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History of medicine in Nebraska
NEW
SBHIES VOL.
XI, No. I
Book
Reviews
tined hands which sought for heaIth and found onIy death. Innocent victims of the Fate which hovers over the worId, these dead, these poor dead, have not died in vain. Just as much as the soIdiers faIIen in battIe, they are the obscure artisans of the victory, and their unrecognized sacrifice finds its recompense in the health and joy of those saved. How many dead! How many dead! How many Iiving too . . . It is a whoIe peopIe that rises. It is a whoIe worId of Iiving people who are giving, and wiI1 continue to give, life to others. And there is that stronger, more intimate and deeper joy, for those who, in the meditations of their nights, or in the feverish inspiration of some moving moment have forged some new and decisive weapon suffering and death. This wiI1 against survive them and wiI1 proIonq into the future their beneficent activity and wiI1 make the work of their brains a Iiving thing, when their fame shaI1 have disappeared and their name shaI1 be stricken from the memory of men. Gather together, gather together then,
American
Journal
of Surgery
141
ye phantoms who have disappeared, yet who are Iiving at the present moment, ye chiIdren of the future who peopIe our spirits with your shadows and images; ye are the faithfu1 companions of our memories and of our dreams, ye are our despair, our pride, and our hope! Forgive us, ye dead of the past, faIlen on the fieId of honor. Ye are faIIen in the hard battIe which we fought to preserve Iife. ConsoIe us, countIess multitude of the Iiving, muItitude of those whom we have saved, who very often appreciate us no Ionger. ConsoIe us, chiIdren of the future; aIthough ye wiI1 not appreciate it, we gave Iife back to those who wiI1 give it to you. Gather together, dead and Iiving. Let your siIent images rise before us. And before the siIent throng of a11 those who owe and wiI1 owe their Iives to us, as we11 as those whom we have hastened into death, let the voice of our conscience mount into the siIence and come to murmur to the echoes of our souIs that the work of our Iives has not been in vain, that we wiI1 have passed over the earth Iike the pIowman who fertiIizes the pIain, scattering to the four winds of heaven the seed of future harvests.
433 BOOK REVIEWS PIERSOL’S HUMAN ANATOMY. IncIuding Structure and Development and PracticaI Considerations. Ed. g, Revised under the Supervision of G. Car1 Huber, M.D., SC.D, 2 124 pp., I 734 iIIus., of which 1522 are origina and 460 are in coIor. PhiIa., J. B. Lippincott Co., 1930. A truly American textbook and a good one! The reviewer well remembers when a new star burst upon the Anatomical firmament in 1907 and it is with a feeling of sadness that it is noted that of the five men who coIIaborated at that time only one is stiI1 Iiving. Each of them, however, would be proud of this ninth edition of what has, in truth, become a cIassic. Dr. G. Car1 Huber, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Michigan, edits this edition
and in the Preface assumes fuI1 responsibility, though he has had the abIe assistance of Drs. E. L. Eliason, E. P. Pendergrass, R. E. McCotter, E. C. Crosby, L. H. Strong and J. F. Huber. A consistent and uniform B. N. A. NomencIature has been adopted and the newer Neuro Anatomy has been included. In order to make one voIume of over 2100 pages thin paper has had to be used, and for this reason the illustrations, of which there are over 1700, do not show up as we11 as they might. However, as a student’s text, the new Piers01 may- be recommended without reservation. HISTORY
OF MEDICINE
IN NEBRASKA.
AIbert F. TyIer, M.D., Editor, Auerbach, CompiIer. 670 pp. Illus. Magic City Printing Co., 1928.
