Ltd., for The Practitioner. 10s. 6d. net. THIS book will prove of the greatest value to Hospital Residents who begin to apply in practice the principles instilled whilst yet students. Here they will find those details so important in every undertaking, but the significance of which they seldom realize or clarify until faced with the responsibility of their own unaided action. For study and reference alike it will be extremely valuable. T o the practitioner keen on the technicalities of his profession it will likewise be a guide and stimulus, whilst to those who practice in the more localized fields of consulting practice the opportunity will be welcomed of again reading of exact methods and recalling details. As Sir David Wilkie aptly puts it in his introduction, " to all who have any flair for using their hands " this book will be of exceptional interest.
There are seventeen chapters in the book and it would be invidious to pick out one from another where all give the results of some special experience and expert knowledge. The important feature all through is the detailed accounts of procedures. A wide field is covered, beginning with the application of plasters. The administration of fluids, with a discussion on the signs and symptoms of dehydration, is especially interesting because of the reference to Murphy's original papers and the detailed and illustrated description of correct proctoclysis.
The Dewar flask is advised as simple, generally adaptable, and reliable. Reactions, their avoidance and treatment, are clearly set out. The technique of blood-counts is emphasized by the interpretation of findings discussed from illustrative cases. Poisoning, the taking of the blood-pressure and its relations to life assurance, and the indications for and technique of pleural aspiration, are all important subjects dealt with from the practitioner's standpoint. Practical points are considered in discussing the use of two-way or three-way syringes, whilst in catheterization a plea is made for the metal catheter.
Too often this serious step is lightly undertaken with a disregard to attention to detail which is fatal to that maintenance of asepsis which is here so wisely emphasized.
The clinical examination of the urine, circumcision in children, injection treatmentall are subjects of the greatest value to general practitioners and in themselves justify the commendation which Sir David Wilkie gives to the background of the book. Minor surgical infections of the skin covers useful ground, whilst " local anzesthesia " advocates percaine, giving three excellent reasons for doing so.
Common minor soft tissue injuries and their treatment should prove of the greatest value, dealing as it does with just those conditions commonly met with in practice. Lumbar puncture and syringing the ear are the two final chapters which round off a book which is useful, clear, and exact.
We note that in anresthetizing the urethra in one place three ounces of 4 per cent cocaine is advised and in another half an ounce of a like strength.