NEW SERIES VOL. XII, No. 2 Book Reviews American Journal of Surgery 341

With these additions, this book is sure to retain the position it has so Iong heId. It is the best book in the EngIish Ianguage on IateraI curvature of the spine.

ROENTGEN INTERPRETATION. By George W. HoImes, M.D. and Howard E. RuggIes, M.D. Ed. 4, 326 pp. Phila., Lea &Febiger,

‘93’.

That this book has gone through four editions is in itseIf proof of its vaIue. The present voIume has been brought thoroughIy up-to-date. It is intended as an outIine of the most modern methods in the interpretation of x-ray fiIms. As the authors say “Such a survey can do IittIe more than cover the essentiaIs of the subject; more detailed text- books, monographs and Iiterature may be reIied upon to suppIy further data, if required.” The authors have succeeded in doing what they set out to do with unusua1 success. The iIIustrations have been we11 seIected and we11 reproduced.

In short this is a book that beIongs in the Iibrary of every man who is doing any work in x-ray interpretation.

RADIOLOGISCHE PRAKTIKA. XII and XIII. NORMALE ANATOMIE DES KOPFES IM R~~NTGENBILD (Norma1 Anatomy of the Head as Seen by the X-ray). By KarI GoIdhammer. Leipzig, Ceorg Thieme, 193 I.

In the two voIumes of this beautifu1 work we find 74 contact prints in the negative, haIf of them from the dried skeleton, the other haIf from the Iiving individual, iIIustrating a11 the usefu1 positions for the examination of the skuI1, facia1 bones, jaws, and the teeth. In each instance there is a copy of the roent- genogram made from the dried skuI1, with an outIine drawing cIearIy indicating the exact position in which the exposure was made. FoIIowing this there is a simiIar roentgenogram made on the Iiving patient. Each of the roent- genograms is accompanied by a transparent sheet with Iines and carefuIIy numbered references to a11 the important anatomica structures. The references are in four Ianguages, German, EngIish, French, and Spanish, so that the books shouId have a very wide sale. The roentgenograms are extremeIy we11 done, showing a weaIth of detai1 not ordinariIy seen and indeed not capabIe of reproduction except

in the actua1 photographic prints which make up the books.

FuII credit is given to such splendid workers as HoIzknecht, SchtiIIer, Mayer, Grashey, and BeIot-Lepennetier for their various atIases of the head. The work permits a careful anaIysis of head roentgenograms, thus aIIowing its appIication by experts with Iong experience and by the Iess experienced younger coIIeagues. The dedication reads “To the young physicians as a guide, to the oIder experienced ones as an advisor.”

JAMES T. CASE.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ALVEOLO- DENTAL RADIOLOGY. By Joseph A. PoIIia, M.D. BrookIyn, ‘DentaI Items of Interest PubI. Company, Inc. 193 I.

One often encounters divergence of opinion between dentists and medica radioIogists in the interpretation of aIveoIodenta1 path- ologv. In the present work, the author, a physician, seems to have adequately met the requirements of dentists, as is attested by the fact that the book is pubIished by a denta organization. The author very properIy caIIs attention to the fact that there is a difference between a cIinicaIIy satisfactory roentgenogram and the so-caIIed “gaIIery” roentgenogram. The first of these is characterized by a softness which is due to the grayness of the genera1 tone. The weaIth of detai1 shown in these fiIms is due to the Iarge scaIe of gradations of the x-ray absorption thereon recorded. On the other hand, the “gaIIery” roentgenogram is for exhibition purposes and appeaIs from the pictoria1 rather than from the anatomical aspect. Considerable space is devoted to the discussion of the nature and production of x-rays, a fauIt of most cIinica1 books on radiology. For more than 500 pages the author goes on in encycIopedic detai1 regarding the technique of denta roentgenography; an anaIysis of the various pathoIogica1 processes which increase or diminish radiopacity. The various pathologica variations in the index of increased or decreased density and their interpretation consume the rest of the work.

JAMES T. CASE.

RADIOLOGISCHE PRAKTIKA. Band xv. DIE NORMALE ENTWICKLUND DES KNOCH- ENSYSTEMS IM R~NTGENBILD (The Norma1 DeveIopment of the Bones as Seen Roent-