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The postmortem examination
NEW SERIES VOL.XLI,
No.3
Book
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEDICAL PRACTICE. A UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO TEXT IN APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY. By CharIes Herbert Best, M.D. and Norman Burke TayIor, M.D. BaItimore: William Wood & Co., 1937. Price $10. This is an important book, and every physician, either a young or an old graduate, would do well in making it compuIsory reading. Had we our way we would have medical students own a copy for undergraduate study, and postgraduate perusal. It wouId prove a good investment. In the Preface the authors state, “ . . . we fee1 that the teacher of physioIogy in a medical school owes it to his students, whose uItimate interest it must be conceded is in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, to emphasize those aspects of the subject which wiI1 throw Iight upon disorders of function. The physiologist can in this way pIay a part in giving the student and practitioner a vantage point from which they may gain a rationa view of pathoIogica1 processes.” When the authors teI1 us that they have “endeavored to write a book which wiI1 serve to link the Iaboratory and the cIinic. . . .” we hasten to state that they have fuIfiIIed these promises. There would be no sense or reason in going minuteIy into the contents. Suffice, that the subject is thoroughIy covered, and that the authors are men of wide reputation and one has no desire to debate the controversia1 points of their conclusions. We wouId have reviewed this work earIier except we put it aside for our very Iate night reading, and have been a Iong time going through it. It opened a new world to us after three decades, a time when we had to be interested in such matters. We found we reread certain parts and chapters. There was so much of interest to one engaged in the practice of medicine that every page seemed more instructive and fascinating than the one that had gone before. WhiIe we have been writing this inadequate review we opened the book, and found ourseIf reading in it here and there instead of getting this pIeasant task compIeted. The book is 1684 pages Iong, has a coIored frontispiece, 3gg ihustrations, an ampIe Index, and a hundred pages devoted to References.
Reviews
American
Journal
of Surgery
339
A good book, and a vaIuabIe one; it deserves a wide popuIarity. THE Sidney CharIes
POSTMORTEM EXAMINATION. By Farber, M.D. SpringfieId, 1937. C. Thomas. Price $3.50.
This book makes avaiIabIe an orderIy presentation of the methods used in the performance of a compIete autopsy. Dr. Farber says, “The medica student shouId be encouraged to deveIop the ‘autopsy habit’ earIy in his career.” The author aIso teIIs us that the best way to Iearn autopsy technique is in the autopsy room, under the direction of a skilled pathoIogist. For the beginner, however, Dr. Farber’s monograph may serve as an introduction to the actua1 performance of an autopsy and as a means of shortening the period of ineffective work and distress characteristic of the earIy days in any new fieId. After an historical introduction the following chapters are offered : Genera1 Considerations, Equipment, ReguIations Governing the Postmortem Examination, Inspection of the Body, RemovaI of the Viscera, The Crania1 Vault and SpinaI Cord, Section of the Viscera, Examination of the Skeleton, Autopsy Technique for SpeciaI Cases, SpeciaI Procedures, and Postmortem Examinations on Infants and ChiIdren. In the appendix are tabIes of average weights or organs, a copy of the report of the New York Committee on RuIes Governing PathoIogists and Undertakers, and a protoco1 by Virchow. There are thirty-two iIIustrations and an index. Teachers of pathoIogy can Iist this book for student use with the knowIedge that they are recommending a soIid work on this subject.
SOME FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE CANCER PROBLEM. Symposium Sponsored by the Section on the MedicaI Sciences of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Edited by Henry BaIdwin Ward. New York, 1937. The Science Press. Price $2.50. This book of 248 pages represents a coIIection of the papers on the various aspects of cancer read at the meeting heId at AtIantic City, December 29, rg$January I, 1937. The thirty-one papers comprising the voIume cover the foIIowing broad fieIds: Heredity and Constitutiona Factors (seven articIes) ; In-
No.3
Book
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEDICAL PRACTICE. A UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO TEXT IN APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY. By CharIes Herbert Best, M.D. and Norman Burke TayIor, M.D. BaItimore: William Wood & Co., 1937. Price $10. This is an important book, and every physician, either a young or an old graduate, would do well in making it compuIsory reading. Had we our way we would have medical students own a copy for undergraduate study, and postgraduate perusal. It wouId prove a good investment. In the Preface the authors state, “ . . . we fee1 that the teacher of physioIogy in a medical school owes it to his students, whose uItimate interest it must be conceded is in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, to emphasize those aspects of the subject which wiI1 throw Iight upon disorders of function. The physiologist can in this way pIay a part in giving the student and practitioner a vantage point from which they may gain a rationa view of pathoIogica1 processes.” When the authors teI1 us that they have “endeavored to write a book which wiI1 serve to link the Iaboratory and the cIinic. . . .” we hasten to state that they have fuIfiIIed these promises. There would be no sense or reason in going minuteIy into the contents. Suffice, that the subject is thoroughIy covered, and that the authors are men of wide reputation and one has no desire to debate the controversia1 points of their conclusions. We wouId have reviewed this work earIier except we put it aside for our very Iate night reading, and have been a Iong time going through it. It opened a new world to us after three decades, a time when we had to be interested in such matters. We found we reread certain parts and chapters. There was so much of interest to one engaged in the practice of medicine that every page seemed more instructive and fascinating than the one that had gone before. WhiIe we have been writing this inadequate review we opened the book, and found ourseIf reading in it here and there instead of getting this pIeasant task compIeted. The book is 1684 pages Iong, has a coIored frontispiece, 3gg ihustrations, an ampIe Index, and a hundred pages devoted to References.
Reviews
American
Journal
of Surgery
339
A good book, and a vaIuabIe one; it deserves a wide popuIarity. THE Sidney CharIes
POSTMORTEM EXAMINATION. By Farber, M.D. SpringfieId, 1937. C. Thomas. Price $3.50.
This book makes avaiIabIe an orderIy presentation of the methods used in the performance of a compIete autopsy. Dr. Farber says, “The medica student shouId be encouraged to deveIop the ‘autopsy habit’ earIy in his career.” The author aIso teIIs us that the best way to Iearn autopsy technique is in the autopsy room, under the direction of a skilled pathoIogist. For the beginner, however, Dr. Farber’s monograph may serve as an introduction to the actua1 performance of an autopsy and as a means of shortening the period of ineffective work and distress characteristic of the earIy days in any new fieId. After an historical introduction the following chapters are offered : Genera1 Considerations, Equipment, ReguIations Governing the Postmortem Examination, Inspection of the Body, RemovaI of the Viscera, The Crania1 Vault and SpinaI Cord, Section of the Viscera, Examination of the Skeleton, Autopsy Technique for SpeciaI Cases, SpeciaI Procedures, and Postmortem Examinations on Infants and ChiIdren. In the appendix are tabIes of average weights or organs, a copy of the report of the New York Committee on RuIes Governing PathoIogists and Undertakers, and a protoco1 by Virchow. There are thirty-two iIIustrations and an index. Teachers of pathoIogy can Iist this book for student use with the knowIedge that they are recommending a soIid work on this subject.
SOME FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE CANCER PROBLEM. Symposium Sponsored by the Section on the MedicaI Sciences of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Edited by Henry BaIdwin Ward. New York, 1937. The Science Press. Price $2.50. This book of 248 pages represents a coIIection of the papers on the various aspects of cancer read at the meeting heId at AtIantic City, December 29, rg$January I, 1937. The thirty-one papers comprising the voIume cover the foIIowing broad fieIds: Heredity and Constitutiona Factors (seven articIes) ; In-