Penicillin, Its Practical Application

The physician of today may be somewhat bewildered in the face of the vast current literature on penicillin and the conflicting views on methods of administration, dosages, and indications. Dr. Fleming and his 28 associates have now provided a most authoritative and yet practical guide-book concerning the place of this agent in medicine. No one will deny that much remains to be learned of penicillin and of its action, or that many of the present usages must be regarded as provisional. Although details of practice are likely to change, the fundamental principles which this volume stresses throughout seem well established. The contributors emphasize throughout such considerations as the importance of isolating the etiological agent and determining the susceptibility to penicillin of the particular strain involved. The opening chapters are general in scope, and present the chemistry, pharmacology, development and production of penicillin, the bacteriological control of therapy, and methods of administration. The major part of the book is concerned with clinical application, and the .material is so arranged that the physician is likely to find the facts bearing on his special problem conveniently in one chapter. To be sure, there are some points of disagreement between British and American practice, such as the place of penicillin in the treatment of surgical wounds, and the more conservative dosages advocated in the book were often dictated by shortages rather than by a lack of appreciation of the desirability of more intensive therapy. In essence, however, there is close agreement on fundamental issues, and this contribution will doubtlessly meet with the wide acceptance it fully deserves. M. TAGER