Text-book of Medicine

MR. BROCK, who considers that Astley Cooper "has not received that acknowledgment wvhich he deserves," has given us a most interesting account of the work of this remarkable surgeon. From his appointment to the staff at Guy's Hospital in 1800 till his death in 1841 he held a leading place in British surgery, both as surgeon and teacher. His lectures at one time attracted as many as 400 students, and his "Lectures on Surgery" was for many years the standard textbook-indeed it still has a place on your reviewer's book shelf. His surgical prowess was astonishing; it is difficult to imagine the courage and skill required to ligate the abdominal aorta for aneurysm, or disarticulate at the hip joint in the conditions of his time. Even the apparently trivial operation of excision of a sebaceous cyst from the scalp of King George IV, for which he received his Baronetcy, was not without risk. But the main theme of this book is that Astley Cooper made many and valuable contributions to surgery. He was a student of John Hunter, and was obviously influenced by that great master. His best known and most important books were on hernia, and the anatomy of the breast although his name is perpetuated in both regions, it is not generally known that he was the first to describe and name the transversalis fascia. This book will be of great interest to modern surgeons, many of whom will be surprised to learn how much of their knowledge springs from the work of Astley Cooper. It is appropriate that this tribute to the memory of the "Greatest of Guy's Surgeons" should come from the pen of one so distinguished to-day. T. L. K.