Mills, C.E.

English

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1188 S.A. MEDICAL JOURNAL 18 December 1965BOEKBESPREKINGS'UTRUIO CONGRESSProceedings of {he SLnh IlIfernational Congress of NlIfri{ion.Edinburgh, 9 - 15 August 1963. Ed. by C. E Mills and R.Passmore. Pp. xv + 683. lllustrated. RIO.50. Edinburgh andLondon: E. & S. Livingstone Ltd. 1964.Nutrition brings together many scientific, medical and veteri-nary disciplines so that an International Conference onNutrition is bound to be of great general interest. This Con-gress was outstanding and attended by a galaxy of worldauthorities. The well-produced Proceedings is an excellent andunique record of current advances in a wide field. The plenarylectures and symposia are reproduced in full, with illustrations,and there are summaries of the sectional meetings.Subjects include the relation of nutrition to industry, athle-tics, growth, cardiovascular disease, developing populations,the pre-school child, malabsorption, endocrine function, preg-nancy, and animal production. This book should be a prioritypurchase for medical libraries and reference purposes. It setsa standard that could well be followed by other internationalcongresses. J.D.L.H.TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSISChemo{herapy of TI/bercl/losis. Ed. by V. C. Barry, D.Sc.Pp. viii + 281. lllustrated. R7.95. London and Durban:Butterworths. 1964.This is an excellent summary of present thought on the:reatment of tuberculosis. Each chapter is written by anacknowledged expert in the field covered, and references arefully listed. Particularly interesting is the chapter by Rist onthe nature and development of resistance of the tuberclebacillus to chemotherapeutic agents. J.B.P.PANCREATIC METABOLISMThe SUI/ctl/re alld Mewbolism of {he Pancremic Isle{s.Proceedings of an International Wenner-Gren Symposiumheld in Uppsala and Stockholm, August 1963. Ed. by S. E.Brolin, B. Hellman and H. Knutson. Pp. x + 528. Illu-strated. R 14.00. Oxford: Pergamon Press. 1964.This is a highly specialized book and most of it will interesta very limited audience. The earlier chapters are concernedlargely with comparative structure and physiology, but muchof this will be of value to cytologists and histochemists. Theclinician will find the last few chapters very interesting-inthese are discussed the effect of prolonged administration ofsulphonylurea drugs on the islets (though this is not verynew), the pathological change in the beta cells in diabetes,with particular reference to their total mass, and some findingsfrom the Ibstock diabetes survey with regard to plasma insulinactivity in relation to glucose tolerance. The most fascinatingchapter was that concerning the stimulatory effect of ketoneson insulin production by the beta cell, discussed as yetanother example of a stimulatory feed-back mechanism.Each chapter ends with a general discussion and relevantreferences. The photographs are good-some are in colour.Most remarkable perhaps are the individually isolated betacell granules, photographed by electron-microscopy. In a bookof this size I was disappointed to find nothing on the pancreasof the diabetic's baby. W.P.u.J.PEMPHIGUSPemphigl/s and Pemphigoid. By W. E Lever, M.D. Pp. ix+ 266. lllustrated. $10.50. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C.Thomas. 1965.Much of the credit for bringing order to the classification ofthe major bullous diseases is due to W. E Lever, and thislucid summary of the present state of affairs is a monumentto his work. Every aspect of the subject is discussed, illustratedand documented.Lever never digresses far from his theme, but he takes theopportunity to point out that erythema multiforme couldsurvive uncluttered by syndromes. J.M.BOOK REVIEWSREFERE CE BOOK ON POISO SSymptumafOlogy alld Therapy of Toxicological Emergencies.By W. B. Deichmann, Ph.D. and H. W. Gerarde, M.D.,Ph.D. Pp. xvi + 605. illustrated. $18.00. lew York andLondon: Academic Press. 1964.This is a rather expensive but valuable ready-reference bookwith new and up-to-date information on toxic agents. It isnot a textbook of pharmacology but provides concise noteson a considerably large number of drugs and chemicals, andpoisonous plants. It includes lists of compounds causing blooddyscrasias; the accepted threshold limit values for chemicals;the maximum permissible concentrations of various chemicalsin food, drugs, and cosmetics; and tables on the acute toxicityof numerous chemicals. The drugs and chemicals are listed inalphabetical order for quick reference and there is a completeindex covering all material included in the tables. There arealso references to original papers dealing with cases ofpoisoning. N.S.MENTAL RETARDATIONMedical Aspects at Mental Retardation. Ed. by C. H. Carter,M.D., F.A.A.M.R. Pp. xviii + 1062. illustrated. $32.75.Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas. 1965.This book is written for medical practitioners. The authorsstress the importance of environmental (as distinct frombiological) factors in the production of mental retardation, andplace the onus squarely on the medical practitioner to recog-nize the earliest signs of functional limitations in the infantand pre-school child.For the specialist psychiatrist it affords a convenientreference volume in which all matters pertinent to mentalretardation are mentioned. Each chapter is self-contained, andoverlap between chapters is minimal. Where justified, a con-cise and lucid summary of chapters is provided, and thebibliography appended to each chapter is more than amplefor the needs of those who would read further.Between the covers of this one volume information is to befound which would be obtainable only after widespreadresearch into the literature, much of which is available onlyin back numbers of medical journals. Every obstetrician, pae-diatIician and family doctor should read this book.R.D.K.THE RABBIT IN EYE RESEARCHThe Rabbi{ in Eye Research. By J. H. Prince, ERO.A.,ER.M.S., EZ.S. (Eng.). Pp. xvi + 652. Illustrated. $37.00.Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas. 1964.The rabbit is well established as an experimental animal inophthalmic laboratories mainly because of the similaritiesbetween this animal and man. Yet up to the present no concisevolume has appeared describing the anatomy, physiology andbiochemistry of the rabbit eye as a reference for the researchworker. The void has now been filled by the publication ofthis book.There are 18 chapters written by 10 contributors, each awell-established scientist in his field. Within these chaptersare described the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, effectsof all forms of radiation on the rabbit's eye, and a separatechapter on laboratory techniques. There is also an introduc-tory chapter which summarizes the similarities and thedifferences between the rabbit eye and that of man, as well asthe development of the rabbit eye. It contains, also, a verygood description of the electron-microscopy of the tissues ofthe rabbit eye, in particular the ciliary processes and theretina.The book is capably edited, with excellent illustrations, hasa good bibliography at the end of each chapter, and is plea-sant to read. The work can be highly recommended and isindispensable as a reference work for the experimentalophthalmologist and for scientists involved in eye research.M.H.L.

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