Clinical Miscellany

79 the same as that for previous editions. Everything considered, this volume maintains the high standard of excellence which the earlier editions established. Medical literature abounds with voluminous clinical experiences, the significance of which is too frequently obscured by irrelevant detail and unnecessary statistics. Thus, intelligent evaluation is inhibited and important observations are lost. Infinitely more valuable is the concise presentation and careful interpretation of limited clinical material. Such a contrast we find in "Clinical Miscellany." A group of ten authors have contributed the material which comprises a varied collection of selected medical and surgical case-histories from the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital. Appended to each adequately described case-record are brief reference to relevant literature, discussion of debatable topics, and an elucidation of salient features. The appearance of this work signifies the profound change occurring in medical progress in the present century. No longer is the source of important scientific contributions confined to great medical centers. The excellence of the material presented, reflecting obviously the industry and attainments of the authors, should provide a stimulus to those who serve smaller hospitals in communities divorced from medical schools. Several striking features are apparent in the presentation of this clinical material. The painstaking effort and thoughtful attention devoted to the study and care of the individual case are exemplified by the accuracy and completeness of the case-records. A distinctly favorable impression is left by the enviable state of excellence attained in bacteriological and serological investigation. Finally, individual diagnostic acumen displayed in the recognition of rare clinical syndromes is secondary only to the evident intelligent direction of therapy. Space will allow but briefest allusion to the various medical topics discussed by each author. Harrison and Abernethy point out interesting clinical features of chronic meningococcemia by presenting two cases. Harrison directs further attention to the rare relationship of eosinophilia and spleno-megaly. The same author describes two cases of agranulocytosis in brother and sister, presenting argument that in these cases the blood picture is not secondary to the absorption of septic bacterial products from the necrotic lesions. Finally, Harrison records an interesting case of auricular fibrillation in which the heart reverted to normal rhythm subsequent to thoracentesis. Autopsy disclosed a sac of an aortic aneurysm firmly attached to the sternum. Were the arrhythmia assumed to be the result of interference (by muscular