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The physician throughout the ages
458
Amencan
Journal
of Surgery
Book
Reviews
BOOK REVIEWS THE PHYSICIAN THROUGHOUT THE AGES. By Arthur SeIwyn-Brown. N. Y., Capehart Brown Co., 1928.
For the pubIication of these two massive volumes IittIe excuse is to be found. The foreword is preceded by a picture of the Editor and foIIowed by James Whitcomb RiIey’s poem “The Doctor.” Chapter I is headed “Primitive Medicine and the MedicaI Man; Antiquity and UniversaIity of Disease; PaIeopathoIogy SuppIies Interesting Evidence” and from there on scissors and paste are used to fiI1 two volumes of over 800 pages each, 12 by g inches, doubIe column. ArticIes are duIy credited to their authors but not aIways to the pIace of origina pubIication. It is not quite cIear for whom this work is intended. Many of the pages read Iike the daiIy tabIoids, others are fairIy scientific. If the idea was to present a complete history of medicine, either popular or scientific, then it may be said that this has been much better done in many other volumes. Taking the books at random we find Chap. XVI in VoIume I on “Rise of the MedicaI Libraries, Foundation of Scientific BioIogy” and we see a bIack-face headIine reading “ AIexandrine Libraries Exert Vast Influence,” foIlowed by this ilIuminating paragraph: “The Iibraries pIayed a great part in diffusing medica and scientific knowIedge, and none appears to have exerted more inffuence than the great Iibrary at AIexandria.” Other headIines read “AristotIe SkiIIed in Dissection” and “AristotIe, the First Scientific BioIogist.” Opening VoIume II at random we come to Chapter XLI headed “Death and its Significance, ImmortaIity Revealed by Anesthesia,” a headIine that must be the envy of the editor of every sensationa newspaper. We aIso find such headings as “Fear of Death is BaseIess” and are suddenIy confronted with a portrait with the caption “ JuIius Wagner-Jauregg, NobIe Prize Man (sic!) in MediM.D., cine, 1927.” Another heading reads “ FataIism, Irony, and Charity” and right after this we find “The BioIogy of Death” by Raymond PearI, M.D. A book of surprises if there ever was one! Book IX has the titIe “The Doctor as an Adventurer in Literature and the 43%
FEARUARY, ,930
Arts: A GaIaxy of AbIe Writers” and here is reprinted “Man’s Redemption of Man: An Inspiring Essay, by WiIIiam OsIer, M.D.” No reference to previous pubIication or permission to repubIish is made. It wouId have, seemed good taste to mention its earIier publication and not to create any possibIe impression of its being written for this work which was pubIished nine years after Sir William’s death. In the foIIowing pages are such headIines as “True UntiI Death,” “Professor Coue Antici“Were the MuIes ResponsibIe?,” pated,” “A MentaI Teaser.” There is much more that is amusing and even irritating in these volumes. There is aIso a IittIe wheat among great quantities of chaff. The bibIiography on page 812 contains the folIowing paragraph: “This bibIiography has been compiIed to guide students to sources for augmented reading. Most of the books cited contain bibIiographica1 references which wiI1 lead to further and uItimate sources whenever more exhaustive studies are required. UnfortunateIy, medica history has been a negIected study and its source materials are rare and are confined to a few of the Iarger European Iibraries.” This statement wiI1 probabIy be a surprise to those who have access to such libraries as the Surgeon GeneraI’s, those of the New York Academy of Medicine, the CoIIege of Physicians in PhiIadeIphia, the John Crerar Library in Chicago, the Boston MedicaI Library, to say nothing of the new WiIIiam WeIch Library, in BaItiis more. Perhaps, however, the statement not so surprising when it is noted that one Iooks in vain for the names of such modern historians as Sudhoff and Garrison, to say nothing of many others. We find the index headed I‘ Index and ChronoIogy of Distinguished Physicians and WorId-Known Authorities.” This is foIIowed by the “Index of Subjects” in which we find such citations as “Arabs Were MentaIIy Keen,” “BibIe Story IIIustrated, A,” “ Libido, The Ego DispIaces StiII Used in MedicaI the,” “Numerology Practice” (turning to this reference we find it discusses the use of numeroIogy by the Arabs). As said before, the work has its amusing as we11 as irritating side and not the Ieast of these is its price-$25.00.
