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Reviews of Books

A Textbook of Malaria EradicationEMILIO PAMPANA, M.D., D.T.M. & H., late professor of malarialepidemiology, Institute of Malariology, Rome. London:Oxford University Press. 1963. Pp. 508. 63s.

MALARIA control means the reduction of the disease to a

prevalence where it is no longer a major public-health problem,and it involves an unending programme. Malaria eradicationmeans the end of the active work, because the campaign aimsat stopping transmission of the disease, and at eliminating thereservoir of infective cases. Proof of its success is the

disappearance of indigenous new malaria cases.This book by the first director of the division of malaria

eradication of the World Health Organisation has been writtenfor the thousands of professional and non-professional workersall over the world who are engaged in malaria eradicationprogrammes or who are being trained to join them.The book is in three parts: one deals with the epidemio-

logical basis of malaria eradication, another with the interrup-tion of malaria transmission, and a third with the actual malariaeradication programme. Prerequisites of the eradication pro-gramme are discussed, advice is given on eradication surveyand the making of the plan, and the preparatory phase isdescribed. There follows the phase of attack, operational ser-vice, and epidemiological evaluation. Then come the phases ofconsolidation, epidemiological survey, and maintenance. Wellworth reading are the two chapters on mistakes, omissions, andfailures, and on the responsibilities of the Government. This isthe manual of a great and successful general.

GynecologyLANGDON PARSONS, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology,Boston University School of Medicine; SHELDON C. SOMMERS,M.D., pathologist, Scripps Memorial Hospital. Philadelphiaand London: W. B. Saunders. 1962. Pp. 1250. 140s.

BOTH authors are well known in America and in this country:Dr. Parsons is a clinician and Dr. Sommers a pathologist with aparticular interest in gynaecology. The novel feature of thisbook is the presentation of the subject by age-groups; there areseven sections corresponding to the seven decades in thelife of the female.Although there is no formal section on anatomy or embryo-

logy, the normal development of the genital tract is traced simplyand clearly, and there is an effective account of the recognition andmanagement of a wide variety of congenital anomalies in infancyand childhood. Throughout, there is an excellent balancebetween the medical and surgical aspects of gynaecology. Theauthors have wisely chosen not to include operation details, but,where indicated, an outline is given of the main steps in standardgynaecological operations.Where endocrine studies add to understanding of gynxco-

logical problems these are carefully and thoroughly presented.The chapter on marital and sex difficulties is particularly wellwritten, and here, as in many other chapters, the authors reveala deep understanding of women and marriage.The sections on malignant disease of the genital tract are out-

standing, but British readers will be surprised to find thatcancer of the breast is considered at such length in a gynxcologi-cal textbook. At the end of each chapter key references, Britishand European, as well as American, are given under headingswhich refer to the main subjects discussed in the chapter.

In this notable work, the text is authoritative and admirablyillustrated by photographs and diagrams of high quality. Thestandard of production is excellent.

Atlas Anatomiae Corporis Humani13th ed. FERENC Kiss, professor emeritus, University of

Budapest; JANOs SZENTAGOTHAI, professor of anatomy, Uni-versity of Pecs, Hungary. Budapest: Hungarian Academy ofScience. 1962. Vols. I-III. Pp. 298, 219, and 312. 172s. 6d.

NOTE immediately the remarkably low price of these threehandsome volumes, which collectively contain 803 illustrations(mostly full-page). Considering the high quality of the pictures,

the excellent paper, good printing, and adequate binding, thisatlas is unusually good value. Though the printed matter(chiefly foreword and indices) is in German, all captions are in .BLatin (New York revision, 1960, of Paris Nomina Anatomica,1955). IVolume i covers bones, joints, and muscles, volume ii i

alimentary, respiratory, urogenital, and endocrine systems, together with endocrine glands and heart, and volume incardiovascular and nervous systems, including special senses.A large proportion of the illustrations are wholly or partly incolour. The majority are derived from actual dissections andthe standard of accuracy is good. The colours are variable (forexample, the hue of muscles), but this is not a serious criticism.The sections on joints and muscles are much superior to that

on osteology, which contains some curious figures (e.g., figs. 50and 51, of the mandible and hyoid bone, each occupying awhole page, in which the bones appear like oases in deserts ofblank paper, with one caption to the mandible and three to thehyoid). In volume 11 the teeth are particularly well done.Volume 11 ends with a section on the heart, but angiology doesnot come first in volume ill, being sandwiched between thenervous system and sense organs. In the section on the nervoussystem, maps of cortical areas are given, but with no data on themeaning of the numbered areas. The brain has one of the bestsections in the work. The figures showing the orbit are particu-larly good, but some of those on the peripheral nervous systemlack clarity (e.g., figs. 109 and 111). Despite these criticisms,this work must be regarded as one of the most valuable atlasesavailable to both student and postgraduate.

Operating Theatre TechniqueRAYMOND J. BRIGDEN, S.R.N., departmental theatre chargenurse, Coventry and Warwick Hospital. Edinburgh: E. & S.

Livingstone. 1962. Pp. 580. 75s.

THIS remarkable and well-written book gives a comprehen-sive account of theatre work in all its aspects. Early chaptersare devoted to general subjects, such as sterilisation, materials,theatre design, and static electricity. There follow the require-ments for individual operations-position, instruments, andprocedures. The text is sensible, workmanlike, complete, andwell illustrated; and, though written mainly for nurses, it givesinformation which many surgeons should have. In fact, it isimpossible to fault this work, and the author is to be

congratulated on producing the best book of its kind.

Drugs, Parasites and Hosts (Biological Council symposiumon the relation between chemotherapeutic drugs, infecting organismsand hosts. London: J. & A. Churchill. 1962. Pp. 367. 55s.).-The introduction makes some defensive remarks to justifypublication, for this symposium took place just after Sir LindorBrown’s public plea for more symposia with less publicationin extenso: more symposia to facilitate exchange of ideas betweenworkers in different fields, and less publication, because this isso often largely a belated republication of contributors’research.Certainly speedy publication mitigates the offence, if offence itbe; and this volume, edited by Dr. L. G. Goodwin and Dr. R. H.Nimmo-Smith, appeared seven months after the meeting-which is quick. Perhaps a compromise satisfactory to Sir LindorBrown, symposium organisers, sponsors, attenders, non-

attenders, and even to publishers might be to use the verycheapest means of reproduction compatible with legibility.Library committees would be grateful, too, and might be moreready to buy these volumes, for which demand is transitory.This symposium is one of those organised, and published,annually under the auspices of the Biological Council Coordin-ating Committee for Symposia on Drug Action. It has sectionson helminthic, protozoal, bacterial, and viral infections, but notall contributions manage to interrelate the factors in the title.It is of interest to everyone engaged in chemotherapeuccresearch. The non-specialist will find E. F. Gale’s short sum-ming-up the most rewarding part in its gallant attempt to makeorder out of chaos and ignorance. A definitive account of thisobviously vital interrelationship must await further discoveriesand their integration-perhaps in another symposium.