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Medicine
154
BRITISH VETERINARY JOURNAL,
122,
4
MEDICINE By F. R. BELL Department of Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, London
Before I 945 the student of veterinary medicine had to rely upon a few textbooks such as George Wooldridge's encyclopaedia of veterinary medicine, the large and detailed compendium of Hutyra and Marek and later in this period the book by Udall entitled The Practice of Veterinary Medicine. In the smallanimal field there were even fewer specialist books to be read, and those available included Hamilton Kirk's works on diagnosis and radiology. After the war the British Veterinary Association attempted to bridge the gap in farm animal medicine by producing handbooks written by groups of authors got together by the Technical Development Committee of the Association. Since I 945 the position has been completely transformed so that today the number of textbooks available is large and not only is a coverage of most aspects of veterinary medicine catered for, but textbooks are beginning to appear which consider special subjects in depth, for example diseases of the skin, radiology and anaesthesia. Several of these textbooks have emanated from the United States and in the main they are of high standard. Many of the books produced today have a large number of authors, which allows the editor to accumulate specialist knowledge of different aspects of a problem, but very often produces an uneven text. In addition to the increased number of general textbooks including, for example, Blood and Henderson on farm animals, there are a number of specialist books arriving on the scene which deal with problems that were never considered before 1945, e.g. Hafez's book, Behaviour of Domestic Animals. Other books have appeared which provide the very necessary information on the technical background needed for the improvement of clinical diagnosis, e.g. Cornelius and Kaneko on clinicn! biochemistry, the text by Stevenson and Wilson on clinical aspects of metabolic diseases and Sprent on aspects of nematode immunology. Veterinary medicine has also been helped tremendously by the improvement in the research publications which have sprung up since 1945 in all fields of veterinary endeavour, e.g. the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences devoted a single issue to comparative cardiology. The many books of a review nature, such as Advances in Veterinary Science, contain much information compiled and digested by specialists for the general reader. If there is an aspect of veterinary medicine which still remains neglected then it is the realm of herd medicine, which is principally preventive medicine. Even here a good book has recently appeared by White and Jordan and the newer texts on veterinary pathology, bacteriology and toxicology help to provide the necessary bibliographical cover. The improvement in the textual background of veterinary medicine has had great effects on the teaching of the subject. Before 1945 the student of veterinary medicine because of the dearth of textbooks had to rely heavily on extensive notes taken down during the actual lecture time. These lecture notes were of immeasurable value when they were provided by a man who had studied his problem, for example those compiled from J. W. H. Holmes' lectures on skin
VETERINARY TEXTBOOKS: SUCCESSES AND OMISSIONS
ISS
conditions of the dog. The lack of textbooks also produced a situation, which still persists in some measure even now, in which teachers dictated notes during a lecture and these were written down verbatim and learned later for reproduction in examinations. This situation has now mostly disappeared, for today, because textbooks and specialist articles are readily available, a teacher can develop his subject and initiate in undergraduates a desire to seek knowledge using the facilities of the library and laboratory. REFERENCES
ANNALs oF THE NEw YoRK AcADEMY oF SciENcEs (196s). 127, I-87S· BLooD, D. C. & HENDERSON, J. A. (1963). Veterinary Medicine, London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. BRANDLEY, C. A. & jUNGHERR, E. J. (Ed.). Advances in Veterinary Science. New York and London : Academic Press. CoRNELIUs, C. E. & KANEKO, J. J. (1963). Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals. New York and London: Academic Press. HAFEZ, E. S. E. (1962). The Behaviour of Domestic Animals. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. HuTYRA, MAREK and MANNINGER (1946). Special Pathology and Therapeutics of the Diseases of Domestic Animals, sth ed., ed. R. Greig. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. KIRK, HAMILTON ( 1953). The Index of Diagnosis, 4th ed. London: Bail\iere, Tindall and Cox. SPRENT, J. F. A. (1963). Parasitism. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. STEVENSON, D. E. & Wilson, A. A. ( 1963). Metabolic Disorders in Domestic Animals. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. WHITE, E. G. &joRDAN, F. T. W. (1963). Veterinary Preventive Medicine. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. WooLDRIDGE, G. H. ( 1934). Encyclopaedia of Veterinary Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics. Oxford University Press. UDALL, D. H. (I9S4)· The Practice of Veterinary Medicine. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox.
By
SURGERY J. s. A. SPREULL
Department of Veterinary Surgery, University of Edinburgh
In the English language, literature relative to the discipline of veterinary surgery ranges from pocket books on first-aid, through textbooks on surgical principles and topographical operative surgery, to monographs on particular conditions. The quality of the publications over the last ten years varies greatly but it is certainly true that textbooks covering the subjects genera1ly embraced by surgery r.how numerous and important omissions in areas of knowledge which are taught to undergraduates and required by postgraduates. Veterinary textbooks on the important art and science of clinical diagnosis which embraces the techniques of taking evidence from clients, examining patients, clinical methods, radiology, neurological examination and the examination of animals for soundness are reasonably well covered. Although a series of text-books on applied anatomy is nearing completion there is no textbook on surgical anatomy which meets the requirements of the veterinary surgeon, nor is there an appropriate textbook covering veterinary surgical pathology.