By
EIIa F. Omaha,
I42
American
Journal
of Surgery
Book
An interesting work particuIarIy, of course, IocaIIy. However, books of this kind, giving the story of medicine in important states and cities, teIIing of the pioneers and of the men who have assisted in the deveIopment of medica science in that community, with the story of the conditions faced and of the medica schooIs and hospitaIs founded, make important source materia1 for medica historians and must furnish a great incentive to the younger physicians of the community. It is interesting to note that in the story of Nebraska, the point is made by the Editor that “There are stiI1 present in our midst two surgeons, J. E. Summers and A. F. Jonas, who were the first in Nebraska educated after aseptic methods were introduced. When they came, the Iate Victor Coffman was doing ovariatomies, wearing IIanneI sIeeveIets over his shirtsIeeves to keep them from getting soiIed. Tracheotomies were a frequent emergency operation in diphtheria cases because of the Iack of antitoxin.” It is perhaps we11 to be reminded in this manner that the proverbia1 “good oId days” incIuded the days before asepsis and that they are so cIose to us, that there are men active in surgery today who practiced at that time. The description of the pubIications issued from Nebraska makes interesting reading, as is the story of the deveIopment of hospitaIs, and medica schooIs. AI1 in aI1, it is a fascinating book and one that we wouId Iike to see dupIicated for every state in the Union. LEGAL MEDICINE AND TOXICOLOGY. By RaIph W. Webster, M.D., PH.D. 862 pp., 4 pIates, 48 iIIus. PhiIa., Saunders, 1930. There has been feIt a distinct need for a onevoIume, authoritative and up-to-date work on LegaI Medicine and ToxicoIogy. This is met by Dr. Webster’s book which wiI1 be found vaIuabIe for reference by every practicing physician and surgeon. Concise and to the point, it covers an unusua1 amount of ground and wiI1 answer most questions in sufficient detai1 for the average physician’s use. Extensive references make it easy to get further information without undue effort. The first chapter on “LegaI Rights and ObIigations of Physicians ” wiI1 probabIy be the most used in the entire book and it is aIone worth the price of the voIume.
Reviews SELECTED READINGS IN THE HISTORY OF PHYSIOLOGY. Ed. by John Farquhar FuIton, M.D. 337 pp., 61 iIIus. SpringfieId, CharIes C. Thomas, 1930. In this book are seIections from the writings of those who have contributed to the development of PhysioIogy, beginning with quotations from GaIen and AristotIe, through such modern authors as Cannon, PavIov, and Cushing. The author has a fITare for seIecting from an author’s work just that materia1 that presents his viewpoint best. Not intended as a History of PhysioIogy, this book actuaIIy gives in concise and readabIe form the source materia1 forming the basis of such a History. No better argument for the presentation of materia1 of this kind to medica students is known to the reviewer than the author’s suggestion to Iet the student “reaIize that men as young as himseIf have made important contributions: that de Graaf at twenty-three years of age devised the first pancreatic f%tuIa; that HeImhoItz at twenty-four measured for the first time the heat production of frog muscIe; that Johannes MiiIIer at twenty-five had enunciated the principIe of specific nerve energies. Let him discover that simpIe facts were once hidden in a fog of fauIty observation and fauIty reasoning, and that it was sometimes the enquiring minds of students Iike himseIf that made matters cIear.” ROENTGEN DOSAGE TABLES FOR THERAPY. By Professor Friedrich Voitz, Head of the RadioIogicaI Department, University CIinic for Women, Munich. London, Oxford Univ. Press, 1930. This IittIe voIume is pecuIiarIy vaIuabIe for the radiotherapist, but a11 too brief. Chapters one to four incIusive discuss the spreading, absorption, and scattering of x-rays, and the various factors that enter into the estimation of the x-ray dosage, incIuding the physica dose, the bioIogica1 dose, the dose quotient, the percentage deep dose, the effective dose, the practica1 dose, and the absoIute unit of dosage. The various methods of measurement are aIso brieffy set forth. Then foIIow three groups of tabIes: I, tabIes of intensity, time, and space factors; 2, tabIes of intensity and absorption factors; 3, tabIes of practica1 doses. The hna1 chapter reIates to the bioIogica1 and to the physica caIibrations.
