A Handbook of Elementary Psychobiology and Psychiatry

several other medical specialties but in the present work, this idea has been abandoned and the subject presented as a distinct and separate entity within itself." Then again, "There is probably no other specialty in medicine at the present time which has so much to offer to the properly qualified physician." If this book can be taken as an adequate apologia for this position-which it surely is-this reviewer is compelled to suggest that by the same reasoning the peculiar problems of the physician in a mining area, or of one in a factory district warrant the establishment of Medical Specialties in these areas. The "bends," benzol, arsenic, lead, carbon monoxide, and other poisonings, hand infections, silicosis, many another "occupational disease" problem become specialty-problems for practitioners over and above their fund of basic medical knowledge. It is diflicult to accept aviation's claim to Specialty designation on a par with, for example, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, even Cardiology or Gastroenterology. The book presents clearly the occupational hazards of aviation -mphasizing the details of pilot-selection, the scope of the medical problems incident to flying, and the splendid accomplishments of men in this field of work. Chapters on the eye are of particular detail and interest. The great problem of Altitude Sickness is treated at length, although one wonders why more use is not made of the extensive body of data assembled by investigators of Mountain Sickness. The effects on the Psyche and on the Nervous Systems, of Physical Agents, Oxygen Deficiency, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, and Emotional Stresses are presented with physiological and psychological detail. Technical discussions of Speed and Acceleration, Aerial Equilibration and Orientation, and Air Factors in Flight are given whole chapters. The index is fairly adequate. As a scientific and painstaking assemblage of the latest information on the medical problems peculiar to Aviation, this book is a valuable addition to the medical literature. JOHN B. TRUSLOW.