Venereal Disease : Its Prevention, Symptoms and Treatment

Venereal Disease : Its Prevention, Symptoms and Treatment

t934. PUBLIC HEALTH. The Literature of Preventive A Synopsis el Hygiene. By W. WILSON JAMESON, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., D.P.tt., Professor of Public He...

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t934.

PUBLIC HEALTH.

The Literature of Preventive A Synopsis el Hygiene. By W. WILSON JAMESON, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., D.P.tt., Professor of Public Health, London University ; Director, Public Health Division, London School of Hygiene ; and G. S. PARKINSON, D.S.O., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H., Lieut.-Col. R.A.M.C. (Ret.), Assistant Director, Public Itealth Division, London School of Hygiene. London : J. and A. Churchill, Ltd., 1934. pp. 619. Price 21s. net. In this, the fourth edition of this well-known and widely read text-book, in addition to carrying out a considerable amount of re-arrangement of sections, the authors have brought the information given well up to date, and have added a great deal that is new. All that has been done has increased the value and usefulness of the volume, and makes it easier to recommend it for the purpose for which, and to those for whom, it was originally prepared.

Heredity and the Social Problem Group. By E. J. LIDBETTER. Vol. I. London : Edward Arnold and Co., 1933. pp. 160. Price 21s. net. In this volume are embodied the findings of an unusually painstaking and difficult investigation which has extended over 18 years. The main conclusions reached by the author are that in the area investigated the persons who, on frequent occasions, have become chargeable to the rates and require public assistance, constitute a well-defined group exhibiting the following characteristics: a high degree of fertility, a tendency to' assortative mating (i.e., for like to mate with like), and a tendency to beget a surprisingly large number of mentally and physically defective children and grandchildren. The research upon which the book is based was backed by the Eugenics Society through a special committee. It is claimed as a contribution to sociology of the greatest importance, and that its counterpart does not exist elsewhere. The evidence it provides of the inheritance of specific physical and mental disability--the data upon which the conception of a " social problem group was first arrived at--renders it of importance to everyone concerned with the problems of education, mental defect, the various social services and of population in general. "

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Medicine.

The Relic/ of Pain in Childbirth. By F. NEON REYNOLDS, M.C.O.G., F.R.C.S.,ED., Hen. Obstetric Surgeon, Hospital for Women and Children, Harrow Road, and Southend General Hospital; Consulting Gyn~ecolegist to the Hackney Borough Council; Additional Examiner to the Central Midwives Board. London: Medical Publications, Ltd., 1934. pp. 114. Price 10s.6d. net. While this cannot be regarded as a very good example of bookmaking, the author deserves praise for having undertaken the task of directing attention to a subject of real moment, and particularly for having brought together much useful information in regard to the various means available for the relief of pain in childbirth. Very helpfully he has divided the drugs that may be employed into those suitable for the first and for the second stages of labour respectively, giving all necessary information with regard to dosage, method of application and so on, and indicating clearly the special advantages and disadvantages of each. The chapter in which the case of patients attended only by midwives is considered is particularly interesting and suggestive.

Venereal Disease : Its Prevention, Symptoms and Treatment. By HUGH WANSEY BAYLY, M.C., M.A., M.R.C.S., L.~.C.P., Vice-President, Society for the Prevention of Venereal Disease; late Venereal Specialist, Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich; etc. London : Chapman & Hall, Ltd., 1934. pp. 260, illustrated. Price 10s. 6d. net. It may be the case, as the author of this volume declares in his preface, that " the historical and traditional but entirely unjustified opposition of ' Religion ' and ' Science ' is still responsible for the slow progress in the efficient tackling of the problem of the prevention of venereal disease." Neither of these things, however, has interfered with the acceptance of the book as a useful and valuable contribution to the literature on the subject of venereal diseases. Originally published in 1919, it is now in its fifth edition, and the third, which appeared in 1927, was reprinted in 1928 and again in 1929. Such a record renders comment by a reviewer completely unnecessary, if not futile.