Pentose Metabolism in Bacteria

That the practice of medicine in general may be a trying experience under central military control is well known to all who have experienced it. Lieutenant Colonel John L. Yates summarized this aspect of the situation succinctly in the following words: "Civil surgeons can and should prepare themselves not merely to give professional services but to give them under the restrictions of military methods, the worst attribute of which is inflexibility." This is sound advice for any physician entering temporary military duty in war or peacetime. The fact that superior medical care can be given under military aegis is a tribute to the "personal adaptation" of reserve and regular military physicians alike. As horrible as war is, a certain few things may be gained during such a time. The most important bit of knowledge which was soon learned was the importance of cardio-respiratory physiology and homeostasis in the treatment of the patient with a fresh chest injury or with residua of such an injury. In contrast to the preoccupation with infection during World War I, the emphasis during World War II changed with some rapidity to the awareness of the importance of alterations in cardiorespiratory mechanics and function. This lesson alone has undoubtedly served as a stimulus for many of the advances made in this field during the post-war period. Closely allied in value is the fact that a number of today's outstanding thoracic surgeons received their original thoracic training or even exposure in army centers during the war years. Excerpts from a letter written by Dr. Donald B. Effler in 1960, and noted on page 180, vividly attest to this fact and its impact on present day thoracic surgery in this country. This volume, bound to match the others in the series, displays legible print on high quality paper. The liberal use of photographs, charts, tables and drawings is not only noteworthy, but of great benefit to the reader. This volume, along with its companion volume soon to be published, should prove particularly valuable to the young thoracic surgeon-the residentor even to the embrionic one-the medical student-who is most likely to have missed the events recounted and who can profit most from these experiences of others. One cannot help detecting throughout this book the tremendous part played by Dr. Edward D. Churchill in formulating many of the policies and plans subsequently executed with such resounding success by others. The influence of this great man on the development of the field of thoracic surgery is unmistakable.