BRITISH VETERINARY JOURNAL,
122,
4
MEDICINE By F. R. BELL Department of Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, London
Before I 945 the student of veterinary medicine had to rely upon a few textbooks such as George Wooldridge's encyclopaedia of veterinary medicine, the large and detailed compendium of Hutyra and Marek and later in this period the book by Udall entitled The Practice of Veterinary Medicine. In the smallanimal field there were even fewer specialist books to be read, and those available included Hamilton Kirk's works on diagnosis and radiology. After the war the British Veterinary Association attempted to bridge the gap in farm animal medicine by producing handbooks written by groups of authors got together by the Technical Development Committee of the Association. Since I 945 the position has been completely transformed so that today the number of textbooks available is large and not only is a coverage of most aspects of veterinary medicine catered for, but textbooks are beginning to appear which consider special subjects in depth, for example diseases of the skin, radiology and anaesthesia. Several of these textbooks have emanated from the United States and in the main they are of high standard. Many of the books produced today have a large number of authors, which allows the editor to accumulate specialist knowledge of different aspects of a problem, but very often produces an uneven text. In addition to the increased number of general textbooks including, for example, Blood and Henderson on farm animals, there are a number of specialist books arriving on the scene which deal with problems that were never considered before 1945, e.g. Hafez's book, Behaviour of Domestic Animals. Other books have appeared which provide the very necessary information on the technical background needed for the improvement of clinical diagnosis, e.g. Cornelius and Kaneko on clinicn! biochemistry, the text by Stevenson and Wilson on clinical aspects of metabolic diseases and Sprent on aspects of nematode immunology. Veterinary medicine has also been helped tremendously by the improvement in the research publications which have sprung up since 1945 in all fields of veterinary endeavour, e.g. the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences devoted a single issue to comparative cardiology. The many books of a review nature, such as Advances in Veterinary Science, contain much information compiled and digested by specialists for the general reader. If there is an aspect of veterinary medicine which still remains neglected then it is the realm of herd medicine, which is principally preventive medicine. Even here a good book has recently appeared by White and Jordan and the newer texts on veterinary pathology, bacteriology and toxicology help to provide the necessary bibliographical cover. The improvement in the textual background of veterinary medicine has had great effects on the teaching of the subject. Before 1945 the student of veterinary medicine because of the dearth of textbooks had to rely heavily on extensive notes taken down during the actual lecture time. These lecture notes were of immeasurable value when they were provided by a man who had studied his problem, for example those compiled from J. W. H. Holmes' lectures on skin
VETERINARY TEXTBOOKS: SUCCESSES AND OMISSIONS
ISS
conditions of the dog. The lack of textbooks also produced a situation, which still persists in some measure even now, in which teachers dictated notes during a lecture and these were written down verbatim and learned later for reproduction in examinations. This situation has now mostly disappeared, for today, because textbooks and specialist articles are readily available, a teacher can develop his subject and initiate in undergraduates a desire to seek knowledge using the facilities of the library and laboratory. REFERENCES
ANNALs oF THE NEw YoRK AcADEMY oF SciENcEs (196s). 127, I-87S· BLooD, D. C. & HENDERSON, J. A. (1963). Veterinary Medicine, London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. BRANDLEY, C. A. & jUNGHERR, E. J. (Ed.). Advances in Veterinary Science. New York and London : Academic Press. CoRNELIUs, C. E. & KANEKO, J. J. (1963). Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals. New York and London: Academic Press. HAFEZ, E. S. E. (1962). The Behaviour of Domestic Animals. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. HuTYRA, MAREK and MANNINGER (1946). Special Pathology and Therapeutics of the Diseases of Domestic Animals, sth ed., ed. R. Greig. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. KIRK, HAMILTON ( 1953). The Index of Diagnosis, 4th ed. London: Bail\iere, Tindall and Cox. SPRENT, J. F. A. (1963). Parasitism. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. STEVENSON, D. E. & Wilson, A. A. ( 1963). Metabolic Disorders in Domestic Animals. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. WHITE, E. G. &joRDAN, F. T. W. (1963). Veterinary Preventive Medicine. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. WooLDRIDGE, G. H. ( 1934). Encyclopaedia of Veterinary Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics. Oxford University Press. UDALL, D. H. (I9S4)· The Practice of Veterinary Medicine. London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox.
By
SURGERY J. s. A. SPREULL
Department of Veterinary Surgery, University of Edinburgh
In the English language, literature relative to the discipline of veterinary surgery ranges from pocket books on first-aid, through textbooks on surgical principles and topographical operative surgery, to monographs on particular conditions. The quality of the publications over the last ten years varies greatly but it is certainly true that textbooks covering the subjects genera1ly embraced by surgery r.how numerous and important omissions in areas of knowledge which are taught to undergraduates and required by postgraduates. Veterinary textbooks on the important art and science of clinical diagnosis which embraces the techniques of taking evidence from clients, examining patients, clinical methods, radiology, neurological examination and the examination of animals for soundness are reasonably well covered. Although a series of text-books on applied anatomy is nearing completion there is no textbook on surgical anatomy which meets the requirements of the veterinary surgeon, nor is there an appropriate textbook covering veterinary surgical pathology.