Current Therapy 1950

463 with special emphasis on those of medical and industrial importance. Since the work is intended for elementary students, they have wisely included extensive sections on techniques of cultivation and classification, the various tools of microbiology, chemotherapy, and bacteriostasis. A reasonable balance is maintained between the structural and functional aspects of classification. The printing and most of the illustrations are excellent and the format attractive. In view of the present widespread interest in the intermediate metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins, the coverage of these topics seems unduly brief and antiquated. The general microbiologist may also feel that too great stress is laid upon the epidemiological aspects of the pathogenic organisms. The treatment of the Algae and of the Fungi, with the exception of the human pathogens, is very scanty and outdated. Photosynthesis and chemo-synthesis are discussed in the most superficial terms. In brief, the reviewer feels that the title "Microbiology" is too inclusive for a book which is essentially only a text in elementary bacteriology. Considerable new material has been added to this second edition of Harold Burrow's review of the biological actions of the sex hormones. The present edition and its predecessor contain an unequalled, compact, and complete storehouse of detailed information, particularly useful to the experimental biologist. The work represents a real achievement. As such, an enumeration of a few picayune errors and omissions seems unwarranted. While some readers might object to the fact that many clinical aspects of endocrine disorders in man are not adequately treated, it must be recognized that only with a background in experimental biology as presented by the author can human disorders be adequately and completely interpreted. The reviewer found the book to be readable and well printed. It contains an excellent index. Like its predecessor, CURRENT THERAPY 1949, this volume presents articles on each disease, written by a consultant with wide experience-in that field. The diseases are grouped into fifteen sections, i.e., diseases of the locomotor system, obstetric and gynecologic conditions, diseases of the skin, etc. Only therapy is included in the volume which is certainly consistent with its title, although its value to students and clinicians might be increased were it to include differential diagnostic points in the appropriate articles. In some instances where significant differences of practice exist in regard to a particular condition, two or more procedures in use by them are cited by the several'authors. Controversial regimes and …