, cutaneous in- nervation, reflexes, aphasia and related disorders, trophic changes, cerebrospinal fluid, EEG, EMG, electrodi- agnosis, and radiologic, cystometric, rieuroop hthalmo- logic, audiomerric, and psychometric tests. The coverage is again superficial and in some cases outdated. Pneu- moencephalography is discussed in the same terms as i t was in the 1958 edition, while C T scanning, which has all hut replaced pneumoencephalography at many in- stitutions, is discussed without mentioning that fact. The technique of visual evoked potentials is described; its use in multiple sclerosis is not.

LOS Alto.r, CA. 1979. $12.00

The final section deals with disorders of the central nervous system. The trealment here is too superficial for niany common disorders, with too much space devoted t o rarc disorders. For example, one and one-half pages are devoted to multiple sclerosis, while another page is used to discuss Binswariger disease, ivlai-chiafava-Big- riarrii disease, central pontine niyelinolysis, Leber optic atrophy-, status marmoratus, status dysmyelinatus, Hal- lervorden-Spatr. disease, and nornial-pressure hydro- cephaliis. I t seems to me that a book designed as a basic text should conceritrate on important clinical problems and not attempt to mention such rare conditions in passing.

The references are all to other textbooks; books from the 1940s arid 1950s abound, although most modern textbooks are also cited.

Short treatments of neuroanatorny such as those by Mantcr and GatL a r i d by Carpenter would serve the be- ginner i n neuroanatomy better. Neuropathology is bet- ter covered in such short hooks as those by Escourolk and Pokier and by Schochet arid McCorrrlick. The short version of Brain’s N e u r o l o ~ is a better introduction to clinical neurology. Chusid’s book does include all these subjects and costs only $12.00, but I would not recom- mend it to either students or house officers.

LESTER S. ADELMAN, MD Bostwn, kla~ssuch u.retts

NEUROLOGICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY: PRINCIPLES AND CLINICAL APPLICATION§ Advances in Neurology, Volume I 9 Edited hi Brucp S . Sthoeriberg, 678 pp, t/lu.s, Ruwn Prr\\ h’rw York, -VU, 1978. $45 00

This volume is composed of manuscripts which formed the basis of a symposium held in early 1977. Editor Schoenberg, a n effective advocate of neuroepidemiol- ogy, intends that the book help clinical neurologists .judge the validity of epidemiologic studies. The book also includes “state-of-the-art” information concerning the epidemiology of many neurologic illnesses.

The first quarter of the 660-page hook is devoted to principles of neuroepidemiology: nearly half is written by Schoenberg, with contributions by Kurtzke, Kurland, and others. These excellent discussions delineate the tur-f of neuroepidemiology and succinctly describe its cultivation. Nonetheless, they hold less appeal for the clinician than do later chapters showing these principles applied to individual diseases.

The major portion of the book consists of chapters on specific diseases written b y recognired leaders in each area. Discussions of poliomyelitis by Schonberger, of myastheriia gravis by Kurtzke, and of intracranial me- tastases by I’osner are among the 25 topics included.

As befits those books dealing with questions relevant to populations, the volume focuses on the epidemiology of common problems such as headache. spinal disc dis- ease, stroke, dementia, and alcoholism. Chapters are au- thoritative, and in many instances they include thorough reviews of epidemiologic literature unfamiliar or inac- cessible to clinical neurologists.

All sections are well written, although several have deficiencies from the point of view of the aim of the vol-

100 MUSCLE & NERVE JaniFeb 1980

ume. Kefsum and Skre elegantly discuss the hereditary ataxias, but largely from the perspective of Norwegian studies. Kondo’s discussion of motor neuron disease is encyclopedic and may be of inore interest to those whose focus is ,%IS than to the general neurologist.

This book is of value to t.he neurologist since it suc- cinctly summarizes figures on incidence and pre1.L I 4 1 erice as well as etiologic clues from epidemiologic studies for a wide variety of illnesses. Its useful discussion of neu- romuscular diseases is limited to ALS, poliomyelitis, and myasthenia gravis.

