Textbook of Histology

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AMERICAK ,JOURKAL OF OBSTE'l'lUCS A~j) UYC>il<:COLOU\'

In the seeon•l volume are taken up ob~tPtl'il's !lilt! gyneeology; ••ndoninulogy; urology; proctology. Dermatology and syphilology are in preparation. The• Pndo, <•rine aspects of the ovary are not inchu1Pd umlpr ewlocrinology, as they have bP('ll dealt with to some extent undf'r ohstetril'H and gyneeology. This publication has the advantage of its loo~e-leaf format with the posHihility of keeping it constantly up to rlat~. 1!. T. Fran/.·. The Bodanskys, Meyer and Oscar, have produf'.ed a general treati8e of medicinf:', Biochemistry of Di.Yease.,24 viewed :from the angle of biochemistry. Within its 684 pageR, the relation of biochemistry to the understanding of the pathogenesis, the cour~e and the treatment of disease is shown in a clear, sequential and understandable fashion. This very difficult ac.hievement has been ac.complished by leaving out many elementary discussions and details of laboratory technique, and by arranging the material according to elinieal entities. Nevertheless, innumerable of the current and t•.onstantly uHed procedures are given in suffieient detail to bt> readily followecl by the dinieian. The subjects have been coveret.l in 18 chapters which include diseases o:f blood, heart, respiratory, kidney and urinary tracts; the digestive tracts, the liver ant! biliary systems also are dealt with. The ehapter on enuocrinology includes pancreas, adrenals, pituitary, thyroid parathyroid, and male and female gonads. The diseases of bone, muscle, disorders of nutrition and o:f metabolism are taken up. 'rhe final chapter ineludes neurologic and psychiatric llisonlers. It is surprising how this immense amount of material has been incorporated in one volume in sueh a clear-cut and readily understandable fashion. The bibliographies at the end of the chapters also make the book of value for reference. Any physician or surgeon who is interested in :following the steady advances of biochemistry, will find this book of utmost importance to him, either for referring to individual facts or by gradual rereading the individual chapters to clarify his knowledge, and to enable him to understand what biochemical laboratory tests really signify. --R. T. Frwnk. Biological Sympos·ia,25 edited by Jaques Cattell, was conceived to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the cell theory attributed2 to Schleiden and Schwann. The monograph covers the cell theory, mating types, and their mating action in the ciliate infusoria and their chromosome structure, written by numerous well-known workers in this field. These articles plainly show that Schleiden and Schwann have received too much credit, as many predecessors whose work dates back for more than two hundred years had laid the :foundation stones upon which the cell theory was actually based. Moreover, the intervening century has demonstrated that, as originally conceived, this theory requires many modifications. Nevertheless, the popularization of the cell concept must be crellited with having speedell up the work immeasurably. The articles make most interesting reading both for the profession and for the laity. -R. T. Fw,nk.

The eighth edition of Jordan's Textbook of H·istology2u has appeared. 'rhis standard textbook has slowly developed and erystallized since it fir8t was published in 1916. In the present edition, the chapters on muscle, endocrine organs, the female reproductive system, and the blood vascular system have undergone par· ticularly thorough revision. The author has wisely dropped the chapter on histologic technique and directions for laboratory work. This is an adequate textbook, very well illustrated, with illustrations drawn from standard sources, and some of the illustrations in colors. Another improvement is "Biochemistry of Disease. By Meyer Bodansky, M.D., and Oscar Bo<1ansky, M.D. 684 pages. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1940. 211Biologlcal Symposia, F..d!ted by Jaques Cattell, E<1itor of The American Naturalist and American Men of Science. 238 pages, Illustrated. The Jaques Cattell Press, Lancaster, Pa., 1940. 26 A Textbook of Histology, By Harvey Ernest Jordan, Professor of Anatomy and Director of Anatomical Laboratories, University of Virginia. Eighth edition, 690 pages. 609 illustrations. D. Appleton-Century Co .. Inc., New York, 1940.

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a bibliography which concludes the volume, because this book is not only useu by medical students, but is of utmost value to physicians in looking up the fundamental morphology. The concept of the endocrine glands is somewhat loo~ely drawn as many will still take exception to including the carotid and coccygeal glands among the endocrine organs, and would prefer to have the pancreas as well as the male and female gonads more closely associated with the endocrines. Erwh e
The first Chilean Surgical Congress2< was held in 1939. Its proceedings arP contained in a large, handsome volume of 565 pages. 'fhe three themes officially assigned were acute pancreatitis, treatment of uterine fibroids (surgical, radio· thera.peutic, as well as experimental, the latter based on the fundamental observa· tions of Nelson made in 1937), and fractures of the neck of the femur. In arldition, a series of articles covering various surgical and gynecologic-obstetric subjects were reported. The participants in this activity were mainly from Chile and Argentina although other South American state~ were repre;o;entf'· ment to provide promptly available services to meet the existing asphyxial mortality of the 1,000 deaths a week in the United States, and that such an organization he the leaders in directing resuscitation teams. There is a critical review of the latest views relating to the agents commonly employed as basal anesthetics. This section should be of interest in the consideration of the various methods of relieving pain in labor which are eommonly employed. Flagg states in regard to chloroform that it should cease to be used as an anesthetic in obstetrics and regards gas-oxygen as valuable only as an analgesic in obstetric.s. He says that full-term babies in utero are more susceptible to ethylene gas than their mothers; therefore, the gas is not safe for operative obstetrics. There is an excellent chapter on the p08toperative nursing of the patient wh<• has had various types of inhalation anesthesia. For the benefit of students, as well as anesthetists, he has provided a new chapter on preanesthetie physical examina" tions. Obstetric anesthesia forms the subject of a well-thought-out section. In connec· tion witll the suggestion that anesthetists direct resuscitation efforts, the chapter on artificial respiration has been entirely rewritten. In the chapter on the cau>
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27Primer

Congreso

Chileno y

Santiago de Chile, 1939.

Ameri•·ano de Clrurgla.

Imprenta, Unlversitaria.

By Paluel J. Flagg, M.D .• Visiting Anaesthetist to Manhattan Eye and Flar Hospital, etc., New York. Sixth edition, revised. With 161 Illustrations, 491 pages. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1939. "'Manual of Public Jlealth Nursing. Prepared by the National Organization fol' Public H-ealth NUr~Sing. Third edition, 529 pages. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1939. "'The Art of Anesthesia.