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Reviews or Books
482 is audible, and the failure of any one of these gases, particularly oxygen, can be a great nuisance. The apparatus here described (fig. 1) gives audible warning of failure of gas pressure ; it, was made by a local plumber out of scrap material. The illustrations are half scale. The " saucepan " G (fig. 2) is surmounted by a thin rubber diaphragm F which rises when it is fed with gas from the reduction valve at the normal 5 lb. to the square inch or so, and is of course in parallel with the rotameter or other The diaphragm balloons, as in the ghost fig. 3, instrument. and raises the plunger E. As a result the tube J feeding the whistle is nipped between, the very blunt knife edges B and B,
shown in fig. 3. The whistle K, which is supplied with air under pressure from an ordinary Junker bulb (not shown), is then unable to sound. When the gas pressure to the apparatus fails (empty cylinder, kinked or pinched tube, or otherwise) the plunger E falls and the whistle sounds. The rods o and c work in their holes D to compel the rising knife edge on the plunger B to keep vertically in line with its mate on the fixed upper member A. I have two of these gadgets bolted side by side to my rotameter plus carbon-dioxide absorber circuit ; the two are fed by a single Junker bulb. I have had them in use for over a year with satisfaction. a&
’
W. H. MARSHALL,
MB CAMB.
Reviews or Books Studien am- menschlichen Sperma CHARLES A. JoEL. (Schwabe. Pp. 154. Sw. fr.20.) THIS book is intended as a comprehensive account, of the human spermatozoon, the discovery of which Dr. Joel rightly attributes to the elusive Johann Ham, and not, like so many authors, to Leeuwenhoek. The author follows carefully the early history of our knowledge of spermatozoa and his arrangement of the material and full references will be valuable to later historians of the subject. On modern matters the standard of the book varies. - It includes a useful account of Dr. Joel’s own study of 1330 ejaculates, with technical details of collection, preparation and microscopical study, and with figures of the various kinds of abnormal spermatozoa and other bodies sometimes occurring in semen. He considers that human spermatozoa live up to 48 hours in the woman’s body. The account of the enzymes of semen is useful. The part of the book concerned with chemical action on spermatozoa is the weakest. The old work of Köl1iker, Giinther and Gellhorn is described, but the large modern studies of the subject under the Birth Control Investigation Committee and other bodies are scarcely mentioned. The study of chemical contraception has been mainly British and American, and the outlook of this book is essentially mid-European. The works of Baker, Dickinson and Voge are not mentioned, and among a total of 538 references only four are to the Journal of Contraception. Diseases of the Breast Diagnosis, Pathology, Treatment. CHARLES F. GESOHICKTER, MA, MD, with a section on treatment in collaboration with MURRAY M. COPELAND, AB, MD, FACS. (Lippincott. Pp. 829. 72s.)) CoNGBPTJ-ONS of the- pathology of the mammary gland harN’e" undergone profound changes during the past twenty years, which have had their effect on diagnosisand treatment. There is thus room for this book, which gives a full account of breast pathology from the modern standpoint. The endocrinology of the mammary gland is reviewed, including the results of animal experiments and! the interpretation of histological studies. Evidence on which endocrine treatment of the different forms of " chronic mastitis " are based is clearly set forth, with details and results of treatment. The end of it all, after 280 pages, is the statement that " the best form of endocrine therapy in all forms of chronic cystic mastitis is normal pregnancy and lactation, and this should be recommended to the patient whenever feasible." This counsel of sanity is not new : it was expressed twenty years ago by Keynes (Brit. J. MMy. 1923, 11, 89). Artificial endocrine therapy has a limited place, and may even
have
dangers.
