The treatment of burns

The treatment of burns

BOOK REVIEWS 385 The book numbers 631 pages and there are 374 iIIustrations. There is aIso a bibliography and an ampIe index. To a11 physicians enga...

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BOOK REVIEWS

385

The book numbers 631 pages and there are 374 iIIustrations. There is aIso a bibliography and an ampIe index. To a11 physicians engaged in this type of work this vaIuabIe book is seriousIy recommended. “The PrincipIes of Anatomy as Seen in the Hand”* appeared originally during the first World War in 1914. It was written, as the author tells us, because the many war injuries that invoIved the functiona1 use of the hands in civiIian Iife formed at that time an outstanding problem in the passage of discharge from miIitary service, Therefore, “ It seemed obvious that no proper assessment of military disabIement couId be transIated into terms of civiIian disabiIity unIess the functiona anatomy of the hand was properIy reaIized. This resuIted in a series of lectures as a part of the course of instruction of officers of the R.A.M.S.C. at the Special MiIitary SurgicaI HospitaI, Shepard’s Bush.” NaturaIIy, this edition was out of print and out of date for many years. Therefore, a new edition was practicaIIy rewritten which incIudes six new chapters and twenty new iIIustrations. Written by the Professor of Anatomy, at the University of Manchester, the book is fundamentaIIy and scientificaIIy sound. Added to this a freeIy flowing styIe makes a rather dry subject interesting and engaging. The illustrations are good. There is an unstinted bibIiography for those who wish to deIve deeper into the subject and the index of subjects is aIso ampIe. In these times every surgeon in civiIian practice and, above aI1, every surgeon in the armed forces, wouId do we11 to give this work on the “Anatomy as Seen in the Hand” his serious attention. The treatment of burns offers debatabIe aspects. Many years ago the probIem was settled by the housewife who rubbed Iard on her scalded child. Decades passed and in the laboratory research workers attempted to determine the exact nature of burn “toxemia.” There is a wide guIf and lack of adjustment between the two. Dr. Harkins has presented a11 sides of the question, and in the writing of his monograph? has contributed a great dea1. Anyone who reads “The * The F.R.S.,

Principles of Anatomy as Seen in the Hand. By Frederick Wood Jones, D.SC., Second Edition. BaItimore, ,942. The Williams Bi WiIkins Company.

F.R.C.S.

Price $7.50. t The Treatment of Burns. By Springfield, 1942. Charles C. Thomas.

Henry N. Harkins, Price $6.50.

M.S.,

M.D.,

PH.D.,

F.A.C.S.

386

BOOK REVI EM’S

Treatment of Burns” is sure to view the subject from a new and broader viewpoint. This comprehensive work on burn therapy concerns itseIf with pathoIogy, chemistry and bIood concentration. It deaIs with primary and secondary shock, the r8Ie of the adrenaIs, of Auid Ioss, of toxins and of bacteria in burns. We Iearn of the earIy and Iate compIications in burns, of genera1 and IocaI treatmtnt, of the new discoveries and of recent internationa1 deveIopments. Burns disfigure; hence earIy and Iate pIastic treatments are considered. SpeciaI burns, regiona burns, eIectrica1 and radiation burns, chemica1 burns, and freezing, as we11 as war burns and industria1 burns are a11incIuded in this text. Today a book of this character is timeIy and needed. It is we11 written; the pubIisher has given us a good book to Iook at and to hold. It is niceIy iIIustrated, contains a Iengthy bibIiography and an index of both authors and subjects. Richard C. Cabot, Iate Professor of CIinicaI Medicine, at Harvard University, first pubIished his “PhysicaI Diagnosis”* in Igoo. Since then tweIve editions and many reprintings have come off the press (the tweIfth edition was by Cabot and Adams), and now the thirteenth edition is by Dr. Adams. What Doctor of Medicine, graduated during the Iast forty years, does not know of Cabot’s PhysicaI Diagnosis? (It is hard for us to say Cabot and Adams “ PhysicaI Diagnosis” by F. D ennette Adams, but, no doubt, in time we wiI1 Iearn.) The writer bought a copy whiIe a medica student about thirty-six years ago. It fascinated him. He has owned and used other editions since then. Something “new has been added” to each new edition. Medicine does not stand stiI1, and the first “ PhysicaI Diagnosis” seems an anemic IittIe thing aIongside this new 888-page voIume. We do not review this “standard” in order that you make its acquaintance; we are simpIy teIIing you that Dr. Adams has revised and brought up to date this old friend. Much new materia1 has been added; many sections and passages have been rewritten and the iIIustrative materia1 has’been modernized by repIacing many of the oIder iIIustrations with better ones. The pubIishers write on the jacket that “it wiI1 continue to be the first choice of teachers.” Perhaps, after aI1, this is onIy a mere statement of fact. We are happy this oId friend is still with us. * Cabot and Adams Physical Diagnosis. By F. Dennette Adams, M.D. New Thirteenth Edition. BaItimore, 1942. The WiIIiams & WiIkins Company. Price $3.00.