SBHIES VOL.
XI, No. I
Book
Reviews
tined hands which sought for heaIth and found onIy death. Innocent victims of the Fate which hovers over the worId, these dead, these poor dead, have not died in vain. Just as much as the soIdiers faIIen in battIe, they are the obscure artisans of the victory, and their unrecognized sacrifice finds its recompense in the health and joy of those saved. How many dead! How many dead! How many Iiving too . . . It is a whoIe peopIe that rises. It is a whoIe worId of Iiving people who are giving, and wiI1 continue to give, life to others. And there is that stronger, more intimate and deeper joy, for those who, in the meditations of their nights, or in the feverish inspiration of some moving moment have forged some new and decisive weapon suffering and death. This wiI1 against survive them and wiI1 proIonq into the future their beneficent activity and wiI1 make the work of their brains a Iiving thing, when their fame shaI1 have disappeared and their name shaI1 be stricken from the memory of men. Gather together, gather together then,
American
Journal
of Surgery
141
ye phantoms who have disappeared, yet who are Iiving at the present moment, ye chiIdren of the future who peopIe our spirits with your shadows and images; ye are the faithfu1 companions of our memories and of our dreams, ye are our despair, our pride, and our hope! Forgive us, ye dead of the past, faIlen on the fieId of honor. Ye are faIIen in the hard battIe which we fought to preserve Iife. ConsoIe us, countIess multitude of the Iiving, muItitude of those whom we have saved, who very often appreciate us no Ionger. ConsoIe us, chiIdren of the future; aIthough ye wiI1 not appreciate it, we gave Iife back to those who wiI1 give it to you. Gather together, dead and Iiving. Let your siIent images rise before us. And before the siIent throng of a11 those who owe and wiI1 owe their Iives to us, as we11 as those whom we have hastened into death, let the voice of our conscience mount into the siIence and come to murmur to the echoes of our souIs that the work of our Iives has not been in vain, that we wiI1 have passed over the earth Iike the pIowman who fertiIizes the pIain, scattering to the four winds of heaven the seed of future harvests.
433 BOOK REVIEWS PIERSOL’S HUMAN ANATOMY. IncIuding Structure and Development and PracticaI Considerations. Ed. g, Revised under the Supervision of G. Car1 Huber, M.D., SC.D, 2 124 pp., I 734 iIIus., of which 1522 are origina and 460 are in coIor. PhiIa., J. B. Lippincott Co., 1930. A truly American textbook and a good one! The reviewer well remembers when a new star burst upon the Anatomical firmament in 1907 and it is with a feeling of sadness that it is noted that of the five men who coIIaborated at that time only one is stiI1 Iiving. Each of them, however, would be proud of this ninth edition of what has, in truth, become a cIassic. Dr. G. Car1 Huber, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Michigan, edits this edition
and in the Preface assumes fuI1 responsibility, though he has had the abIe assistance of Drs. E. L. Eliason, E. P. Pendergrass, R. E. McCotter, E. C. Crosby, L. H. Strong and J. F. Huber. A consistent and uniform B. N. A. NomencIature has been adopted and the newer Neuro Anatomy has been included. In order to make one voIume of over 2100 pages thin paper has had to be used, and for this reason the illustrations, of which there are over 1700, do not show up as we11 as they might. However, as a student’s text, the new Piers01 may- be recommended without reservation. HISTORY
OF MEDICINE
IN NEBRASKA.
AIbert F. TyIer, M.D., Editor, Auerbach, CompiIer. 670 pp. Illus. Magic City Printing Co., 1928.