The statistical basis for
estimating’the
relation of chronic mastitis to cancer is notoriously difficult to free from error, yet there does seem to be some evidence that innocent epithelial hyperplasia in the mammary gland indicates a predisposition to cancer. The value of irradiation in combination with surgery in the treatment of mammary cancer is underestimated, it This may be because of different seems, in the USA. standards in dosage ; in the Baltimore clinics the dosage given is much lower than that customary in this country. Advocates of radical surgery do not always face squarely the problems which they themselves create ; thus even in this otherwise comprehensive book lymphatic oedema of the arm, a common sequel of radical surgery, is completely ignored. A reference is made to cedema caused by axillary metastases, but the only form of treatment offered is one that has long since been discredited. Taken as a whole, this is the important contribution to the subject of breast pathology and surgery which might be expected from the school of Halsted and Bloodgood. The Foot NORMAN C. LAKE, MD, MS, D SC LOND., FBCS. Pp. 432. 15s..) IN the third edition of this useful book much new matter has been added on such clinical conditions as trench foot, march fracture, immersion foot and foot fatigue in industry and the Services. The addition of figs. 13-17 is somewhat unfortunate. When fig. 15 was published originally Pocock (Brit. med. J. 1942, i, 454) suggested that the drawings of the feet labelled " macaque " and " gibbon " were so unlike the feet of these animals that they had possibly been labelled in error. The footnote, on p. 33 of the book, does not meet his well-founded objections to the representation of the foot of the " mountain " gorilla (unfortunately depicted again in fig. 76). The point at issue is not whether this gorilla is a separate species, but that the figure of its foot as given by Akeley is not a just representation of the foot of any gorilla. It is also a, pity that fig. 8 (present in previous editions), designed to show the relative proportions of the tarsal and pretarsal elements in embryo and adult, does not accurately maintain the proportions of the original figure of Schultz from which it is taken. Criticism of these details cannot detract from the merits of the book as whole. The sections that they illustrate are more or less ornamental introduction to the main subject and it is upon the first-hand observations of clinical conditions (rather than the contributions of clinicians to the subject of the morphology of the foot) that the book is to be judged. Estimated by these it clearly meets a definite need, and meets it well.
(3rd ed.) (Baillière.
War-time Food for Mother and Child GEOFFREY H. BOURNE, D sc. (Oxford Univ. Pres. 2s.
Pp.
78.
6d.))
Tms small book contains an astonishing aiaount- of information, much of it not easily found elsewhere, about the nutritional needs of pregnant and nursing mothers, of embryos and of children, and about the means of satisfying them. It is largely concerned with the accessory food-factors, mineral and organic, their sources, preservation, administration and dosage, with’ the balance of the diet, and the optimum quantities of the staple war-time foods. Dr. Bourne states his facts exactly and with restraint, though he seems to put the claims of the accessory food factors as chief determinants of health rather high and to hope greater things from dietetic reform than clinical experience appears to justify. It is not quite clear for whom the book is intended. Its language is non-technical, though it sometimes lapses into laboratory jargon, and it contains detailed advice and practical hints in plenty ; but the practical suggestions are interspersed and hedged about with tables and decimal points which may discourage busy mothers in search of simple directions, and will not greatly enlighten the erudite. Perhaps it will be most useful as a thought provoker to those who have to feed mothers and babies or- to advise them about their- diet and who have become set in their ways. Here are facts and propositions to unsettle them and make them think.
,
shown in fig. 3. The whistle K, which is supplied with air under pressure from an ordinary Junker bulb (not shown), is then unable to sound. When the gas pressure to the apparatus fails (empty cylinder, kinked or pinched tube, or otherwise) the plunger E falls and the whistle sounds. The rods o and c work in their holes D to compel the rising knife edge on the plunger B to keep vertically in line with its mate on the fixed upper member A. I have two of these gadgets bolted side by side to my rotameter plus carbon-dioxide absorber circuit ; the two are fed by a single Junker bulb. I have had them in use for over a year with satisfaction. a&
’
W. H. MARSHALL,
MB CAMB.
Reviews or Books Studien am- menschlichen Sperma CHARLES A. JoEL. (Schwabe. Pp. 154. Sw. fr.20.) THIS book is intended as a comprehensive account, of the human spermatozoon, the discovery of which Dr. Joel rightly attributes to the elusive Johann Ham, and not, like so many authors, to Leeuwenhoek. The author follows carefully the early history of our knowledge of spermatozoa and his arrangement of the material and full references will be valuable to later historians of the subject. On modern matters the standard of the book varies. - It includes a useful account of Dr. Joel’s own study of 1330 ejaculates, with technical details of collection, preparation and microscopical study, and with figures of the various kinds of abnormal spermatozoa and other bodies sometimes occurring in semen. He considers that human spermatozoa live up to 48 hours in the woman’s body. The account of the enzymes of semen is useful. The part of the book concerned with chemical action on spermatozoa is the weakest. The old work of Köl1iker, Giinther and Gellhorn is described, but the large modern studies of the subject under the Birth Control Investigation Committee and other bodies are scarcely mentioned. The study of chemical contraception has been mainly British and American, and the outlook of this book is essentially mid-European. The works of Baker, Dickinson and Voge are not mentioned, and among a total of 538 references only four are to the Journal of Contraception. Diseases of the Breast Diagnosis, Pathology, Treatment. CHARLES F. GESOHICKTER, MA, MD, with a section on treatment in collaboration with MURRAY M. COPELAND, AB, MD, FACS. (Lippincott. Pp. 829. 72s.)) CoNGBPTJ-ONS of the- pathology of the mammary gland harN’e" undergone profound changes during the past twenty years, which have had their effect on diagnosisand treatment. There is thus room for this book, which gives a full account of breast pathology from the modern standpoint. The endocrinology of the mammary gland is reviewed, including the results of animal experiments and! the interpretation of histological studies. Evidence on which endocrine treatment of the different forms of " chronic mastitis " are based is clearly set forth, with details and results of treatment. The end of it all, after 280 pages, is the statement that " the best form of endocrine therapy in all forms of chronic cystic mastitis is normal pregnancy and lactation, and this should be recommended to the patient whenever feasible." This counsel of sanity is not new : it was expressed twenty years ago by Keynes (Brit. J. MMy. 1923, 11, 89). Artificial endocrine therapy has a limited place, and may even
have
dangers.
