Penicillin Therapy

Tlis book was written in an effort to simplify and condense the literature relating to reflexes. There are 465 references listed at the end of the book, and under the discussion of each reflex the literature is reviewed. An example of the effort to simplify the terminology used in naming reflexes is interesting. A diagram of the foot and ankle shows the places from which a tap with the reflex hammer produces plantar flexion of the toes. There are 20 names listed on this chart, and these are the names of the authors who described these reflexes and the year of publication. Dr. Wartenherg points out that all of these 20 reflexes represent the same reflex which he calls the plantar muscle reflex. The author hopes, too, that the term "tendon reflex" can be discontinued and in its place the more physiological term "muscle stretch reflex" be used. The book is well written and should be of interest and value to any physician interested in a study of the reflexes. No one will deny the timeliness of Dr. Kolmer's work on penicillin therapy. Here the reader will find a thorough exposition, well documented, of the many phases of the subject so recently developed that the majority of the references are dated 1943 and 1944. The author summarizes the fundamental biological knowledge of this drug as well as details of practical application. He covers such phases of the subject as the methods of production and assay of penicillin, its activity in vitro and in vivo, its pharmacology and toxicology, the procedures of administration, and the present sphere of clinical use. Doubtlessly the author would be the first to concede that no book on penicillin written today may in any sense be regarded as the last word on the subject, since the concepts of the value and the limitations of this remarkable therapeutic agent are still in a state of flux. Although the author expresses his opinions on such prdblems as the concurrent use of the sulfona-mides and of penicillin, or of mepharsen and penicillin in the treatment of syphilis, final decision on such questions must await further data. While the