By
EIIa F. Omaha,
I42
American
Journal
of Surgery
Book
An interesting work particuIarIy, of course, IocaIIy. However, books of this kind, giving the story of medicine in important states and cities, teIIing of the pioneers and of the men who have assisted in the deveIopment of medica science in that community, with the story of the conditions faced and of the medica schooIs and hospitaIs founded, make important source materia1 for medica historians and must furnish a great incentive to the younger physicians of the community. It is interesting to note that in the story of Nebraska, the point is made by the Editor that “There are stiI1 present in our midst two surgeons, J. E. Summers and A. F. Jonas, who were the first in Nebraska educated after aseptic methods were introduced. When they came, the Iate Victor Coffman was doing ovariatomies, wearing IIanneI sIeeveIets over his shirtsIeeves to keep them from getting soiIed. Tracheotomies were a frequent emergency operation in diphtheria cases because of the Iack of antitoxin.” It is perhaps we11 to be reminded in this manner that the proverbia1 “good oId days” incIuded the days before asepsis and that they are so cIose to us, that there are men active in surgery today who practiced at that time. The description of the pubIications issued from Nebraska makes interesting reading, as is the story of the deveIopment of hospitaIs, and medica schooIs. AI1 in aI1, it is a fascinating book and one that we wouId Iike to see dupIicated for every state in the Union. LEGAL MEDICINE AND TOXICOLOGY. By RaIph W. Webster, M.D., PH.D. 862 pp., 4 pIates, 48 iIIus. PhiIa., Saunders, 1930. There has been feIt a distinct need for a onevoIume, authoritative and up-to-date work on LegaI Medicine and ToxicoIogy. This is met by Dr. Webster’s book which wiI1 be found vaIuabIe for reference by every practicing physician and surgeon. Concise and to the point, it covers an unusua1 amount of ground and wiI1 answer most questions in sufficient detai1 for the average physician’s use. Extensive references make it easy to get further information without undue effort. The first chapter on “LegaI Rights and ObIigations of Physicians ” wiI1 probabIy be the most used in the entire book and it is aIone worth the price of the voIume.
Reviews SELECTED READINGS IN THE HISTORY OF PHYSIOLOGY. Ed. by John Farquhar FuIton, M.D. 337 pp., 61 iIIus. SpringfieId, CharIes C. Thomas, 1930. In this book are seIections from the writings of those who have contributed to the development of PhysioIogy, beginning with quotations from GaIen and AristotIe, through such modern authors as Cannon, PavIov, and Cushing. The author has a fITare for seIecting from an author’s work just that materia1 that presents his viewpoint best. Not intended as a History of PhysioIogy, this book actuaIIy gives in concise and readabIe form the source materia1 forming the basis of such a History. No better argument for the presentation of materia1 of this kind to medica students is known to the reviewer than the author’s suggestion to Iet the student “reaIize that men as young as himseIf have made important contributions: that de Graaf at twenty-three years of age devised the first pancreatic f%tuIa; that HeImhoItz at twenty-four measured for the first time the heat production of frog muscIe; that Johannes MiiIIer at twenty-five had enunciated the principIe of specific nerve energies. Let him discover that simpIe facts were once hidden in a fog of fauIty observation and fauIty reasoning, and that it was sometimes the enquiring minds of students Iike himseIf that made matters cIear.” ROENTGEN DOSAGE TABLES FOR THERAPY. By Professor Friedrich Voitz, Head of the RadioIogicaI Department, University CIinic for Women, Munich. London, Oxford Univ. Press, 1930. This IittIe voIume is pecuIiarIy vaIuabIe for the radiotherapist, but a11 too brief. Chapters one to four incIusive discuss the spreading, absorption, and scattering of x-rays, and the various factors that enter into the estimation of the x-ray dosage, incIuding the physica dose, the bioIogica1 dose, the dose quotient, the percentage deep dose, the effective dose, the practica1 dose, and the absoIute unit of dosage. The various methods of measurement are aIso brieffy set forth. Then foIIow three groups of tabIes: I, tabIes of intensity, time, and space factors; 2, tabIes of intensity and absorption factors; 3, tabIes of practica1 doses. The hna1 chapter reIates to the bioIogica1 and to the physica caIibrations.