Amencan
Journal
of Surgery
Book
Reviews
BOOK REVIEWS THE PHYSICIAN THROUGHOUT THE AGES. By Arthur SeIwyn-Brown. N. Y., Capehart Brown Co., 1928.
For the pubIication of these two massive volumes IittIe excuse is to be found. The foreword is preceded by a picture of the Editor and foIIowed by James Whitcomb RiIey’s poem “The Doctor.” Chapter I is headed “Primitive Medicine and the MedicaI Man; Antiquity and UniversaIity of Disease; PaIeopathoIogy SuppIies Interesting Evidence” and from there on scissors and paste are used to fiI1 two volumes of over 800 pages each, 12 by g inches, doubIe column. ArticIes are duIy credited to their authors but not aIways to the pIace of origina pubIication. It is not quite cIear for whom this work is intended. Many of the pages read Iike the daiIy tabIoids, others are fairIy scientific. If the idea was to present a complete history of medicine, either popular or scientific, then it may be said that this has been much better done in many other volumes. Taking the books at random we find Chap. XVI in VoIume I on “Rise of the MedicaI Libraries, Foundation of Scientific BioIogy” and we see a bIack-face headIine reading “ AIexandrine Libraries Exert Vast Influence,” foIlowed by this ilIuminating paragraph: “The Iibraries pIayed a great part in diffusing medica and scientific knowIedge, and none appears to have exerted more inffuence than the great Iibrary at AIexandria.” Other headIines read “AristotIe SkiIIed in Dissection” and “AristotIe, the First Scientific BioIogist.” Opening VoIume II at random we come to Chapter XLI headed “Death and its Significance, ImmortaIity Revealed by Anesthesia,” a headIine that must be the envy of the editor of every sensationa newspaper. We aIso find such headings as “Fear of Death is BaseIess” and are suddenIy confronted with a portrait with the caption “ JuIius Wagner-Jauregg, NobIe Prize Man (sic!) in MediM.D., cine, 1927.” Another heading reads “ FataIism, Irony, and Charity” and right after this we find “The BioIogy of Death” by Raymond PearI, M.D. A book of surprises if there ever was one! Book IX has the titIe “The Doctor as an Adventurer in Literature and the 43%
FEARUARY, ,930
Arts: A GaIaxy of AbIe Writers” and here is reprinted “Man’s Redemption of Man: An Inspiring Essay, by WiIIiam OsIer, M.D.” No reference to previous pubIication or permission to repubIish is made. It wouId have, seemed good taste to mention its earIier publication and not to create any possibIe impression of its being written for this work which was pubIished nine years after Sir William’s death. In the foIIowing pages are such headIines as “True UntiI Death,” “Professor Coue Antici“Were the MuIes ResponsibIe?,” pated,” “A MentaI Teaser.” There is much more that is amusing and even irritating in these volumes. There is aIso a IittIe wheat among great quantities of chaff. The bibIiography on page 812 contains the folIowing paragraph: “This bibIiography has been compiIed to guide students to sources for augmented reading. Most of the books cited contain bibIiographica1 references which wiI1 lead to further and uItimate sources whenever more exhaustive studies are required. UnfortunateIy, medica history has been a negIected study and its source materials are rare and are confined to a few of the Iarger European Iibraries.” This statement wiI1 probabIy be a surprise to those who have access to such libraries as the Surgeon GeneraI’s, those of the New York Academy of Medicine, the CoIIege of Physicians in PhiIadeIphia, the John Crerar Library in Chicago, the Boston MedicaI Library, to say nothing of the new WiIIiam WeIch Library, in BaItiis more. Perhaps, however, the statement not so surprising when it is noted that one Iooks in vain for the names of such modern historians as Sudhoff and Garrison, to say nothing of many others. We find the index headed I‘ Index and ChronoIogy of Distinguished Physicians and WorId-Known Authorities.” This is foIIowed by the “Index of Subjects” in which we find such citations as “Arabs Were MentaIIy Keen,” “BibIe Story IIIustrated, A,” “ Libido, The Ego DispIaces StiII Used in MedicaI the,” “Numerology Practice” (turning to this reference we find it discusses the use of numeroIogy by the Arabs). As said before, the work has its amusing as we11 as irritating side and not the Ieast of these is its price-$25.00.