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The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics
368
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
standably devotes most of the introductory chapters to the author's instrument, an ex cellent one, which has been widely accepted in ophthalmology. The successive chapters in this small volume delineate the use of cryosurgery in each of the tissues in the eye. Cryosurgery of the ciliary body is well dis cussed, and this technique has certainly proved a boon for patients with advanced glaucoma and is particularly admired by the corneal transplant surgeons. Perhaps the only area of disagreement might be found in the author's discussion of cryosurgery of the cornea for herpes. Dr. Amoils admits that low temperatures of themselves give poor, inconsistent results in recurrent and deep stromal herpes and he therefore is now combining corneal cryosurgery with topical application of human immune serum. Most American workers in this field feel cryo surgery of the injured epithelium is simply another mechanism for removing damaged cells and viral particles and that it has, no particular advantage over other debridement techniques Advances in the treatment of corneal herpetic infections probably will lie in the direction of less toxic antiviral agents rather than with mechanical destruc tion of corneal tissue. Most of the fundus photographs and the histologie pictures in the text appear to have been made from Kodachromes and con sequently are indistinct. The line drawings are, however, informative. This is a useful monograph for those who wish to know more about a valuable modality in everyday use in ophthalmology. DAVID SHOCH
THE PHARMACOLOGICAL BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS, 5th ed. By Louis S. Goodman
and Alfred Gilman. New York, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975. Clothbound, 1704 pages, table of contents, index. $30 In this fifth edition of Goodman and
MARCH, 1976
Gilman's textbook on pharmacology the edi tors have retained the same general orga nization of the previous edition while ex tensively revising the text. Older material has been condensed or omitted and consid erable new material has been integrated into the text. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate as a second messenger, prostaglandins as drugs and mediators or pharmacologically important reactions, hypothalamic regula tory hormones, bioavailability and bioequivalence, membrane-controlled delivery of drugs and compliance to therapy are all considered in this edition. The sections re lated to ophthalmic pharmacology are par ticularly well organized, current, and au thoritative. This textbook, which has been a classic since it first appeared 35 years ago, remains an essential reference for all physicians. MICHAEL A. KASS BERNARD BECKER
THE YEAR BOOK OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
1975.
Edited by William F. Hughes. Chicago, Year Book Medical Publishers, 1975. Clothbound, 398 pages, table of contents, index, 83 black and white figures. $20 The Year Book of Ophthalmology 1975 marks the 75th anniversary of the begin ning of the publication of the year book series. However, this current series on oph thalmology did not begin until 1901-1902. The first year book of ophthalmology, en titled "The Eye," was edited by Casey A. Wood and he was followed by a distin guished group: Charles P. Small, Louis Bothman, E. V. L. Brown, Derrick Vail, and since 1959 William F. Hughes. This series must be distinguished from the Ophthalmic Year Book that first ap peared in 1904 and was edited by Edward Jackson. He was joined in 1905 by George deSchweinitz and in 1907 by T. B. Schneiderman. The name of the publication was changed to Ophthalmic Literature in 1911 and provided a monthly listing of articles
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
standably devotes most of the introductory chapters to the author's instrument, an ex cellent one, which has been widely accepted in ophthalmology. The successive chapters in this small volume delineate the use of cryosurgery in each of the tissues in the eye. Cryosurgery of the ciliary body is well dis cussed, and this technique has certainly proved a boon for patients with advanced glaucoma and is particularly admired by the corneal transplant surgeons. Perhaps the only area of disagreement might be found in the author's discussion of cryosurgery of the cornea for herpes. Dr. Amoils admits that low temperatures of themselves give poor, inconsistent results in recurrent and deep stromal herpes and he therefore is now combining corneal cryosurgery with topical application of human immune serum. Most American workers in this field feel cryo surgery of the injured epithelium is simply another mechanism for removing damaged cells and viral particles and that it has, no particular advantage over other debridement techniques Advances in the treatment of corneal herpetic infections probably will lie in the direction of less toxic antiviral agents rather than with mechanical destruc tion of corneal tissue. Most of the fundus photographs and the histologie pictures in the text appear to have been made from Kodachromes and con sequently are indistinct. The line drawings are, however, informative. This is a useful monograph for those who wish to know more about a valuable modality in everyday use in ophthalmology. DAVID SHOCH
THE PHARMACOLOGICAL BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS, 5th ed. By Louis S. Goodman
and Alfred Gilman. New York, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975. Clothbound, 1704 pages, table of contents, index. $30 In this fifth edition of Goodman and
MARCH, 1976
Gilman's textbook on pharmacology the edi tors have retained the same general orga nization of the previous edition while ex tensively revising the text. Older material has been condensed or omitted and consid erable new material has been integrated into the text. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate as a second messenger, prostaglandins as drugs and mediators or pharmacologically important reactions, hypothalamic regula tory hormones, bioavailability and bioequivalence, membrane-controlled delivery of drugs and compliance to therapy are all considered in this edition. The sections re lated to ophthalmic pharmacology are par ticularly well organized, current, and au thoritative. This textbook, which has been a classic since it first appeared 35 years ago, remains an essential reference for all physicians. MICHAEL A. KASS BERNARD BECKER
THE YEAR BOOK OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
1975.
Edited by William F. Hughes. Chicago, Year Book Medical Publishers, 1975. Clothbound, 398 pages, table of contents, index, 83 black and white figures. $20 The Year Book of Ophthalmology 1975 marks the 75th anniversary of the begin ning of the publication of the year book series. However, this current series on oph thalmology did not begin until 1901-1902. The first year book of ophthalmology, en titled "The Eye," was edited by Casey A. Wood and he was followed by a distin guished group: Charles P. Small, Louis Bothman, E. V. L. Brown, Derrick Vail, and since 1959 William F. Hughes. This series must be distinguished from the Ophthalmic Year Book that first ap peared in 1904 and was edited by Edward Jackson. He was joined in 1905 by George deSchweinitz and in 1907 by T. B. Schneiderman. The name of the publication was changed to Ophthalmic Literature in 1911 and provided a monthly listing of articles