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Reviews and Notices of Books.THE PRINCIPLES OF ANATOMY AS SEEN IN THE HAND.

By FREDERIC WOOD JONES, D.Sc., M.B., B.S. Lond.London; J. and A. Churchill. With 2 plates and123 text-figures. 1920. Pp. 325. 15s.

ONE of the side results of the war is to be seen in the

rediscovery of anatomy for clinical purposes, and it hasbeen recognised by all who have had to do with theneeds of the clinician that there are still uncharted and

practically unknown details of bodily structure which,when worked out, will be made of value by the bedside.This book does not, it may be, open up any of thisunexplored territory, but the author employs pathsrather out of the way, tracks little used by the crowd,to give the medical reader, and even the routineanatomist, glimpses of the interest lying round themin the sphere of their everyday work. One cannot helpregretting that books of this kind-and there are

too few of them-do not often find their way intothe hands of the ordinary student. The presentdivorce of anatomical study from its clinical applicationdeprives the average student of what would prove tobe a powerful incentive to work; an exceptional teacherwill meet the want by providing another interest, morestrictly scientific and anatomical, and this volume onthe hand should be a valuable adjunct to his efforts.The time-table of a school curriculum, however, doesnot leave much time for extraneous reading, and it isprobable that the book, for that reason, will afford morepleasure to his teachers than to the student.

If it is true that descriptive human anatomy stillpresents opportunities for more research, the assertionis even more applicable to the subjects associated with Iit. The study of human development, for example, is amatter which, when we advance beyond the uninspiringand rather sterile products of German manufacture,will turn out to have much to suggest, not only inanatomical explanations, but in the comprehensionof the genesis of many pathological states. Readinghis book, one has perhaps the impression thatProfessor Wood Jones does not lay stress enough onthe ontogenetic development of the human hand.For example, an argument perhaps as strong as anyother in support of Humphry’s views on the morphologyof the skeleton of the thumb, which the author adopts,is to be found in the details of formation and attachmentof the long flexor tendon of that digit; again, withoutwishing to disagree with the author’s conclusions, it

may be pointed out that some suggestion of a post-minimus is ontogenetically afforded in the first attach-ments of the abductor of the little finger, if that muscleis considered to be a marginal member of a dorsal orinter-metacarpal group. Similar criticism might bebrought forward as argument against unreserved accept-ance of some conclusions. Professor Wood Jonesbelieves that the hand is a primitive organ, moreprimitive in men, perhaps, than in some other animals,and he demonstrates his position by his formulse andcomparative observations ; but the ontogenetic changesin the hand, even in the development of the apparentlysimple interossei, surely show that the human hand, sofar, at least, as its intrinsic muscles are concerned, is adecided modification of what must have been a primi-tive condition. It would be a good thing to impress onthe student the great value of the details of ontogeneticdevelopment.Turning to less contentious matters, it is no ordinary

pleasure to one who cares for his subject and its historyto come across the names of old-time anatomists,extracts from whose half-forgotten works are frequentlyput in with effect by the author. Perhaps not the leastinteresting part of the work, from the student’s pointof view, will prove to be that which deals with thenervous connexions of the hand, in which many of thedisconnected facts of his text-books are put before himin ways both interesting and coherent. There are

certain small errors that could be removed in a futureissue. Thus Fig. 85 is not correct in some of its points;

the term " intermediate " would be an improvement on" 6 medial," which has other meanings in the vocabularyof many, and the superficial flexor of the digits isusually designated " sublimis." Professor Wood Joneshas, in addition, an unaccountable tendency to give thename Humphray to the late well-known Cambridgeanatomist and surgeon. But these are very smallmatters, and it can be said at once, and heartily, thatthe book is one worth reading, and eminently readable,well got up, with clear and explanatory illustrations,and could with advantage be placed in the hands of everymedical student who has attained to the investigationand contemplation of his intermediate subjects.

ROSE AND CARLESS’S MANUAL OF SURGERY.Tenth edition. By ALBERT CARLESS, C.B.E., M.B.,M.S. Lond., F.R.C.S. London: Baillière, Tindall.,and Cox. 1920. Pp. 1562. 30s.

IN reviewing a new edition of a book so well knownas "Rose and Carless’s Manual of Surgery" it is

unnecessary to notice more than the changes whichhave been made as compared with previous editions.This is the tenth edition, and five years have elapsedsince the last. Five years of war and years in whichthe surgical skill of the medical profession was put tothe severest tests. That the medical profession wasnot found wanting has been proclaimed publicly; neverin the history of war has more been done for thewounded soldier. The fact that the medical professionwas able to cope successfully with the thousands ofseverely wounded men was due to the sound trainingreceived during student life. There is no doubt thatthis text-book has helped to give this training, and onewould like Mr. Carless to feel that " the weary hours ofstudy spent over its pages " were worth while.The additions to the work are mainly in the direction

of knowledge gained in the war, with regard to thetreatment of infected wounds, of fractures, and in

making good the defects following injuries. Anotherchange is the gathering of the X ray pictures into asupplement at the end of the book, instead of dispersingthem through the text. This may be convenient forproduction, but of doubtful value to the student.

CHAPITRES CHOISIS DE CHIRURGIE.

By G. L. REGARD. Paris: A. Maloine et Fils. 1920.Pp.430. Fr.20.M. Regard, a civilian surgeon, served as Médecin

Aide-Major, and also as Chef d’Equipe Chirurgicalein the French Army. During four years of war he

kept careful note of his observations which, togetherwith the results of a considerable amount of experi-mental work, are now gathered together in the

"Chapitres Choisis." The book does not pretend to be atext-book on war surgery, but it contains interestingchapters on many subjects, such as cranial lesions,shock, the treatment of wounds by auto-vaccination,gas gangrene, fractures, and the repair of bone. Thoughit does not contain any startling novelty, the work isinteresting and unusual, owing to the inclusion in it ofthe results of experimental work, particularly withreference to shock and the regeneration of bone, whichwere designed to elucidate the clinical problems.Though works on war surgery are not now urgently

needed, this one is worth perusing, for, as M. Jacob saysin the preface, it is " un beau livre."

JOURNALS.Journal of Industrial Hygiene. London: Macmillan and

Co. 3s. 6d. monthly; 21s. per annum.-The pages of thisjournal have contained in recent numbers articles referringto various branches of the wide field covered by the newscience which is springing up relating to occupationalpreventive and curative medicine and surgery. Review ofarticles dealing with kindred subjects, although appearing indifferent numbers, will, we feel, be of more interest to ourreaders than reference to each issue of the journal. Threearticles, for instance, appearing in the issues for February.March, and April may be dealt with in one group ; they arecontributed by Dr. T. M. Legge, and disclose the author’swell-known erudition. His Lowell Institute lecture on thespirit of work in craft guilds throws an interesting light on