- Email: [email protected]
Bildhauerei eines arztes
390
BOOK REVIEWS
Although the conference was divided into 6 sessions there was great overlap in the content of each session. The main questions asked were: is there a need for combined vaccines?, what are the problems in production?, is there competition between the antigens?, and, what is the effect on the safety of the vaccines? In the opening address Dr. Jerne dealt historically with the problem of antigen competition from the time such a phenomenon was first recognized in 1904. Herne concluded that as long as the mechanism of antibody formation is not understood fundamental immunology has little to offer by which to predict the occasional interaction of antigens. A most interesting statement in his summary concerned the difference in responses of different animal species because of genetic factors; this statement was not amplified by any other speaker. It was generally agreed that there was a need for combined vaccines if only to decrease the number of injections required for immunization against the important infectious diseases. The use of combined vaccines is only justified, however, if the protection against disease given by each component is at least as good as that of the single component. Several speakers mentioned the antibody responses to different components of combined vaccine both in human and veterinary medicine. Hilleman, Heller and Patel dealt with the respiratory viruses but the majority
of the data from humans concerned quadruple (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and poliomyelitis) or quintuple (quadruple plus inactivated measles) vaccines. Eissuer and Ackerman reported their findings from the veterinary standpoint. A most important section of the symposium was devoted to the assay of potency of combined vaccines and especially the effect that the addition of each new antigen may have on the potency of other components. This problem was closely linked with the measurement of stability of the combined vaccine, so important in view of the loss of potency to both poliomyelitis and pertussis antigens that has already occurred from combined vaccines depending on the particular physicochemical conditions of the mixture. Finally, the part played by adjuvants was discussed with particular reference to the decrease of reactions and the increase and duration of antibody response. There is much to be done in the search for stable, non-reactive, efficiently adjuvanted vaccines containing purified antigens for both medical and veterinary use. The conference was most useful for bringing together those concerned with vaccine production or control to assess the many data in this diverse problem. The report of the symposium is an important record of the proceedings which will be helpful to those working in this field of activity. F. T. PERKINS
Bildhauerei eines Arztes, by ERNST FRAUCHIGER, 148 pages, 40 illustrations, Feuz, Berne, no price quoted.
tion manual but ranges over the sources of artistic drive, its relation to other creative activity and in particular what special strength it may derive from an association with skill in medicine. "Mais le m6decin est ins6parable de l'artiste. L'un guide l'autre, ils s'entraident mutuellement" (Charcot). At the outset he emphasizes its special significance and gives it a place very different from a " h o b b y " like stamp-collecting or photography. A chapter which takes dialogue form but in fact gives the gist of many years discussion with Frau Frauchiger, allows the author to draw an antithesis between the vita activa of surgery and the vita contemplativa of neurology with its relationship to psychological science. He quotes Bernard Shaw's (geistvoll-sarkastische) Doctor's Dilemma. "Walpole has no intellect. A mere surgeon. Wonderful operator; but after all, what is operating? Only manual labour. Brain Brain remains master of the situation." For Charlotte Frauchiger turpentine is perfume and she discusses at some length the influence of the feel of materials on the medium adopted by different artists. But as soon as we forsake the world of the tangible and immediate to enter that of the sub-
Professor Frauchiger is a neuropathologist of wide international repute and the author of an authoritative volume on the comparative neuropathology of man and animals (1957). At the age of 54 he turned seriously to sculpture - - at a parting of the ways in his lifetime (as he puts it) after the completion of the above work. In this he was guided by the experience of his artist wife who had recognized the cathartic, "soulliberating" benefit of creative activity and whose advice he followed in turning to the plastic arts rather than painting. In sculpture he quickly gained recognition as a talented amateur. From his experiences in two seemingly disparate fields Professor Frauchiger has drawn together some general and particular observations, advice and guidance for others who are interested in artistic creation whether or not they are able to follow him in the practical path he has taken. His discourses are for the most part cast in the form of letters to a young colleague who has raised some general problems facing a beginner. The work is not in any sense a practical instruc-
