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German Ophthalmological Congress
95
BOOK NOTICES tional service. The methods and organiza tions for graduate study are just develop ing. And they have to recognize that the student is also a practitioner, giving most of his time to his practice. He who enters honestly upon the practice of medicine and surgery must now face a lifetime of study. Under the stimulus of examining boards, courses of graduate study are rapidly being organized and given. Prob ably 20 such courses on ophthalmology are being given this year in the United States. Generally they consist of clinics and didactic lectures. These are worth seeing and hearing. It is assumed that all graduates have books that they can read, and that they also take journals. The publishers and booksellers keep up a steady supply of new books and last editions. But the real value of books and journals depends upon the way they are used. The man who reads regularly every thing that interests him and connects what he reads with what he already knows, added to his daily experience, is a real graduate student. Those who catch at a new idea and do not think about it, or test it by their own experience, are merely killing time, not studying. The man who attends a graduate course and makes no notes of what he hears, and does not read to follow up what he has been told, may be having a pleasant vaca tion from daily practice, but is not making himself a real student. The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology publishes brief condensations of the instruction courses that are given in connection with its annual meetings. These the student can use for reference to refresh his memory, or to bring up what he has heard to apply to his own cases and more fully to digest when it is most interesting, to him. The George Washington University School of Medicine, for its postgraduate
course in ophthalmology, started by Dr. W. Thornwall Davis, has adopted the plan of supplying those who take the course with type-written reports of the lectures, questions, and discussions that follow. One of these, "Medical manage ment of ophthalmic disease," by Dr. Wil liam L. Benedict of the Mayo Clinic, occupies 28 closely typewritten pages. The course on "External diseases of the eye," by Dr. John Green, occupies an equal space. The course on "Physiological optics," by Dr. W. H. Crisp, which was illustrated by lantern slides, fills 30 pages. The two volumes, 420 pages, give the current teaching of 21 of America's best known ophthalmologists. This is a new kind of teaching, and we must find by trial the best form and methods to meet the needs of lifetime students and work ers. Few institutions can do what this medical school is doing. But every sincere effort in this direction will help those who engage in it. Time, winnowing the vari ous methods tried, promises to give to our branch of specialized medicine a great and advancing development. Edward Jackson.
BOOK NOTICES ATLAS CLINIQUE D'OPHTALMOSCOPIE P H O T O G R A P H I Q U E (Clinical atlas of fundus photographs). By H. Tille and A. Couadau. 194 pages with 202 figures. Published by Masson et Cie, Paris, France, 1939, with a preface by J. Mawas. 25 x 32 cm. This book is designed for use by oph thalmologists in general, but particularly for the general practitioner eager for ophthalmoscopy. The atlas of black-andwhite photographic reproductions of the ocular fundus fills a gap between colored drawings, as seen in the usual ophthalmoscopic atlas, and printed descriptions such as are found in the textbooks.
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BOOK NOTICES
The plates, which vary in size—some 6l/2 inches, others 4 j ^ inches, and 3 inches in diameter—are printed on smooth glossy paper that exhibits the various conditions adequately. On the pages facing the plates are to be found brief clinical histories, descriptions, and interpretations of the ophthalmoscopic findings. The legend beneath each plate is in French and English. The authors have succeeded, for the most part, in presenting f undus photo graphs free of annoying reflexes. An in teresting and valuable method of pres entation is that of piecing together photo graphs of various parts of the fundus so that an idea can be obtained of conditions in the periphery in relation to the rest of the fundus. All of the usual ophthalmoscopic con ditions are represented, along with a few of those more rarely seen; for example, angioid streaks, Coat's disease, and chor oidal sclerosis. The pictures of angiospasm are particularly good. Excellent as the atlas undoubtedly is, it but whets one's appetite for an atlas of colored photographs which without ques tion someday will appear. Derrick Vail. GERMAN OPHTHALMOLOGICAL CONGRESS, Meeting of 1938. Paper covers, 534 pages, 207 illustrations. Munich, J. F. Bergmann, 1938. This volume of more than usual size appears well within a year after the meet
ing it records. It is edited by the Secre tary of the Congress, E. Engelking, of Heidelberg. In an organization that holds its fifty-second annual meeting, many new participants appear; some with familiar names now work in new fields of activity. Lindner remains in Vienna, but Lauber, who also attended the meeting, came from Warsaw. Lindner takes up some modifi cations of the intracapsular cataract ex traction, especially describing the Verhoeff forceps for seizing the lens capsule, and the placing of stitches for the corneal incision. Lauber, who presented the first paper at the Congress, discussed the rela tion of the rods and cones in the retina to the isopters of the visual field. The importance of these lines of equal vision, obtained with relatively small test ob jects, was emphasized by Traquair at the meeting of the American Ophthalmological Society in June, 1939. But the Transactions of that meeting have not yet been published. Lauber also had a paper on the use of diathermy in the treatment of beginning choroidal growths. This paper was discussed by 12 of the mem bers. At the Demonstration Session, 32 members of the Congress presented new apparatus, methods of examination, clinical cases, and histological or patho logical specimens. For all who read German this volume contains interesting papers and sugges tions. Edward Jackson.
