Vascular Responses in the Extremities of Man in Health and Disease

Szent-Gy6rgi. The nerve is described as an electro-chemical generator, although it is admitted that the events at the synapses are pirobably "not purely electrical." The theory envisages the electrotonic current as the "master tool of nervous integration." This may be true, but probably will not be proven for many years. In the meanwhile it is confusing to use the vocabulary of the electrical physicist in a neurological discussion. Neurology and psychiatry are already too much burdened with loose electrical analogies. All would agree, of course, on the probability that all chemical changes are, in the last analysis, due to changes of the electrical charges on ions. The chapters on the "Fetal-Infant," the "Circumnatal Infant," and "Diurnal Cycles of Sleep and Wakeness" give a good summary of some of the author's own pioneer work. The observations on premature "fetalinfants" are particularly interesting and lead up to the study of the newborn and "circumnatal infant" at forty weeks. The chapters are well illustrated. Pages 195 to 248 are given over to a photographic delineation of behavior patterns and growth sequences. Here is found a truly remarkable series of photographs showing beautifully the patterns the author has been discussing. The book is well put together and artistic. It shows the author's breadth of interest, scholarliness, and assiduity as an investigator. -TANLEY COBB.