J. neurol. Sci. (1969) 8:388-393
BOOK REVIEWS
391
jective and conceptual, the age-long dispute over the significance of artistic activity emerges. "Painting is colour" says Frau Frauchiger and goes on to maintain that a sure feel for colour (Sicherheit fiir das Gefiihl der Farbe) is to be compared with the gift of absolute pitch in the musician. But what is the sure feel for colour? In the case of pitch we can verify the gift in an acoustic laboratory. How do we know that one man's gift is "sure" and another's unsure? And will a judgement be maintained consistently or will it evolve - - perhaps in relation to the physiological state of the observer? It is a pity that Professor Frauchiger did not allow himself from his background of neuropathology to speculate upon the physiological and neurological basis of what we find beautiful. Can it be that once again it is simply a case of one's own judgement being "orthodoxy" and that of another "heterodoxy"? Tastes vary so much at different periods and the whole history of art and music is so shot through with reassessments and re-evaluations, that it becomes difficult to establish meaningful and intelligent canons of "good" art with more than transient validity. Perhaps the enigma is in some real sense a semantic one. For the experience or message which the artist seeks to transmit can perhaps only be transmitted in the medium he uses and attempts at verbal expression can, from the nature of the problem, be only partially successful. With Professor Frauchiger's thesis that art and science have common roots, few would disagree. He quotes Theodor Billroth's letter to Brahms: " I have never known a great research worker,
either personally or through his biography, who was not a sort of artist, with richly endowed imagination (mit reicher Phantasie und kindh'chem Sinn). Here I am again on my old hobby-horse: Science and Art stem from the same source." He might have referred also to Van 't Hoff's 1magination in Science (recently re-issued in English translation, 1967) where the same point is well made and illustrated. As one reads through Professor Frauchiger's little volume with pleasure and interest one comes upon many striking and witty phrases which shed new light on long accepted beliefs. "La m6decine m~ne ~t tout; pourvu q u ' o n en sort": " G a r zu gerne wird auch mit dem Wort Symbol hantiert, das auf deutsch Sinnbild heisst, obschon bei einigen in diese Kategorie gez/ihlten 'Kunstwerken' weder ein Bild noch ein Sinn zu entdecken sind"; and from Rodin's testament "Die Natur sei cure einzige Gottheit. Glaubt an sie fest und unerschiitterlich." Much of Professor Frauchiger's writing is itself a welcome antidote to the jeremiad from Spengler's Untergang des Abendlandes quoted on p. 115. Here and there in this remarkable and enjoyable little volume the comparative neuropathologist in Professor Frauchiger takes over and such problems as right- and left-handedness are discussed in relation to the problem of hand and brain. Altogether, the reader will enjoy this attempt to yoke together medicine and art and will find more than a hundred references, many with enticing titles for further reading.
An Anthology of Work (Session Reports from the Neurosciences Research Program Bulletin, Vol. 2), by F. O. SCrlMITT, T. MELNECHUK, G. C. QUARTON AND G. ADELMAN (Eds.), 642 pages, MIT Press, Boston, Mass. and London, 1967.
as "authors". Although each chapter was subsequently carefully reviewed and revised and in many causes brought up to date, some of the freshness which derives from a living and lively presentation permeates the text. The contribx~tors present a critical and concise survey of the present state of knowledge and, in many instances, indicate further new and profitable areas for research. Moreover, an attempt is also made to encourage subsequent interdisciplinary communication on these basic issues and "considerable editorial effort has been expended to make the reports readily assimilable by readers from all the neuroscientific disciplines, as well as valuable to specialists in each". The Editors and contributors are to be congratulated on having clearly attained their objective. The format is well designed and the diagrams and illustrations clear and helpful. A n extensive and selected bibliography is given at the end of each chapter.