The statistical basis for
estimating’the
relation of chronic mastitis to cancer is notoriously difficult to free from error, yet there does seem to be some evidence that innocent epithelial hyperplasia in the mammary gland indicates a predisposition to cancer. The value of irradiation in combination with surgery in the treatment of mammary cancer is underestimated, it This may be because of different seems, in the USA. standards in dosage ; in the Baltimore clinics the dosage given is much lower than that customary in this country. Advocates of radical surgery do not always face squarely the problems which they themselves create ; thus even in this otherwise comprehensive book lymphatic oedema of the arm, a common sequel of radical surgery, is completely ignored. A reference is made to cedema caused by axillary metastases, but the only form of treatment offered is one that has long since been discredited. Taken as a whole, this is the important contribution to the subject of breast pathology and surgery which might be expected from the school of Halsted and Bloodgood. The Foot NORMAN C. LAKE, MD, MS, D SC LOND., FBCS. Pp. 432. 15s..) IN the third edition of this useful book much new matter has been added on such clinical conditions as trench foot, march fracture, immersion foot and foot fatigue in industry and the Services. The addition of figs. 13-17 is somewhat unfortunate. When fig. 15 was published originally Pocock (Brit. med. J. 1942, i, 454) suggested that the drawings of the feet labelled " macaque " and " gibbon " were so unlike the feet of these animals that they had possibly been labelled in error. The footnote, on p. 33 of the book, does not meet his well-founded objections to the representation of the foot of the " mountain " gorilla (unfortunately depicted again in fig. 76). The point at issue is not whether this gorilla is a separate species, but that the figure of its foot as given by Akeley is not a just representation of the foot of any gorilla. It is also a, pity that fig. 8 (present in previous editions), designed to show the relative proportions of the tarsal and pretarsal elements in embryo and adult, does not accurately maintain the proportions of the original figure of Schultz from which it is taken. Criticism of these details cannot detract from the merits of the book as whole. The sections that they illustrate are more or less ornamental introduction to the main subject and it is upon the first-hand observations of clinical conditions (rather than the contributions of clinicians to the subject of the morphology of the foot) that the book is to be judged. Estimated by these it clearly meets a definite need, and meets it well.
(3rd ed.) (Baillière.
War-time Food for Mother and Child GEOFFREY H. BOURNE, D sc. (Oxford Univ. Pres. 2s.
Pp.
78.
6d.))
Tms small book contains an astonishing aiaount- of information, much of it not easily found elsewhere, about the nutritional needs of pregnant and nursing mothers, of embryos and of children, and about the means of satisfying them. It is largely concerned with the accessory food-factors, mineral and organic, their sources, preservation, administration and dosage, with’ the balance of the diet, and the optimum quantities of the staple war-time foods. Dr. Bourne states his facts exactly and with restraint, though he seems to put the claims of the accessory food factors as chief determinants of health rather high and to hope greater things from dietetic reform than clinical experience appears to justify. It is not quite clear for whom the book is intended. Its language is non-technical, though it sometimes lapses into laboratory jargon, and it contains detailed advice and practical hints in plenty ; but the practical suggestions are interspersed and hedged about with tables and decimal points which may discourage busy mothers in search of simple directions, and will not greatly enlighten the erudite. Perhaps it will be most useful as a thought provoker to those who have to feed mothers and babies or- to advise them about their- diet and who have become set in their ways. Here are facts and propositions to unsettle them and make them think.
,