Evaluation of Chemotherapeutic Agents

This fourth, thoroughly revised, edition of Calmette's well-known manual aims to bring together the maximum of information which will be of value to the bacteriologist in his daily work. It is based largely on the techniques utilized at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The topics included differ from those found in similar manuals in this country which are usually texts of laboratory diagnosis and include fields deliberately omitted in the present manual (e.g., urinalysis). The book is essentially a companion volume to a text on bacteriology. Within its stated limits, coverage is broad, and the book contains an extraordinary diversity of useful data and procedures. An unfamiliar apparatus noted is the centrifuge tube, designed by Bretey, which houses a cover slip at the tip. Scanty sediments intended for morphological study are said to be harvested with less loss than by usual methods. The American reader will be struck by the amount of media and apparatus which he purchases from supply houses, whereas his French colleague prepares the same material in his own laboratory. This is probably true, although perhaps to a lesser extent, in other countries. It follows that, in our scientific papers, much of our "Materials and Methods" section must be largely incomprehensible outside of our national boundaries. "Nutrient agar Difco 1.5 per cent, pH 7.4, 4 grams in one liter of distilled water" for example, has provided not only insufficiently detailed, but actually misleading information. Future editions would be more useful were the bibliography enlarged so that for each topic additional information could easily be obtained.