This is the second volume containing summary reports of symposia previously reported in the Neurosciences Research Program Bulletin (1965, 1966 and 1967), consisting of 6 chapters each constituting what is virtually a monograph on a selected topic from the wide field of the neurosciences. The subjects discussed are: (i) sleep, wakefulness, dreams, and memory; (ii) brain mechanisms in conditioning and learning; (iii) simple systems for the study of learning mechanisms; (iv) brain and nerve proteins: functional correlates; (v) properties of the biogenic amines and (vi) cerebellar circuitry. The main contributions to the individual work sessions are acknowledged experts in their field as indeed are the many participants whom the Editors in their foreword gratefully refer to also
E. J. FIELD
K. SCHAPIRA
J. neurol. Sci. (1969) 8:388-393
BOOK REVIEWS
Although the conference was divided into 6 sessions there was great overlap in the content of each session. The main questions asked were: is there a need for combined vaccines?, what are the problems in production?, is there competition between the antigens?, and, what is the effect on the safety of the vaccines? In the opening address Dr. Jerne dealt historically with the problem of antigen competition from the time such a phenomenon was first recognized in 1904. Herne concluded that as long as the mechanism of antibody formation is not understood fundamental immunology has little to offer by which to predict the occasional interaction of antigens. A most interesting statement in his summary concerned the difference in responses of different animal species because of genetic factors; this statement was not amplified by any other speaker. It was generally agreed that there was a need for combined vaccines if only to decrease the number of injections required for immunization against the important infectious diseases. The use of combined vaccines is only justified, however, if the protection against disease given by each component is at least as good as that of the single component. Several speakers mentioned the antibody responses to different components of combined vaccine both in human and veterinary medicine. Hilleman, Heller and Patel dealt with the respiratory viruses but the majority
of the data from humans concerned quadruple (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and poliomyelitis) or quintuple (quadruple plus inactivated measles) vaccines. Eissuer and Ackerman reported their findings from the veterinary standpoint. A most important section of the symposium was devoted to the assay of potency of combined vaccines and especially the effect that the addition of each new antigen may have on the potency of other components. This problem was closely linked with the measurement of stability of the combined vaccine, so important in view of the loss of potency to both poliomyelitis and pertussis antigens that has already occurred from combined vaccines depending on the particular physicochemical conditions of the mixture. Finally, the part played by adjuvants was discussed with particular reference to the decrease of reactions and the increase and duration of antibody response. There is much to be done in the search for stable, non-reactive, efficiently adjuvanted vaccines containing purified antigens for both medical and veterinary use. The conference was most useful for bringing together those concerned with vaccine production or control to assess the many data in this diverse problem. The report of the symposium is an important record of the proceedings which will be helpful to those working in this field of activity. F. T. PERKINS
Bildhauerei eines Arztes, by ERNST FRAUCHIGER, 148 pages, 40 illustrations, Feuz, Berne, no price quoted.
tion manual but ranges over the sources of artistic drive, its relation to other creative activity and in particular what special strength it may derive from an association with skill in medicine. "Mais le m6decin est ins6parable de l'artiste. L'un guide l'autre, ils s'entraident mutuellement" (Charcot). At the outset he emphasizes its special significance and gives it a place very different from a " h o b b y " like stamp-collecting or photography. A chapter which takes dialogue form but in fact gives the gist of many years discussion with Frau Frauchiger, allows the author to draw an antithesis between the vita activa of surgery and the vita contemplativa of neurology with its relationship to psychological science. He quotes Bernard Shaw's (geistvoll-sarkastische) Doctor's Dilemma. "Walpole has no intellect. A mere surgeon. Wonderful operator; but after all, what is operating? Only manual labour. Brain Brain remains master of the situation." For Charlotte Frauchiger turpentine is perfume and she discusses at some length the influence of the feel of materials on the medium adopted by different artists. But as soon as we forsake the world of the tangible and immediate to enter that of the sub-
Professor Frauchiger is a neuropathologist of wide international repute and the author of an authoritative volume on the comparative neuropathology of man and animals (1957). At the age of 54 he turned seriously to sculpture - - at a parting of the ways in his lifetime (as he puts it) after the completion of the above work. In this he was guided by the experience of his artist wife who had recognized the cathartic, "soulliberating" benefit of creative activity and whose advice he followed in turning to the plastic arts rather than painting. In sculpture he quickly gained recognition as a talented amateur. From his experiences in two seemingly disparate fields Professor Frauchiger has drawn together some general and particular observations, advice and guidance for others who are interested in artistic creation whether or not they are able to follow him in the practical path he has taken. His discourses are for the most part cast in the form of letters to a young colleague who has raised some general problems facing a beginner. The work is not in any sense a practical instruc-
