Surgeon\X=Req-\ Nosis Or General of the United States Army
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however, is excellent, and altogether the book gives in a clear and entertaining manner an up-to-date account of the various mental disorders, both those technically belonging to and those on the borderland. The material is so George Miller Sternberg; A Biography. By His Wife, Martha insanity, L. Sternberg. Cloth. Price, $5. Pp. 232, with illustrations. Chicago: well classified and subdivided that the reader will have no American Medical Association, 1920. difficulty in selecting what he needs at a given time, whether he may be for the From 1893 until 1902, General Sternberg was looking practical points concerning diag¬ Surgeon\x=req-\ nosis or General of the United States Army. Some of his conspicu- management of a particular type of insane patient, or for modern Numerous and ous achievements were the creation of the army medical psychologic interpretations. definite references to articles in the literature are school, organization of the army nurse corps and dental corps, important a great to readers in search of more detailed data. establishment of the tuberculosis hospital at Fort Bayard, and help the direction of the United States Medical Army Corps during Ueber die Symptomatologie und Therapie der Magen und the Spanish-American War. However, aside from his part of Duodenalgeschw\l=u"\re.Von Dr. Eugen Rosenthal, Assitent der Klinik, official leadership, he had already done much important bac- Paper. Price, 12 marks. Pp. 72, with 81 illustrations. Berlin: S. teriologic work, and in the evening of his life after his retire- Karger, 1920. ment from active duty in the army, he interested himself in The author presents a systematic study of 326 cases of social service work with results towhich the city of Wash- ulcer observed at a clinic in Budapest over a period of three ington will bear grateful witness even today. He is fortunate and one-half years. The symptoms and diagnostic signs are in having as his biographer his wife, Martha L. Sternberg, carefully analyzed. Emphasis is laid upon the need for pro- sharer in his trials and achievements, a sympathetic partner longed study of the doubtful cases and especially upon who reveals a grace of literary style and judgment seldom repeated examination of the stools for occult blood, when the found in such intimate biographies. patient is on a meat-free diet. During the three and one\x=req-\ The biography sketches Dr. Sternberg's early life, his Civil half years, 3,500 patients presented themselves at the clinic, War his studies after the war and various record, stations and a diagnosis of ulcer was made 326 times. This is about which he an account of a to held, trip Europe, Indian battles, 10 per cent. of all the cases. Attention is called to the fre- and then in VIII comes an account of the etc., Chapter begin¬ quency of ulcer on the lesser curvature. In the history of the of Dr. scientific research. He was a member ning Sternberg's case and in the physical or chemical examination there is no of the first yellow fever commission, did some work on constant outstanding feature which is positive, except the discovered the and did work on dis¬ malaria, pneumococcus, roentgen-ray evidence. The roentgen ray did not present any infectants which resulted his in receiving the Lomb prize. In evidence of ulcer in some of the cases. The medical treat- 1893 he was and without doubt appointed Surgeon-General, ment is given only in outline. Several cases under prolonged succeeded, during his administration, in introducing into the medical management showed healing of the ulcer crater, and the scientific which was his In corps spirit greatest delight. successive roentgenograms are reproduced to demonstrate 1897 he became of the American Medical Associa¬ president that this really occurs. Statistics are presented to prove that tion. Unfortunately, his duties in the Spanish-American War the majority of ulcers heal under medical management, and his attendance at the annual session in Denver. In prevented that surgical measures are indicated only in the minority. his annual address, he displayed a general knowledge of The recommendation of the author for medical medical prolonged interests surprising in a man whose work had been treatment for large penetrating ulcers of the lesser curvature predominantly that of a single bureau of the government. seems risky because of the great of such ulcers to The danger Spanish-American War naturally receives much atten¬ undergo a carcinomatous change. tion in the book, as do also sanitation and hygienic work in the Philippine Islands. On his retirement as Surgeon-General, Standards and Tests for Reagent Chemicals. By Benjamin L. Dr. Sternberg interested himself particularly in housing and Murray. Cloth. Price, $3. Pp. 385. New York: D. Van Nostrand antituberculosis work in Washington. Company, 1920. The American Medical Association has done a service to It is of vital interest to both physician and patient that the American medicine in publishing this biography. It has medicinal substances prescribed shall be of standard strength placed on permanent record the.achievements of an American and purity. These facts can be determined only by the proper physician who was a practical leader, a pioneer among Ameri¬ use of reagents in the hands of competent chemists. Hence can army surgeons in the study of bacteriology, a clear the purity of reagents is of indirect interest to physicians. thinker and an admirable character. As the great historian Although the preface does not so state, this book is evidently Sudhoff says : "The intuition of the true investigator and a rewriting and elaboration of Schenek's translation of the pathfinder of today and tomorrow must find its own way to second German edition of Merck's "Pr\l=u"\fungder Chemischen new guiding principles from the work of yesterday, before Reagenzien auf Reinheit." What appears to have been a yesterday, and the distant past." predecessor of the German work was Krauch's "Die Pr\l=u"\fung der Chemischen Reagentien auf Reinheit," which was trans- Manual of Psychiatry. Edited by Aaron J. Rosanoff, M.D., Clin- lated into English by William and Dupr\l=e'\.The present book, ical Kings Park State N. Y. Fifth edition. Cloth. Director, Hospital, therefore, appears to be little more than a late revision of Price, $4. Pp. 684. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1920. these earlier works. It is regrettable that credit has not This manual first appeared in 1905 as a translation of the been given to the earlier authors, since the book might be French "Manuel de psychiatrie," by J. Rogues de Fursac. In taken for an original publication. In addition to the specific the successive editions, material by the translator has been tests for impurities in chemicals, considerable information is added. In the present one he has contributed chapters on given concerning the physical properties of chemicals, the psychanalysis, psychoneuroses, extramural psychiatry, intel- actions of light on them, and the precautions necessary in ligence and association tests, and other subjects. Professor their storage, all of which is of value to the analyst. Maxi¬ Hollingworth of Columbia University writes on certain mum limits of permissible impurities are given, but it does psychologic aspects; Miss Mary C. Jarrett, on the application not appear by what authority these standards have been of sociology in psychiatry, and Dr. Clarence A. Neymann con- established. Since mention of the book is being used in the tributes an appendix dealing with lumbar puncture, cell count, trade advertisements of a particular brand of reagent chem¬ and chemical tests of cerebrospinal fluid. These additions are icals, it is presumable that the standards suggested are the useful and add to the value of the book for purposes of arbitrary requirements adopted by the manufacturing house, reference; but the Kent-Rosanoff association tests and the of which the author is an employee. Standards for reagents Stanford revision of the Binet-Simon intelligence scale are should, of course, be established by law by a centralized gov¬ given so much space that the book has lost some of its ernmental authority, such as the Bureau of Standards; but, original proportions as a well balanced and concise manual. since there is no provision for such work by the government, Seventy-eight pages are devoted to the association tests, only the standards adopted by manufacturers must be accepted in thirty-two pages to dementia praecox, and twenty-five to lieu of less biased ones. The book will be useful to analysts manic-depressive insanity. The discussion of these diseases, and manufacturers but only indirectly to physicians. Downloaded From: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/ by a New York University User on 06/09/2015.