Die kommerzielle und kulturgeschichtliche Bedeutung der Arznei- und Genum̊ittel / von Eduard Schär.

  • Schär, Eduard.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Die kommerzielle und kulturgeschichtliche Bedeutung der Arznei- und Genum̊ittel / von Eduard Schär. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    97/108 (page 91)
    Four new editions of this populär series have appeared in a few months, the last a completely new volume. There are those who use, swear on and all but live by Aids alone ; those who abuse them, and those who gracefully ignore them in pursuit of higher things ; but though the confident and the ambitious may scorn concise condensations of facts, the popularity of the books is well deserved. A ids to Medical Diagnosis is a second complete revision by Frederick Sutton of Dr. A. J. Whiting’s original book. Since the fifth edition appeared in 1940, rapid advances have been made in various fields, and short details of many of these have been included. Unhelpful speculations, for instance, in respect of the very latest work on electroencephalograms, have been omitted, but this subject, together with such work as the significance of the Rh factor, the crush syndrome, etc., have received attention. The chapters on coronary infarction, intussusception, and amoebic hepatitis have been re-written, and a careful revision of the section on cardiography made. There are forty-six line figures, including representative E.C.G. and E.E.G. tracings, and many facts are usefully and briefly tabulated, for instance a comparison of hypo- and hyperglycaemia, and the pathological Undings in the cerebrospinal fluid in some dozen different diseases. There is full index. 1t is eight years since the previous appearance of Aids to Public Health, a period in which events have centred attention on the health of the nation perhaps more than ever before. Evacuation has helped to show one half of the world how unhy- gienically the other half lives ; in a very real effort to safeguard the strength of the coming generation the Government has seen to the provision of nutritional Supple¬ ments to children and mothers ; common interest has been aroused by the develop¬ ment of the Peckham Health Centre, and the proposal to start something on similar lines in Coventry ; and Public Health promises to emerge from the curricula of medical training courses in the new guise of Social Medicine. The progress made in both the theory and practice of Public Health has been great. The present volume provides not only the sound factual background of a book of reference (on every- thing from the depth of a grave to the volume of air advised per cow in the ideal cowshed—800 cubic feet, nearly seven times as much as a sailor is allowed in his cabin) but also mentions the important aspects of new work. There is a table of the more outstanding events in the history of public health, several clear diagrams illustrating Ventilation, sewage disposal, etc., and a useful bibliography. The venereal diseases have been separated at last from Dermatology and accorded a volume on their own. Since the last edition of Aids to Dermatology in 1939 the knowledge of venerealogy has increased so much as to demand more attention than a single chapter. Withdrawing all but the merest reference to syphilis has.however, not been made an excuse to enlarge the remainder of the volume very greatly, though extensive revision and some addition of new material has been made. The book remains a useful summary of the signs, Symptoms and treatment of the Com¬ moner skin conditions. Brigadier T. E. Osmond is Honorary Consultant in Venereal Diseases to the Army, and could scarce be more emihently suited for preparing an Aids volume on the subject. His purpose has been to provide some instruction in the management of venereal diseases, and as far as the rapid change of methods of diagnosis and treat¬ ment allows, to provide enough material for the student wishing to pass exammations, and the practitioner faced with early acute cases. Though the greater part of the book is devoted to gonorrhoea and syphilis, a few pages on the less common venereal diseases are added, and short sections on prophylaxis and social aspects. Apart from a somewhat clumsy construction on p. 129 (“ [a condom] does not protect the skin around the base of the penis or the scrotum, and syphilitic sores in these areas are not uncommon, and is always liable to be torn ”) the style is clear, and the headings in heavy type and the occasional inclusion of tables make it easy for reference and learning.