- Email: [email protected]
British medical bulletin. Causation of cancer
723
BOOK KEVIEWS
Thr:e excerpts may serve to indicate that this book is not without its lighter moments. In one of the essays on Darwin, there is an excerpt from the London ?‘imes of Sept. 19, 1870: “. . . we look to men of Science rather for obserl-ation than for imagination.” The United States Chamber of Commerce might not be amused (but I was) at the following pithy ranking of the 4 Peirce boys: “ . . . J arnes . . became a prominent mathematician at Harvard; Charles . has received belated recognition for his discoveries in logic and philosophy; Benjamin . . brilliant but undisciplined, Finally, there is the wonderdied in early manhood; Herbert. . . was a Cambridge businessman.” ful apocryphal legend about Peirce playing cards with his mathematical sons. The story goes that no one ever actually played out a hand, since each mathematician would study his hand, make some calculations based on the theory of probabilities, and pay the winner. Louis Lasagna
BRITISH MEDICAL BULLETIN. Causation of Cancer. Introduction by Alexander Haddoa. \.‘ol 14, No. 2. Published by Medical Llepartment, The British Council, 65 Davies St., Lordon, \I;. 1, England, May, 1958. Pp. 73-196. Price $4.00. This issue of the British Medical Bulletin is concerned chiefly with our present knowledge of chemical and radiation carcinogenesis and the reports of the 27 contributors constitute a successor to the 1947 number of the Bulletin which dealt with similar topics. Haddow reviews the several classes of chemical carcinogens and their modes of action. Boyland considers critically the biologic examination of carcinogenic substances. Bielschowsky and Horning outline certain aspects of endocrine carcinogenesis and suggest several factors pertinent to the endocrine therapyof human neoplastic disease. Peacock summarizes the current status of avian carcinogenesis and Green restates and expands his universal immunologic theory of cancer. The other articles in this volume re\,iew the biologic effects of certain chemical carcinogens, their chemical nature, the metabolic changes they participate in, and the environmental hazards they represent to man. Radiation-induced leukemia in man and lower animals is considered as is the induction of skin and thyroid tumors and the fundamental dose-response relationships therein involved. Each of these papers is authoritative, clearly written, and supplemented by an adequate bibliography. Each provides an inclusive distillate of a specialized area of knowledge which is accompanied by the critical comment of a seasoned investigator. ;\lbert H. Owens, Jr.
PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE. By T. Ii. Harrison, M.D., Raymond D. A%dams, M.D., Ivan L. Bennett, Jr., M.D., \Villiam H. Resnik, M.D., George \$T. Thorn, M.D., and M. M. \\Xntrobe, M.D. Ed. 3. New York, 1958, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. Pp. 1,782, indexed. Price $18.50. The editors and their numerous co-contributors have come up with a considerably revised version of this established text. The changes are generally for the better, and the editors are to be congratulated for their lack of complacency. There are still weak sections, but the book is indeed a useful and informative one as it stands. Of some interest is the generous sprinkling of young contributors. Some of the best sectionsbrief, meaty, well-written-are by these ~:len. Louis Lasagna
PHYSICAL w’ilkins
DIAGNOSIS. By F. Denette Adams, Price $12.00. Co. Pp. 926, indexed.
M.D.
Ed. 14. Baltimore,
1958, u’illiams&
I can still recall with trepidation my course in physical diagnosis in medical school-the maddening chaos of heart sounds and murmurs, the endless percussion practice with the inevitable sore finger, the blue skin pencils, the joint hatred directed at the guy who claimed he could hear
BOOK KEVIEWS
Thr:e excerpts may serve to indicate that this book is not without its lighter moments. In one of the essays on Darwin, there is an excerpt from the London ?‘imes of Sept. 19, 1870: “. . . we look to men of Science rather for obserl-ation than for imagination.” The United States Chamber of Commerce might not be amused (but I was) at the following pithy ranking of the 4 Peirce boys: “ . . . J arnes . . became a prominent mathematician at Harvard; Charles . has received belated recognition for his discoveries in logic and philosophy; Benjamin . . brilliant but undisciplined, Finally, there is the wonderdied in early manhood; Herbert. . . was a Cambridge businessman.” ful apocryphal legend about Peirce playing cards with his mathematical sons. The story goes that no one ever actually played out a hand, since each mathematician would study his hand, make some calculations based on the theory of probabilities, and pay the winner. Louis Lasagna
BRITISH MEDICAL BULLETIN. Causation of Cancer. Introduction by Alexander Haddoa. \.‘ol 14, No. 2. Published by Medical Llepartment, The British Council, 65 Davies St., Lordon, \I;. 1, England, May, 1958. Pp. 73-196. Price $4.00. This issue of the British Medical Bulletin is concerned chiefly with our present knowledge of chemical and radiation carcinogenesis and the reports of the 27 contributors constitute a successor to the 1947 number of the Bulletin which dealt with similar topics. Haddow reviews the several classes of chemical carcinogens and their modes of action. Boyland considers critically the biologic examination of carcinogenic substances. Bielschowsky and Horning outline certain aspects of endocrine carcinogenesis and suggest several factors pertinent to the endocrine therapyof human neoplastic disease. Peacock summarizes the current status of avian carcinogenesis and Green restates and expands his universal immunologic theory of cancer. The other articles in this volume re\,iew the biologic effects of certain chemical carcinogens, their chemical nature, the metabolic changes they participate in, and the environmental hazards they represent to man. Radiation-induced leukemia in man and lower animals is considered as is the induction of skin and thyroid tumors and the fundamental dose-response relationships therein involved. Each of these papers is authoritative, clearly written, and supplemented by an adequate bibliography. Each provides an inclusive distillate of a specialized area of knowledge which is accompanied by the critical comment of a seasoned investigator. ;\lbert H. Owens, Jr.
PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE. By T. Ii. Harrison, M.D., Raymond D. A%dams, M.D., Ivan L. Bennett, Jr., M.D., \Villiam H. Resnik, M.D., George \$T. Thorn, M.D., and M. M. \\Xntrobe, M.D. Ed. 3. New York, 1958, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. Pp. 1,782, indexed. Price $18.50. The editors and their numerous co-contributors have come up with a considerably revised version of this established text. The changes are generally for the better, and the editors are to be congratulated for their lack of complacency. There are still weak sections, but the book is indeed a useful and informative one as it stands. Of some interest is the generous sprinkling of young contributors. Some of the best sectionsbrief, meaty, well-written-are by these ~:len. Louis Lasagna
PHYSICAL w’ilkins
DIAGNOSIS. By F. Denette Adams, Price $12.00. Co. Pp. 926, indexed.
M.D.
Ed. 14. Baltimore,
1958, u’illiams&
I can still recall with trepidation my course in physical diagnosis in medical school-the maddening chaos of heart sounds and murmurs, the endless percussion practice with the inevitable sore finger, the blue skin pencils, the joint hatred directed at the guy who claimed he could hear