Diseases of the Gallbladder and Bile Ducts

Part I, describing anatomy, physiology and pathology, is both important and interesting because a concise and authoritative style has been adopted in place of the more usual stereotyped description bolstered up by theoretical discussions. Diseases of the gallbladder and bile ducts occupy the next two parts of the book, and the fourth is taken up with treatment. It is perhaps significant that the section on the medical treatment of cholecystic disease, written by the principal authors, occupies only thirteen pages. Although all the usual methods of treatment are reviewed and evaluated, one is left in no doubt of the writers' opinion that it is surgical treatment that gives the best results, medical treatment being reserved for the palliation of those cases upon whom operation is impossible. This view finds support in the graceful foreword written by Dr. William J. Mayo. The last two hundred pages are devoted to the surgery of the gallbladder and bile ducts in all its aspects, and one could not wish for a clearer or more practical account. This part teems with interesting subjects, one being