BOOK NOTICES tional service. The methods and organiza tions for graduate study are just develop ing. And they have to recognize that the student is also a practitioner, giving most of his time to his practice. He who enters honestly upon the practice of medicine and surgery must now face a lifetime of study. Under the stimulus of examining boards, courses of graduate study are rapidly being organized and given. Prob ably 20 such courses on ophthalmology are being given this year in the United States. Generally they consist of clinics and didactic lectures. These are worth seeing and hearing. It is assumed that all graduates have books that they can read, and that they also take journals. The publishers and booksellers keep up a steady supply of new books and last editions. But the real value of books and journals depends upon the way they are used. The man who reads regularly every thing that interests him and connects what he reads with what he already knows, added to his daily experience, is a real graduate student. Those who catch at a new idea and do not think about it, or test it by their own experience, are merely killing time, not studying. The man who attends a graduate course and makes no notes of what he hears, and does not read to follow up what he has been told, may be having a pleasant vaca tion from daily practice, but is not making himself a real student. The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology publishes brief condensations of the instruction courses that are given in connection with its annual meetings. These the student can use for reference to refresh his memory, or to bring up what he has heard to apply to his own cases and more fully to digest when it is most interesting, to him. The George Washington University School of Medicine, for its postgraduate
course in ophthalmology, started by Dr. W. Thornwall Davis, has adopted the plan of supplying those who take the course with type-written reports of the lectures, questions, and discussions that follow. One of these, "Medical manage ment of ophthalmic disease," by Dr. Wil liam L. Benedict of the Mayo Clinic, occupies 28 closely typewritten pages. The course on "External diseases of the eye," by Dr. John Green, occupies an equal space. The course on "Physiological optics," by Dr. W. H. Crisp, which was illustrated by lantern slides, fills 30 pages. The two volumes, 420 pages, give the current teaching of 21 of America's best known ophthalmologists. This is a new kind of teaching, and we must find by trial the best form and methods to meet the needs of lifetime students and work ers. Few institutions can do what this medical school is doing. But every sincere effort in this direction will help those who engage in it. Time, winnowing the vari ous methods tried, promises to give to our branch of specialized medicine a great and advancing development. Edward Jackson.
BOOK NOTICES ATLAS CLINIQUE D'OPHTALMOSCOPIE P H O T O G R A P H I Q U E (Clinical atlas of fundus photographs). By H. Tille and A. Couadau. 194 pages with 202 figures. Published by Masson et Cie, Paris, France, 1939, with a preface by J. Mawas. 25 x 32 cm. This book is designed for use by oph thalmologists in general, but particularly for the general practitioner eager for ophthalmoscopy. The atlas of black-andwhite photographic reproductions of the ocular fundus fills a gap between colored drawings, as seen in the usual ophthalmoscopic atlas, and printed descriptions such as are found in the textbooks.
%
BOOK NOTICES
The plates, which vary in size—some 6l/2 inches, others 4 j ^ inches, and 3 inches in diameter—are printed on smooth glossy paper that exhibits the various conditions adequately. On the pages facing the plates are to be found brief clinical histories, descriptions, and interpretations of the ophthalmoscopic findings. The legend beneath each plate is in French and English. The authors have succeeded, for the most part, in presenting f undus photo graphs free of annoying reflexes. An in teresting and valuable method of pres entation is that of piecing together photo graphs of various parts of the fundus so that an idea can be obtained of conditions in the periphery in relation to the rest of the fundus. All of the usual ophthalmoscopic con ditions are represented, along with a few of those more rarely seen; for example, angioid streaks, Coat's disease, and chor oidal sclerosis. The pictures of angiospasm are particularly good. Excellent as the atlas undoubtedly is, it but whets one's appetite for an atlas of colored photographs which without ques tion someday will appear. Derrick Vail. GERMAN OPHTHALMOLOGICAL CONGRESS, Meeting of 1938. Paper covers, 534 pages, 207 illustrations. Munich, J. F. Bergmann, 1938. This volume of more than usual size appears well within a year after the meet
ing it records. It is edited by the Secre tary of the Congress, E. Engelking, of Heidelberg. In an organization that holds its fifty-second annual meeting, many new participants appear; some with familiar names now work in new fields of activity. Lindner remains in Vienna, but Lauber, who also attended the meeting, came from Warsaw. Lindner takes up some modifi cations of the intracapsular cataract ex traction, especially describing the Verhoeff forceps for seizing the lens capsule, and the placing of stitches for the corneal incision. Lauber, who presented the first paper at the Congress, discussed the rela tion of the rods and cones in the retina to the isopters of the visual field. The importance of these lines of equal vision, obtained with relatively small test ob jects, was emphasized by Traquair at the meeting of the American Ophthalmological Society in June, 1939. But the Transactions of that meeting have not yet been published. Lauber also had a paper on the use of diathermy in the treatment of beginning choroidal growths. This paper was discussed by 12 of the mem bers. At the Demonstration Session, 32 members of the Congress presented new apparatus, methods of examination, clinical cases, and histological or patho logical specimens. For all who read German this volume contains interesting papers and sugges tions. Edward Jackson.