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Reviews of Books

Britain’s Food SuppliesK. G. FENEL.ON, M.A., PH.D. London : Methuen. 1952.Pp. 212. 15s.

THE experienced nutritionist will appreciate theappendix of this book, where 31 tables, beautifullyset out and printed, supply the fundamental dataconcerning the changes year by year, since 1939, in ourfood-supplies. Livestock population, crop production,home-produced food, annual consumption of main foods,nutrient equivalents of supplies per head per day, foodexpenditure in the home, food subsidies, comparison ofretail prices, supply of milk to school-children, annualexpenditure of the Ministry of Food-these and othertables provide a mass of information which previouslyhas never been assembled in so convenient a form. Theauthor, formerly director of statistics and intelligenceat the Ministry of Food, naturally handles figures withease, but he also writes well. The main body of thebook, written for the general reader, gives an elegantaccount of Britain’s food problems, past, present, andfuture. Since so much of our food is imported, thereis properly a chapter on the world’s food supplies andanother on international organisations. The Colomboplan, the Overseas Food Corporation, and the ColonialDevelopment Corporation are also described. Sincehe is no longer a British civil servant Dr. Fenelon canwrite critically about such disputed subjects as foodsubsidies. An informative gastronomic map of Englandand Wales forms the end papers, enclosing a book whichcan be recommended to all interested in our food problems.Human Actinomycosis

V. ZACHARY COPE, M.S., F.R.C.S., consulting surgeon,St. Mary’s Hospital and the Bolingbroke Hospital.London: Heinemann Medical Books. 1952. Pp. 80.12s. 6d.

For the general practitioner this is a timely mono-graph, because of the new conception" of actinomycosisas essentially an autogenous infection by the anaerobicActinomyces israeli, a frequent commensal or semi-parasite in the mouth, and also because of the evidence,from recent studies, that the disease is often overlookedor incorrectly diagnosed and is in fact much moreprevalent than was formerly believed. Happily thenew revelation of the greater frequency of actinomycoticinfections synchronised with the discovery that thedisease could be cured by suitable doses of penicillinand some other antibiotics. This lucid account of thedisease-its history, aetiology, clinical and pathologicalfeatures, its various anatomical types, and the methodsof diagnosis and treatment-offers the practitionerall he needs to know without burdensome academicdetails. The use of rhymes to impress vital facts onthe memory is an effective, and sometimes amusing,innovation.

Surgical ForumProceedings of the Forum Sessions Thirty-seventh ClinicalCongress of the American College of Surgeons, SanFrancisco, California. November 1951. Chairman, Surgi-cal Forum Committee: Owen H. Wangensteen, M.D.,F.A.C.S. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders.1952. Pp. 667. 50s.

As would be expected, the papers which make upthis volume deal with subjects in the very forefront ofsurgical thought. In comparison with similar collectionsof a decade or two ago there is a very striking change.So much of surgery of the human body has beenstandardised, in the practical sense, that we now findsurgeons searching the physical and chemical sciences forassistance in elucidating their problems.

This work deals with electrolytes and body-fluids in normaland shocked persons, the effect of long-continued hormoneadministration, the action of antibiotics, the elaborate

experiments on short-circuiting the heart, arterial grafts,and many other subjects. A careful analytical study of thepapers on the blood-fluids is necessary in order to see what

bearing they have on current surgical problems, thoughmany of the results, of course, are at present rather incon-

elusive. The effect of cortisone on the healing of woundsand the formation of adhesions, has boon studied, but withno very striking results. Of much interest is the work doneon stimulating the growth of bones by an electrolytic couple(constantan-copper) placed near the epiphysis : and this hasimmediate practical importance. The open treatment ofburns forms the subject of another practical paper, and agreat deal of experimental work on the heart and blood-vessels is reported.Ciba Foundation Colloquia on Endocrinology

Vol. 2. Steroid Metabolism and Estimation. Editors :G. E. W. WOLSTENHOLME, O.B.E., M.A., M.B., andMARGARET P. CAMERON, M.A., A.J.3.L..s. London : J. & A.Churchill. 1952. Pp. 429. 35s.

THE Ciba Foundation is doing an outstanding serviceto medical science in Britain by organising small intimatecolloquia, each composed of a restricted number ofexperts from various countries. The papers read atthese meetings, with transcripts of much of the dis-cussions, are just beginning to appear ; and the volumeunder review, the second in the series, contains papersgiven at two successive conferences in 1950. It isunfortunate that publishing delays are still so great,for the subject of steroid metabolism is moving fast.

This volume contains contributions on the estimation inthe body-fluids of progesterone and its metabolites, of

oestrogens, 17-ketosteroids, and, of course, corticoids. Theshift from the biological assay methods, characteristic of

pre-war endocrinology, to methods based on physical andchemical techniques such as infra-red spectrometry, chroma-tography, fluorimetry, and polarography was, at the timeof the meeting, a striking foretaste of things to come. Themetabolic breakdown of steroids in the body was alsodiscussed. The adrenal corticoids occupied a place of specialprominence in these discussions, and it is interesting to seehow far this particular aspect has advanced in the two yearssince the papers were read.

The meetings gave British workers the opportunityof meeting the late Konrad Dobriner, and hearing atfirst hand an account of his outstanding work on

the application of infra-red spectroscopy to steroidbiochemistry.Fluid Balance

A Clinical J.1fanual. CARL A. MOYER, M.D., professor ofsurgery, Washington University School of Medicine,St. Louis. Chicago : Year Book Publishers. London:Interscience Publishers. 1952. Pp. 191. 28.9.

IN this useful pocket manual Professor Moyer coversall the important aspects of fluid balance. After a briefhistorical survey he summarises basic physiologicalprinciples before discussing disturbances of body-fluidequilibriurn in terms of volume, osmolar concentration,ionic composition, distribution, and rate of internalexchange of the fluid compartments. He skilfully backsclinical points with laboratory data and illustrativecase-reports. His descriptions of therapy and-equallyimportant-complications of therapy are adequate.Neither his subject matter nor his style makes for easyreading. Nevertheless, this manual should find its wayinto all hospital libraries, and it can be recommended toall surgeons and physicians who are concerned aboutthe morbidity and mortality due to ignorance of, orindifference to, this important subject.

Diseases of the Ear, Nose and Throat (2nd ed. London:H. K. Lewis. 1952. Pp. 438. 37s. 6d.).-Mr. J. DouglasMcLaggan, the original author of this good book, has beenjoined by Miss Josephine Collier, a colleague at the Royal FreeHospital, in producing a second edition. The several partsare well apportioned, and the approach is essentially practical,emphasis being laid on principles. Applied anatomy andphysiology are described clearly and accurately as the basisof clinical practice ; and the illustrations include some verygood drawings and several radiographs of an unusually highstandard. A facile style makes for pleasant reading, and agood index ensures easy reference. Despite the absence of abibliography, much recent work has clearly been incorporatedin the pages of this new edition, which covers the subjectamply for the undergraduate, and should also be a popularand convenient source of information for the busy generalpractitioner.