The Essentials of Forensic Medicine

PROFESSOR WOODBURNE'S textbook was first published in 1957, and it is now in its 5th edition; it has met with the approval of teachers and students in many parts of the world. The book gives a sensible, accurate, clear account of the structure of the human body, with functional and clinical relevance constantly in mind. It is designed, by a teacher of long experience, to be used as a companion to dissecting room studies: it therefore examines the body regionally, from superficial to deep; and by frequent cross-references, synoptic illustrations and stress on continuity of structures, it avoids the danger of 'dissociated learning' which too exclusive a regional approach is liable to engender. There are many good things in the book, e.g. an excellent general introduction to the systems, 'details' in small print; interesting, rather old-fashioned coloured plates reminding one of early 19th century atlases; a good series of radiographs; tables of movements and muscle actions; a glossary of eponyms; some 200 key references; and a good index. On the other hand, I was not impressed with the black and white illustrations: many were too small, over-detailed and difficult to interpret. But perhaps my over-riding impression is that the book is rather unexciting: one longs to see an anatomy text which will fire the imagination of the young student, and induce him not only to see the relevance of the information but to love the subject for its own sake. J.P.