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Refraction: Neurophysiological and Psychological Viewpoints
VOL. 67, NO. 3
BOOK REVIEWS
larger vessels and some parts of the microvascular system varying with the tissue stud ied, method of injection, contrast media and so forth. A complete identification of all cap illaries is not achieved by standard microangiographic methods now available. It is ob vious that however sophisticated and con trolled the microangiographic methods may be, it is unlikely that they will provide an exact picture of the true in vivo conditions. However, it appears that with some of the newer methods a closer approximation of the in vivo situation is developing. Not all ophthalmologists will be concerned immediately with the information provided in this text on advances of microcirculation. However, those who are interested in the retinal circulation, the microcirculation in the uveal tract, the anterior segment of the globe, particularly its relationship to circula tory disease processes elsewhere in the body, will find this an enlightening text. Continued publication of additional volumes of this in terdisciplinary approach appears desirable. Irving H. Leopold
REFRACTION :
NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL
AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEWPOINTS. By William
F. Moncrieff. Springfield, 111. Thomas, 1968. Clothbound, 92 pages, index. Price : $5.75. This book reflects the author's interest in the neural and psychologic factors in visual perception over and above the purely optical factors involved in the formation of an image at the fovea centralis. It is essentially a philosophic discussion of the art of refrac tion, not a presentation of the basic princi ples involved in the correction of ametropia. Dr. Moncrieff has devoted more than 50 years to the topic. The psychologic factors are mainly the patients' behavioral responses while having their eyes refracted. The neural factors are approached through discussion of adaptation to astigmatism, which takes over half the
427
brief volume. The author defines such adap tation as the acceptance on subjective testing of less cylinder than was found by skiascopy following instillation of a cycloplegic. Adap tation so defined was found in only 56 of 1,908 eyes of 954 patients between the ages of 6 and 39 years. It occurred most often when mixed astigmatism was present. It was found in but a single patient of 118 with bi lateral astigmatism, aged 65 to 75 years, (236 eyes). In 90 patients with unilateral as tigmatism, aged 6 to 39 years, adaptation oc curred in but one patient also. In patients with astigmatism of 3 to 7 diopters, such ad aptation occurred in four of 47 eyes. The subjective testing of refraction emphasizes the author's enormous background and his insight into the patient's motivation in seek ing correction of his refractive error. The chief value of the book is the analysis of patients with astigmatism in terms of their visual acuity, age, and degree of astig matism. Mislabeling of one of the columns of one key chart detracts somewhat from the author's message, but once recognized, this presents no great difficulty. The case reports are disappointing inas much as many of the patients were seen only once, and also so many years ago that one is curious as to what has happened to their eyes in the quarter-century since they were first examined. A number of sections in the text are con troversial, which the author well recognizes in his introductions to them. However, for the skilled ref ractionist the book is both pro vocative and interesting to read. Frank W. Newell GENETIK. E I N BEITRAG ZUR ATIOLOGIE OKULARER MISSBILDUNGEN. Edited by F.
Hollwich. Stuttgart, Ferdinand Enke Ver lag, 1968. Paperbound, 121 pages, 124 fig ures, 6 tables. This book contains papers given at a meet ing of the Rhein-Main Society of Ophthal mologists in Frankfurt, 1966. This meeting
BOOK REVIEWS
larger vessels and some parts of the microvascular system varying with the tissue stud ied, method of injection, contrast media and so forth. A complete identification of all cap illaries is not achieved by standard microangiographic methods now available. It is ob vious that however sophisticated and con trolled the microangiographic methods may be, it is unlikely that they will provide an exact picture of the true in vivo conditions. However, it appears that with some of the newer methods a closer approximation of the in vivo situation is developing. Not all ophthalmologists will be concerned immediately with the information provided in this text on advances of microcirculation. However, those who are interested in the retinal circulation, the microcirculation in the uveal tract, the anterior segment of the globe, particularly its relationship to circula tory disease processes elsewhere in the body, will find this an enlightening text. Continued publication of additional volumes of this in terdisciplinary approach appears desirable. Irving H. Leopold
REFRACTION :
NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL
AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEWPOINTS. By William
F. Moncrieff. Springfield, 111. Thomas, 1968. Clothbound, 92 pages, index. Price : $5.75. This book reflects the author's interest in the neural and psychologic factors in visual perception over and above the purely optical factors involved in the formation of an image at the fovea centralis. It is essentially a philosophic discussion of the art of refrac tion, not a presentation of the basic princi ples involved in the correction of ametropia. Dr. Moncrieff has devoted more than 50 years to the topic. The psychologic factors are mainly the patients' behavioral responses while having their eyes refracted. The neural factors are approached through discussion of adaptation to astigmatism, which takes over half the
427
brief volume. The author defines such adap tation as the acceptance on subjective testing of less cylinder than was found by skiascopy following instillation of a cycloplegic. Adap tation so defined was found in only 56 of 1,908 eyes of 954 patients between the ages of 6 and 39 years. It occurred most often when mixed astigmatism was present. It was found in but a single patient of 118 with bi lateral astigmatism, aged 65 to 75 years, (236 eyes). In 90 patients with unilateral as tigmatism, aged 6 to 39 years, adaptation oc curred in but one patient also. In patients with astigmatism of 3 to 7 diopters, such ad aptation occurred in four of 47 eyes. The subjective testing of refraction emphasizes the author's enormous background and his insight into the patient's motivation in seek ing correction of his refractive error. The chief value of the book is the analysis of patients with astigmatism in terms of their visual acuity, age, and degree of astig matism. Mislabeling of one of the columns of one key chart detracts somewhat from the author's message, but once recognized, this presents no great difficulty. The case reports are disappointing inas much as many of the patients were seen only once, and also so many years ago that one is curious as to what has happened to their eyes in the quarter-century since they were first examined. A number of sections in the text are con troversial, which the author well recognizes in his introductions to them. However, for the skilled ref ractionist the book is both pro vocative and interesting to read. Frank W. Newell GENETIK. E I N BEITRAG ZUR ATIOLOGIE OKULARER MISSBILDUNGEN. Edited by F.
Hollwich. Stuttgart, Ferdinand Enke Ver lag, 1968. Paperbound, 121 pages, 124 fig ures, 6 tables. This book contains papers given at a meet ing of the Rhein-Main Society of Ophthal mologists in Frankfurt, 1966. This meeting