146 BOOK REVIEWS

lesion. The clinical picture fitted a presump­tive diagnosis of histoplasmosis, and the fa­vorable effect of Diodoquin in this patient suggests that it be tried in similar cases. Pos­sibly the alternate use of Diodoquin and amphotericin-B may be more effective than either alone.

(Signed) James E. Lebensohn, Chicago, Illinois.

CORRECTION

Editor,

American Journal of Ophthalmology: In reviewing our paper,."Present status of

orbital ultrasonography (56:98 [July] 1963) in Table 1, page 100, an error has been made in the listing of patient numbers. Patient 1-74 appears in Group I under the listing of lacri­mai glands tumor and is listed again under Group II. The patient listing under Group II should have read 1-79 and not 1-74 for the case of thyrotropic, infiltrative ophthalmop-athy. Would you please publish this correc­tion?

(Signed) Gilbert Baum, Bronx, New York.

BOOK REVIEWS A N ATLAS OF ULTRASTRUCTURE. By J. A. G.

Rhodin, M.D. Philadelphia, W. B. Saun-ders Company, 1963. 222 pages, 84 full page illustrations in black and white, ref­erences, index. Price: $10.00. Dr. Rhodin is professor of anatomy, New

York University School of Medicine, and docent of anatomy, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. His atlas, based upon the ultramicroscopic study of mouse tissue for the most part, is a pioneer book in a field that is exploding. Electron microscopy has already made obsolete many ideas of histol­ogy and cellular anatomy and an enormous area of complex new knowledge of biologic phenomena remains to be explored and made into a permanent part of medical and biologic sciences. The vista ahead is truly awe-inspir­ing.

This atlas is well designed. The illustra­tions are meticulously labeled and show vari­ous parts (not all, as the author points out) of the mammalian body. The ophthalmologist will find a good presentation of the cornea, iris, ciliary body, lens and retina. The magni­fication varies from X2100 to X41000 (the lens).

The photographic representations on ex­cellent (special) paper are exceedingly sharp and clear. This is a difficult and expensive business and the workers in ultramicroscopy are notorious for being fussy and meticu­lous, rightly so it seems to me. The support of this work by research grants from various sources, notably the National Institutes of Health, deserves applause, in this instance at any rate.

There are 1590 references, showing the extraordinary activity in this field in the last eight or 10 years. Among these is the Struc­ture of the Eye, edited by George K. Smelser, already enthusiastically reviewed in these pages, and a book that is particularly dear to the ophthalmologist.

Derrick Vail, M.D.

DER SEHSCHWACHE. By Prof. Dr. med. R. Sachsenweger. Leipzig, Georg Thieme, 1963. 140 pages, 9 illustrations, 16 tables and bibliography. Price: 15.60 East Ger­man Republic Marks. Sachsenweger emphasizes the social and

psychologic problems faced by the patient with low visual acuity. There are curious little touches of the methodical German ap­proach to the subject as well as interesting hints of social and medical problems in the East German Democratic Republic. Various optical aids are briefly discussed. There ap­pear to be far fewer of such aids available in East Germany than there are in the United States.

The chapter discussing the rehabilitation of patients whose vision became poor in later life is particularly good. As in the United States, there is no organized program to help such people in the East German Republic. In

BOOK REVIEWS 147

view of their growing number, some sort of community sponsored program might be of great public service.

This book will be of interest to physicians and social workers who are particularly con­cerned with patients with low visual acuity.

Daniel Snydacker.

T H E PRACTICE OF REFRACTION. By Sir Stew­art Duke-Elder. St. Louis, C. V. Mosby Co., 1963, edition 7. 326 pages, 244 illus­trations, index. Price: $8.75. Since the debut of this text in 1928, its

popularity has steadily increased. The edition in the war years went through three print­ings. The present edition, like its predeces­sors, emphasizes the practical aspects of refraction and avoids for the most part mathematics and formulas. The preface re­fers to various texts for further study, but the author modestly neglects to mention his own Textbook of Ophthalmology, Volume IV ( 1949) which probably contains the most advanced reading on the subject. Following the trend of developments, new matter has been added to each successive edition, yet the present text contains 45 less pages and 61 more illustrations than the third edition, thanks to a smaller type and more condensed format. In the present edition the recent ad­vances in contact lenses and subnormal visual aids are noted. Introducing the eight pages on aniseikonia, Duke-Elder notes that, after the initial enthusiasm waned, interest therein has been minimal. A near-vision chart in point type (Times Roman) has been stand­ard in England since 1952 and performance is recorded simply by N (near vision) fol­lowed by the point-type size (for example N 5), a method which Americans could well follow. Earlier editions gave an illustration of the Snellen chart in Snellen's serifed let­ters, but the chart is now presented in Gothic type without explanation for the change. The 1940 A.M.A. visual efficiency ratings for dis­tant vision are used instead of the simplified and more logical 1955 revision.

With surprising inconsistency, the author

mentions favorably a telescopic combination of a contact lens with a flat surface in the op­tical zone and +29D. in the spectacle lens, magnification 1.6, after previously detailing the distressing difficulties encountered by an aphakic with his spectacle correction—a sim­pler telescopic arrangement with less magni­fication. As the current interest in velonoski-ascopy and objective stigmatoscopy is neg­ligible, the deletion of such material could make room for an expanded discussion of more practical matters such as the special problems of presbyopia, including guidance in the choice of bifocal and the various meth­ods by which anisometropia in the bifocal wearer can be compensated. The tables in the appendix should include one giving the com­ponent vertical and horizontal powers of cyl­inders at oblique axes.

Of all the books on refraction this is one of the most authoritative and best written. The index does not fully indicate the wealth of material between its covers.

James E. Lebensohn.

SYNOPSIS OF OPHTHALMOLOGY. By William H. Havener, M.D. St. Louis, C. V. Mosby Company, 1963. 395 pages. Price: $7.85. The medical student certainly may chose

his ophthalmology text from a plethora of fine books. This is the second edition of Dr. Havener's entry and it is well worth consid­ering. There is an illustration on almost every page, the text is readable, the organization is on a functional rather than an anatomic or etiologic basis and, all in all, the book is very well done. It would be nice, though, if in the third edition, the publishers would provide some colored illustrations.

Thomas H. F. Chalkley.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALL-INDIA OPHTHAL-MOLOGICAL SOCIETY: VOLUME XIX (Ses-sions 1960 and 1961). Published by the Society and Printed at the Diocesan Press, Madras, 1962. It has been a pleasure for this reviewer to

peruse this volume of the Proceedings as well