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Hunterdon Medical Center
Book Reviews Health Yearbook 1955. Compiled by OLIVER E. BYRD, ED.D., M.D., F.A.P.H.A. (Pp. Vii -4- 339 ; s 16s.) Stanford University Press. L o n d o n -: Cumberlege, 1956. The compiler of this yearbook is professor of health education and director of the department of hygiene in the School of Education at Stanford University. He has given a wide interpretation of his functions, and strikes the keynote o f the book at the beginning, when he refers to health as being a social accomplishment ; he tells us that his survey gives evidence of greater awareness of this point of view. The sources quoted are, with few exceptions, journals Published in the United States, and they deal with such matters as occupational health, school health, mental health, :and health as a social problem. Safety, physical fitness, habit-forming substances and family health also have chapters devoted to them. The future is considered in the ~ehapter o n " Trends and Possibilities" ; and in that we learn lhat, at its annual meeting in 1955, the American Public H e a l t h Association agreed that the medical profession and ~he State must begin to prepare now for important changes i n health patterns of the United States in the next two decades. T h e stage has been set, we are told, for greater co-operation between the federal government and the nation's health insurance companies. The last item in the book quotes an Associated Press dispatch of December 1955 which stated that the Eisenhower Administration had plans to cover a greater proportion of the population and more major illnesses.
by faulty customs in food and drink and exercise, and sights and sounds and music. Therefore the hygienist must be skilled in all o f these, and must not consider that it concerns the philosopher alone to mould the habit of the m i n d . " Subsequent lectures clealt with the Regimen Sanitatis Of the School of Salerno, about which there is much of interest to say ; and with the quest" for long life which exercised many minds at the time of the Renaissance. One of those who joined in that quest was Luigi Cornato the Venetian. His recommendation for moderation in all things sounds strangely like the praise of the Golden Mean by the philosophers of Ancient Greece. H e put his advice into practice by adopting a diet which Dr. Sigerist estimates at about 1,800 calories per d a y - - a n d he died at the age of 98, in 1565. More than 200 years later there was appointed to the chair of medicine at Pavia Johann Peter Franks, a pioneer of social medicine. He held that the miserable state of the people was a fertile mother of disease, and he was an advocate, at times passionate, of not only medical but also social and economic reforms. The spirit of his work is that of much of what is being done to-day, and the account of his life makes interesting and inspiring reading. In the last of these lectures, Dr. Sigerist discusses the Changing Pattern of Medical Care, and has much to say, on the basis of his wide knowledge and of his long experience of life in four continents, on trends of opinion and plans for action in many countries. I n his practical work he found it most helpful to apply the historical approach to every problem. His readers will be grateful for his publication of these results.
Landmarks in the History of Hygiene. By HENRY E. SIGERIST, M.D., D.LITT., LL.D., D.SC., F.R.C.P. (Pp. ix q- 7 8 ; illustrated ; 12s. 6d.) London : Geoffrey Cumberlege ; Oxford University Press, 1956. This book embodies the Heath Clark Lectures for 1952, which were delivered at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The author is the famous medical historian. He tells us that when he received Professor Mackintosh's invitation to deliver the lectures he was at Amalfi, " sitting in a beautiful garden, writing under a blossoming orange tree with the Mediterranean in full view." A n d so, as he looked at that sea, the cradle of our Western r he decided to p r e s e n t " chapters from the history o f hygiene, episodes and books, and men, who in some way o r other were all connected with the Mediterranean and influenced our views on health and disease." The first chapter deals with Galen's " H y g i e n e . " We are :assured that it is not always a pleasure to read Galen. H e is frequently verbose, often splits hairs, and i, always conr H e is, however, infinitely better than his reputation, a n d his influence cannot be over-estimated. Indeed, it t o o k medicine a very long time to liberate itself from his authority. He was a prolific writer, ~i~l m a n y of the problems with which he deals still exercise us to-day. He deals, f o r example, with infant care and with what would now be galled gerontology. H e holds, moreover, t h a t " hygiene must n o t be somatic alone, but also mental : all hygiene must be lasychosomatic." Farther, "' the habit of mind is impaired