ROBERT C . GRIGGS, hfD Rochester, New York

FUNDAMENTALS OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY, 2nd Edition By Robert F. Schmidt, 33 9 pp, illus, Sprznger-Verlqq, X e w York, NY, 1978. $14.80

FUNDAMENTALS OF SENSORY PHYSIOLOGY By KoDerl F. Schmidt, 286 pjb, illzu, Springer-Verlag, Nezu Y&k, NY, 1978. $1 6.80 The stated purpose of the first book is to provide an in- troduction to neurophysiology for students who have no prior knowledge of anatomy or physiology. l ‘he authors have achieved this objective admirably. This is an Eng- lish translation of a German text; like the first edition, it has lost nothing in the translation process.

Three essential characteristics of an introductory text are clarity of exposition, instructiveness of illustration, and accuracy of information. Furidanzcntuls of Neurriphys- iolo,gy merits high praise on all counts. The two-color il- lustrations are simplified sketches which serve to sum- marize important principles. The authors have obviously taken great care to simplify published figures while maintaining an accurate interpretation of the significance of the information. The illustrations alone would make the book worthwhile as a textbook. However, the major contribution of this book is in the texl material itself. Topics ranging from the voltage clamp experiments of Hodgkin and Huxley to the tonic neck reflexes ohsetv- able in decerebrate cats are treated with unusual clarity. The authors have provided an even treatment of pe- ripheral, central, and autonomic neural mechanisms. A particularly important chapter concerns the regulatory functions of the spinal motor systems. It provides an explanation for the use of spinal cord and brainsteni reflexes by suprasegmental motor systems during an evolving movement. In the final chapter in this edition,

“Integrative Functions o f the Central Nervous System,” the reader is introduced to the basic physiology of the cerebral cortex, including la~eralixation, sleep, memory, and frontal lobe functiorr.

I lowever, the book does have some shortcomings. The functions of the basal ganglia are co\-ered o n l y su- perficially. Similarly, no consideratiori is given to the specific functions of ganinia static and dynamic fikrs. While muscle physiology is discussed at length and the discussion i s well iniegratrd with the central ne~-vous sys- tern, no mention is made of the regulatory proteins tro- ponin and tropompsin. This is a glaring oversight even for an undergraduate text.

This returns us to a discussion of the intended read- ership of this book. I would recornnlend it unhesitatingly as an excellent textbook of neurophysiology for trnder- graduate students. However, while i t is lucid and vet-y readable, it does not offer sufficient depth to be valuable as a text in graduate physiology courses. I t might be of value to gi-aduate students as a supplementary source t o introduce them to a topic before reading a more corn- prehensive texthook i n neui-ophysiology.

‘l‘he physiology of sensation is covered extensively i n Fundnmuntnls of Sensory Pliysidogy . This volume is equally well written, and once again the illustrations are a niajor contribution. Several integrative diagrams. including those on proprioceptive sensations and specific versus nonspecific sensory systems, wi l l be very helpful to be- ginning students. T w o sections are particularly useful. One of these is the chapter “General Sensory Physiol- ogy;” the other is the section on visiwi, particularly color vision and central processing mechanisms. In the latter, there is a particularly imaginative and informative illus- tration describing how the letter h’ might be transformed into a meaningfd visual message on the basis of gangli- onic, geniculate, and cortical processes. One significant shortcoming is in the discussion of pain, which b i l s to consider the major advances i n the physiology of en- dogenous peptides or the functions of the periaque- ductal gray regions and raphe nuclei. In perspective, however, this is a minor detraction from the solid con- tribution that this book makes. Overall, Fundurncn/alc ”/ Seri\orj F‘hyszology is written at a somewhat higher level than Fuiidamentals o j Neurophysiolo~gy, and the index is more complete. I know of no hook that surpasses it ; i s

ail undergraduate neurophysiology text. This volume would also be usetiil as a supplernentary text for grad- uate students, but riot as their primary textbook source.

MICHAEL B. LASKOWSKI, PhL) Si. L O U ~ C , MiJsouri

MUSCLE & NERVE JaniFeb 1980 101