New SERIES VOL. XLI. No. 3 Book Reviews American Journal of Surgery 535

THE PITUITARY GLAND. AN INVESTIGA- TION OF THE MOST RECENT ADVANCES. Proceedings of the Association for Research in Nervous and MentaI Diseases. Balti- more, 1938. WiIIiams and WiIkins. Price

$10.00.

Under the editorship of Walter Timme, Angus M. Frantz and CIarence C. Hare, a group of noteworthy contributors have brought together in one voIume the avaiIabIe knowIedge of the pituitary gland, covering its anatomy, histoIogy, physioIogy, and the manifestations of its aberrations. Both the neuroIogist and the endocrinoIogist are we11 represented in this symposium. Forty-six authorities took part, incIuding Wayne J. AtweII, J. B. CoIIip, Leo M. Davidoff, CorneIius G. Dyke, Herbert M. Evans, Max A. GoIdzieher, W. W. Herrick, Gilbert Horrax, RaphaeI Kurzrok, A. T. Rasmussen, Oscar Riddle, Hans SeIye, A. E. Severinghaus, PhiIip E. Smith, CharIes R. Stockard, Frederick Tilney, and numerous others equaIIy prominent in the field.

The compIeted voIume of 764 pages repre- sents the seventeenth monograph produced by the Association for Research in Nervous and MentaI Diseases-the proceedings of a session devoted excIusiveIy to this most interesting and most important of the glands of the endocrine chain. The articIes are of a high order, each contributor having restricted himseIf to his own subject and offering a compIete survey of its present status. From a consideration of the anatomy and histology of the gIand, one advances to a study of each of the hypophysea1 hormones and functions in turn, then to a discussion of the reIationship of the pituitary to the physiologic functions of pregnancy, puberty and the menopause, the bearing of the gIand upon body form, per- sonaIity and behavior, and finaIIy to descrip- tions of the pituitary syndromes and their treatment.

The compIeteness of the voIume is truIy remarkabIe. In addition to the pituitary inff uence upon metaboIism, growth, sexua1 deveIopment, lactation, etc., many Iess famiIiar phases of the subject are attacked: the reIation- ship of the anterior Iobe to cancerous growths; pituitary effect upon crania1 form and struc- ture; pituitary effect upon constitutiona and genetic factors, etc. Dr. Timme has made a study of the distribution of pituitafy syn-

dromes, indicating the possibiIity of a “pitui- tary beIt” anaIogous to the we11 known “Thyroid beIt.” Patients with pituitary dis- orders in the United States, he finds, tend by birth or famiIia1 origin to be products of the MiddIe West and Great Lakes regions.

The surgica1 and radioIogic treatment of pituitary tumors is outIined, as we11 as methods of diagnosis and treatment in the more com- mon pituitary disorders, FrohIich’s syndrome, acromegaIy, dwarfism, etc.

To the speciaIist this voIume is a goId mine of information, since it covers authoritativeIy a much disputed subject. To the genera1 practi- tioner and medica student, it wiI1 probably remain a work of reference, vaIuabIe because it brings up to date one portion of much dis- cussed and constantIy changing fieId. The Association for Research in Nervous and MentaI Disease may we11 be proud of the high standard maintained in a11 forty-two chapters and the exceIIence of the plan of organization which integrates them.

THE SURGICAL TREATMENT OF HYPER- TENSION. By George CriIe, M.D. Edited by Amy RowIand. PhiIadeIphia, 1938. W. B. Saunders Company, Price $4.00.

In his preface the author writes the first paragraph of his own book review. We quote him: “During recent years there has been a crescendo of interest in the attempts which have been made by various surgeons to treat essentia1 hypertension by surgica1 procedures. It becomes an important matter therefore to determine whether or not essentia1 hyper- tension is amenabIe to surgica1 treatment and to what extent. . . . It is for this purpose that this voIume has been prepared. It is not a forma1 treatise on the subject of hyperten- sion, but it presents rather the conception of the genesis of essentia1 hypertension in accord- ance with which a pIan of operative treatment has been formulated; it describes the surgica1 procedures which we have employed; gives the resuIts of these procedures and reviews what others have done in the fieId of the surgica1 treatment of essentia1 hypertension.”

NeedIess to say the book is we11 written, the iIIustrations are good. It should have an appea1 to internists and to surgeons interested in this subject.

A reading of its 239 pages (fifty-two iIIus- trations) will bring one up to date on this topic.

536 American Journal of Surgery Book Reviews SEFTEMBER, ,938

There are references at the conchrsion of each pharmacoIogy of the suIfonamide compounds chapter, and an index of names and subjects. and their experimenta and cIinica1 empIoy-

ment. Section II (three chapters) deaIs with SULFANILAMIDE THERAPY OF BACTERIAL the authors’ experiments with the bacterio-

INFECTIONS. WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE static effects of SuIfaniIamide in vitro and the

TO DISEASES CAUSED BY HEMOLYTIC resuIts of therapy with suIfonamide compounds

STREPTOCOCCI, PNEUMOCOCCI, MENINGO- on streptococca1 and pneumococca1 infections

COCCI AND GONOCOCCI. By RaIph R. in laboratory animaIs, and observations on the

MeIIon, M.D., PauI Gross, M.D., and Frank cIinica1 use of these compounds in pneumonia

B. Cooper, M.S. SpringIieId, III., 1938. and streptococca1 meningitis. Section III

CharIes C. Thomas. Price $4.00. (four chapters) covers the mechanism of action of suIfonamide compounds and the mobiIiza-

SuIfaniIamide compounds were introduced tion of the defensive factors of the host. Section from abroad into this country, and shortIy IV (two chapters) surveys genera1 chemo- thereafter the Iay press, pIaying onIy the therapeutic considerations and the criteria of

dramatic highIights, made it known not onIy therapeutic eficiency. to the man on the street but to most physicians. Even after the manuscript had gone to press,

As a resuIt it has been administered by physi- “a number of important studies appeared, cians for a host of human aiIments, often with- some of them on new aspects of the action of

out rhyme or reason, and in a Iarge percentage suIfonamide compounds. A number of these of cases the physician has known nothing con- it was possibIe to incorporate in the origina

cerning the drug except one of its proprietary text; the others are incIuded” in the Addenda.

trade names. Thus, it is seen that this voIume is as up to This sound book is therefore doubIy weIcome date as it was humanIy possibIe to make it.

at this time. And aIthough the book is designed Many physicians have found suIfaniIamide to appea1 to various technica and research a vaIuabIe and marveIous drug. But it is a specialists, it shouId have a wide distribution drug one shouId know about from every possi- among practitioners of medicine in its severa bIe angIe . . . and there are severa such

SpeciaIities. angIea. The authors of this work should be The voIume is divided into four sections. congratuIated in offering the profession a work

Section I (seven chapters) is a review of earIier of this type. We hope a Iarge number of physi- literature deaIing with the chemistry and cians wiI1 read it.