Shearer's Manual of Human Dissection

of growth and development as the chief features which distinguish infants and children from adults. This section includes somewhat diverse subdivisions on disturbances of growth, constitutional signs and symptoms such as fever and edema, symptoms referable to particular systems such as the urinary tract, and symptoms related to sexual development and to intellectual retardation. Within each subdivision of this section an attempt is made to list the conditions in which the designated symptom is encountered and to present some information concerning the mechanism of its development. These explanations are necessarily brief and were not intended to be complete; they vary considerably in effectiveness. The final section on health supervision gives consideration to the prenatal period, infancy, the preschool period, the school years, and adolescence. An appendix includes in tabular form familiar percentiles for weight, height, and other selected measurements in different age groups. The book is attractively composed and in regard to both style and typography is easy to read. Incorporated into the text are numerous up-to-date references which directly accompany the subjects to which they refer. This arrangement, devised by the authors to encourage more intensive study, is an effective innovation. The index, although extensive, could be more serviceable if more complete. For example, the common terms croup, salicylates, hysteria, intoxication, and poisoning are not listed alphabetically; similarly, calcification in the skin is listed but not pulmonary or intracranial calcification. This book does not pretend to impart new knowledge of pediatrics but rather a new approach to existing knowledge. It will not replace nor was it intended to be a substitute for more comprehensive texts including Gross's Sutrgery of infancy and childhood to which frequent reference is made. Its chief value would seem to be as a guide to further reading and to a better understanding of those aspects of pediatrics with which this book is concerned. EDWARD C. CURNEN