A Textbook of Surgery

This interesting book, though arranged in the form of a textbook, really consists of a collection of papers by American surgeons, purporting to cover the whole field of general surgery. The 1695 pages of text are shared by no less than 188 writers, of whom a few have contributed less than two thousand words each. No doubt this is what makes the book so attractive; every section has an air of freshness, and every writer , has taken pains to present the latest ideas to be found in the literature?or at least in the American literature. ; Where so many excellent features are to be found it is unprofitable to make a thorough commentary on any one section. But the portions devoted to orthopedics, diseases of bone, and allied subjects deserve special praise. The conditions under which man lives and works to-day have given rise to numerous new pathological conditions, especially in the skeletal system, and the student will find all the important ones described in this book. While heartily recommending the book to the medical profession, its suitability for the undergraduate student is open to question, because the very features which make it so brilliant tend to detract from its value as a book of reference for candidates for the qualifying examinations. There is a wide variety of style and method of presentation; a lack of collaboration and synopsis which makes the text indigestible. Some contributors give dozens of references to the