J. neurol. Sci. (1969) 8:388-393
BOOK REVIEWS
391
jective and conceptual, the age-long dispute over the significance of artistic activity emerges. "Painting is colour" says Frau Frauchiger and goes on to maintain that a sure feel for colour (Sicherheit fiir das Gefiihl der Farbe) is to be compared with the gift of absolute pitch in the musician. But what is the sure feel for colour? In the case of pitch we can verify the gift in an acoustic laboratory. How do we know that one man's gift is "sure" and another's unsure? And will a judgement be maintained consistently or will it evolve - - perhaps in relation to the physiological state of the observer? It is a pity that Professor Frauchiger did not allow himself from his background of neuropathology to speculate upon the physiological and neurological basis of what we find beautiful. Can it be that once again it is simply a case of one's own judgement being "orthodoxy" and that of another "heterodoxy"? Tastes vary so much at different periods and the whole history of art and music is so shot through with reassessments and re-evaluations, that it becomes difficult to establish meaningful and intelligent canons of "good" art with more than transient validity. Perhaps the enigma is in some real sense a semantic one. For the experience or message which the artist seeks to transmit can perhaps only be transmitted in the medium he uses and attempts at verbal expression can, from the nature of the problem, be only partially successful. With Professor Frauchiger's thesis that art and science have common roots, few would disagree. He quotes Theodor Billroth's letter to Brahms: " I have never known a great research worker,
either personally or through his biography, who was not a sort of artist, with richly endowed imagination (mit reicher Phantasie und kindh'chem Sinn). Here I am again on my old hobby-horse: Science and Art stem from the same source." He might have referred also to Van 't Hoff's 1magination in Science (recently re-issued in English translation, 1967) where the same point is well made and illustrated. As one reads through Professor Frauchiger's little volume with pleasure and interest one comes upon many striking and witty phrases which shed new light on long accepted beliefs. "La m6decine m~ne ~t tout; pourvu q u ' o n en sort": " G a r zu gerne wird auch mit dem Wort Symbol hantiert, das auf deutsch Sinnbild heisst, obschon bei einigen in diese Kategorie gez/ihlten 'Kunstwerken' weder ein Bild noch ein Sinn zu entdecken sind"; and from Rodin's testament "Die Natur sei cure einzige Gottheit. Glaubt an sie fest und unerschiitterlich." Much of Professor Frauchiger's writing is itself a welcome antidote to the jeremiad from Spengler's Untergang des Abendlandes quoted on p. 115. Here and there in this remarkable and enjoyable little volume the comparative neuropathologist in Professor Frauchiger takes over and such problems as right- and left-handedness are discussed in relation to the problem of hand and brain. Altogether, the reader will enjoy this attempt to yoke together medicine and art and will find more than a hundred references, many with enticing titles for further reading.
An Anthology of Work (Session Reports from the Neurosciences Research Program Bulletin, Vol. 2), by F. O. SCrlMITT, T. MELNECHUK, G. C. QUARTON AND G. ADELMAN (Eds.), 642 pages, MIT Press, Boston, Mass. and London, 1967.
as "authors". Although each chapter was subsequently carefully reviewed and revised and in many causes brought up to date, some of the freshness which derives from a living and lively presentation permeates the text. The contribx~tors present a critical and concise survey of the present state of knowledge and, in many instances, indicate further new and profitable areas for research. Moreover, an attempt is also made to encourage subsequent interdisciplinary communication on these basic issues and "considerable editorial effort has been expended to make the reports readily assimilable by readers from all the neuroscientific disciplines, as well as valuable to specialists in each". The Editors and contributors are to be congratulated on having clearly attained their objective. The format is well designed and the diagrams and illustrations clear and helpful. A n extensive and selected bibliography is given at the end of each chapter.
This is the second volume containing summary reports of symposia previously reported in the Neurosciences Research Program Bulletin (1965, 1966 and 1967), consisting of 6 chapters each constituting what is virtually a monograph on a selected topic from the wide field of the neurosciences. The subjects discussed are: (i) sleep, wakefulness, dreams, and memory; (ii) brain mechanisms in conditioning and learning; (iii) simple systems for the study of learning mechanisms; (iv) brain and nerve proteins: functional correlates; (v) properties of the biogenic amines and (vi) cerebellar circuitry. The main contributions to the individual work sessions are acknowledged experts in their field as indeed are the many participants whom the Editors in their foreword gratefully refer to also
E. J. FIELD
K. SCHAPIRA
J. neurol. Sci. (1969) 8:388-393