Hunterdon Medical Center. By RAY E. TRUSSEL~, M.D., M.P.rL (Pp. xiii + 236 ; s 10s.) Harvard University Press. London : Cumberlege (Commonwealth Fund), 1956. H u n t e r d o n County, in the State of New Jersey, U.S.A., is a semi-rural area of 435 square miles with a population of about 40,000, and until recently it had no hospital. In 1946 the building of a hospital began to be considered, and as plans were studied the idea of establishing a medical centre was evolved. The building was commenced in 1951 and ot)ened in 1953. It provides for diagnosis and treatment within a full range of specialities and with all ancillary services ; and it also serves as a focus for medical and some of the social services i n the County. It was founded and continues as a voluntary effort of the community, without state subvention. Payment comes from patients, o r from the ingurflnce schemes tO which they contribute ; but there is free service for the indigent. At this early stage much remains uncertain; but the community is shouldering its responsibilities and takes a pride in being self-sufficient and providing its own health services. It is indeed inspiring to read in these pages the story of a venture which shoWs the spirit of self-help to be so fully alive and to learn what can still be done by a community in which there is, appar6htl~, little or no demand for the Welfare State. 13
by faulty customs in food and drink and exercise, and sights and sounds and music. Therefore the hygienist must be skilled in all o f these, and must not consider that it concerns the philosopher alone to mould the habit of the m i n d . " Subsequent lectures clealt with the Regimen Sanitatis Of the School of Salerno, about which there is much of interest to say ; and with the quest" for long life which exercised many minds at the time of the Renaissance. One of those who joined in that quest was Luigi Cornato the Venetian. His recommendation for moderation in all things sounds strangely like the praise of the Golden Mean by the philosophers of Ancient Greece. H e put his advice into practice by adopting a diet which Dr. Sigerist estimates at about 1,800 calories per d a y - - a n d he died at the age of 98, in 1565. More than 200 years later there was appointed to the chair of medicine at Pavia Johann Peter Franks, a pioneer of social medicine. He held that the miserable state of the people was a fertile mother of disease, and he was an advocate, at times passionate, of not only medical but also social and economic reforms. The spirit of his work is that of much of what is being done to-day, and the account of his life makes interesting and inspiring reading. In the last of these lectures, Dr. Sigerist discusses the Changing Pattern of Medical Care, and has much to say, on the basis of his wide knowledge and of his long experience of life in four continents, on trends of opinion and plans for action in many countries. I n his practical work he found it most helpful to apply the historical approach to every problem. His readers will be grateful for his publication of these results.
Landmarks in the History of Hygiene. By HENRY E. SIGERIST, M.D., D.LITT., LL.D., D.SC., F.R.C.P. (Pp. ix q- 7 8 ; illustrated ; 12s. 6d.) London : Geoffrey Cumberlege ; Oxford University Press, 1956. This book embodies the Heath Clark Lectures for 1952, which were delivered at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The author is the famous medical historian. He tells us that when he received Professor Mackintosh's invitation to deliver the lectures he was at Amalfi, " sitting in a beautiful garden, writing under a blossoming orange tree with the Mediterranean in full view." A n d so, as he looked at that sea, the cradle of our Western r he decided to p r e s e n t " chapters from the history o f hygiene, episodes and books, and men, who in some way o r other were all connected with the Mediterranean and influenced our views on health and disease." The first chapter deals with Galen's " H y g i e n e . " We are :assured that it is not always a pleasure to read Galen. H e is frequently verbose, often splits hairs, and i, always conr H e is, however, infinitely better than his reputation, a n d his influence cannot be over-estimated. Indeed, it t o o k medicine a very long time to liberate itself from his authority. He was a prolific writer, ~i~l m a n y of the problems with which he deals still exercise us to-day. He deals, f o r example, with infant care and with what would now be galled gerontology. H e holds, moreover, t h a t " hygiene must n o t be somatic alone, but also mental : all hygiene must be lasychosomatic." Farther, "' the habit of mind is impaired
Hunterdon Medical Center. By RAY E. TRUSSEL~, M.D., M.P.rL (Pp. xiii + 236 ; s 10s.) Harvard University Press. London : Cumberlege (Commonwealth Fund), 1956. H u n t e r d o n County, in the State of New Jersey, U.S.A., is a semi-rural area of 435 square miles with a population of about 40,000, and until recently it had no hospital. In 1946 the building of a hospital began to be considered, and as plans were studied the idea of establishing a medical centre was evolved. The building was commenced in 1951 and ot)ened in 1953. It provides for diagnosis and treatment within a full range of specialities and with all ancillary services ; and it also serves as a focus for medical and some of the social services i n the County. It was founded and continues as a voluntary effort of the community, without state subvention. Payment comes from patients, o r from the ingurflnce schemes tO which they contribute ; but there is free service for the indigent. At this early stage much remains uncertain; but the community is shouldering its responsibilities and takes a pride in being self-sufficient and providing its own health services. It is indeed inspiring to read in these pages the story of a venture which shoWs the spirit of self-help to be so fully alive and to learn what can still be done by a community in which there is, appar6htl~, little or no demand for the Welfare State. 13