1068 BOOK NOTICES

Tuesday morning, the Instruction Courses started and were continued for four days. Among them were the two continuous courses in Pathology, one Eye, and one Ear, Nose, and Throat, each fourteen hours in length. The rest of the meeting kept going at full pace until Friday night, the tempo of which pace must be slowed down in the future.

Several features of the Academy meeting deserve special mention. At one of the regular meetings, Major G. R. Callender of the Army Medical Muse­um presented a statistical report of 110 melanotic tumors of the eye that have been examined at the Museum during the past five years, with a clinical fol­low-up in the majority of cases. The classification and prognosis, based upon the type of cell found, offered a new line of thought that will bear elaboration. This is the first important paper for the Ophthalmic Section of the Army Med­ical Museum and it represented the pos­sibilities that such a collection offers. Prof. Ames of Dartmouth had a most unusual and interesting exhibit that he and his associates explained to all in­terested. They had found a measurable difference in the size of retinal images in many individuals with asthenopic symptoms that could not be explained by other ocular findings. That size dif­ference, amounting at times to as much as 4 per cent, occurred not only in anisometropia as would be expected, but also in some cases of practical em-etropia. By means of deep base cylin­ders, they were able to correct the size difference of the retinal images, in many instances resulting in complete relief from the asthenopic symptoms. Al­though the work is still experimental and the practical value remains to be proven, it is sufficiently important to arouse the interest of the ophthalmol­ogist and justify his hearty cooperation in their efforts.

Montreal was chosen as the site for the 1932 meeting in honor of the new President, Dr. S. H. McKee. Dr. B. Shurley was made President-Elect.

Harry S. Gradle

BOOK NOTICES Augenarztliche Eingriffe, ein kurzes

Handbuch fiir angehende Augen-arzte (Ophthalmic operations, a short handbook for beginning oph­thalmologists). By Professor Dr. J. Meller, head of the first eye clinic in Vienna. Third edition, 352 pages, with 199 illustrations in the text. Price, paper covers, 28 marks; bound, 29.80 marks. Vienna, Verlag von Julius Springer, 1931.

The English editions of this work, un­der the title of "ophthalmic surgery," and under the editorship of the late Dr. Sweet, have become very popular in the United States, and it is to be hoped that this new German edition will before long be represented by an English trans­lation.

Surgical instruction in book form has rarely been given so clearly and so ef­fectively. As explained by the author in earlier editions, and again in a pre­face to this third edition, the work is not intended to be a general textbook of ophthalmic operations, but gives a description of the procedures employed by the author himself. Its main purpose is instruction in the art of ophthalmic surgery. "Non eruditis, sed erudiendis, non docentibus, sed discentibus." It as­sumes that the reader has spent a fair amount of time in a surgical clinic and in an eye clinic, and has thus acquired preliminary knowledge of surgery in general and of surgical ophthalmology in particular. Much space is devoted to technical details of the principal pro­cedures described and none at all to theoretical explanations. The only pro­cedures described are those used in the author's clinic.

Two important sections have been added in the present edition, namely the intracapsular extraction of cataract and ignipuncture for retinal detachment. A discussion of Professor Meller's views and recommendations with regard to in­tracapsular extraction will be found in an editorial in the November issue of this Journal. The author's considera­tion of ignipuncture for retinal detach­ment carries particular authority be-

BOOK NOTICES 1069

cause of his own extensive experience and success with this operation, of which he is an enthusiastic advocate. He emphasizes the fact that the more re­cent the retinal detachment is, the more frequently tears and holes can be dem­onstrated, these lesions being very com­mon in fresh detachments, definitely visible in two-thirds of the cases, and certainly present in an even higher per-pentage, although often undiscoverable by reason of their diminutive size or of their peripheral or concealed location. Very particular attention is devoted in the text to the technique of localiza­tion of tears and holes in the retina.

W. H. Crisp.

Detachment of the retina (a contribu­tion to the study of its causation and treatment). By J. Ringland An­derson. 207 pages, 7 colored illus­trations, Cambridge University Press. The Macmillan Co. 1931.

This is a very comprehensive study of the subject, covering the field thor­oughly as far as our present knowledge exists. The anatomy and physiology of the retina are discussed interestingly

and comprehensively in their relation­ship to the main thesis. Each chapter is followed by a long list of references. Undoubtedly this book sums up the en­tire knowledge of the subject to date and will serve for a reference text for those doing research along these lines and will be a guide to the many sur­geons who have recently interested themselves in operations for the cure of the tragic condition treated in this book.

There are six chapters as follows: 1. General, 2. The structure and function of involved tissue, 3. Pathogenesis, 4. Differential diagnosis, 5. Treatment, 6. Prognosis.

To the reviewer the second chapter was the most interesting. On that groundwork the reader may build his own theories. Later chapters contain much speculation and many suggestions advanced by past and present workers. Rather obviously many of these will not bear the test of time and will have to be discarded but they are important at the present stage of our lack of knowl­edge and must be included in a com­plete work of this kind.

The book is very well written and will interest and repay the readers of it.

Lawrence T. Post.