Br J Ophthalmol: first published as 10.1136/bjo.60.12.841-a on 1 December 1976. Downloaded from Book reviews 841

valuable, particularly in optics and mathematics, and slightly clouded by the wry picture of those I5 beagles was an essential prelude to the subsequent advances lining up for the chopper. P. D. TREVOR-ROPER made by such workers as Newton. This volume provides delightful reading and is both critical and fully sympa- Xerophthalmia and Measles in Kenya. By thetic; it is indispensable for anyone interested in the J. J. M. SAUTER. 1976. Pp. 235. Kliniek voor evolution of scientific thought, representing the first great Oogheelkunde, Rijks - Universiteit Groningen, step since the time of Aristotle. STEWART DUKE-ELDER Netherlands (Dfl 25) on vol 8. The Dutch school of nutritionists and ophthalmologists Symposium Ocular Therapy, Edited with a special interest in malnutrition and the eye has by I. H. LEOPOLD and R. P. BURNS. 1976. Pp. 92, always been conspicuous in these fields. Dr Sauter's tables, figs, refs. Wiley, New York ($I2) book is a particularly successful and comprehensive One's heart sinks when books with a promising title account of the subject. The illustrations including tum out to be just the collected papers from some several pages of colour photographs are excellent. Par- transient congress or symposium, and not a carefully ticular attention has been paid to vital staining of the planned and balanced presentation by the distinguished and , the author concluding that lissa- names which appear on the cover. One knows in mine green has advantages over other traditional stains. advance that the result will be a hotch-potch of papers The author's particular concern was to examine the of widely differing quality, covering isolated topics thesis that in many African countries much of the blind- which may, nevertheless, conflict or overlap. ness was caused by xerophthalmia precipitated by the However, within these formidable limitations, the 'catalyst' measles. His conclusions were that xeroph- material here is generally excellent. The io 'chapters' thalmia occurred nearly everywhere in Kenya in 1974, are concise and readable, with much useful information. which shows that xerophthalmia is prevalent in com- We are told about the toxicity of drugs used for squinting munities which do not have rice but where maize is children (Apt and Gaffney), with a limited message that eaten as the staple food; xerophthalmia appeared to be mongols, brain-damaged children, and infants are at the main cause of blindness in Kenyan children; risk from the stronger mydriatics and miotics; that measles often played, by means of local and general corticosteroid-resistant is helped (but rarely 'catalysing' effects, an important role in the development healed) by azathioprine and chlorambucil (Burns, Laird, of blindness caused by xerophthalmia; in well-nourished and Pirofsky); about the virtues and toxicities of the children measles was of no consequence as a cause of local anaesthetics used in (Ellis); of the blindness; staining by i per cent rose bengal or i per copyright. disadvantages of corticosteroids (Havener)-a very cent lissamine green appeared to be an asset in the early good account; about newer antiviral agents (Kauffman), diagnosis of xerophthalmia in health centres and in adenine arabinoside being a good alternative for IDU- field surveys. Staining is therefore important in the resistant or IDU-allergic cases, while trifluorothymidine, prevention of severe blindness inducing which likewise does not share allergenicity or cross- deficiency. resistance with IDU, has the advantage of greater Later the author performed a short additional potency and water-solubility; of the factors affecting xerophthalmia investigation in Java, Indonesia, where drug penetration into the eye (Lieberman); wise words he examined a small number of xerophthalmia patients about the doctor-patient relationship (Newell); about and children with measles . The the management of bacterial corneal ulcers (Pettit); of result of vital staining and the comeal biopsies of these http://bjo.bmj.com/ adrenergic drugs in simple (Sears)-conclud- two groups of patients were in accordance with the ing that the usefulness of epinephrine is proved, but findings in the Kenyan counterparts. that this is not yet so for the newer synthetic drugs; This is a fine publication, in English with Dutch that, although platelet aggregation occurs in humans summaries, and with an excellent bibliography. It with diabetic , it is not evident when this is deserves to be, and probably will become, a classic in induced by alloxan or by pancreatectomy in dogs this most important field of nutritional ophthalmology. (March, Engerman, and Shoch), an interesting finding, D. P. CHOYCE on September 27, 2021 by guest. Protected Notes Surgical and IOL Congress Miami Beach, 5 to 9 February 1977 The fifth biennial congress will be held at the Fontaine- papers or films should write to the Programme Chair- bleau Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida. There will be 70 man, Robert C. Welsh, MD, i68 SE Ist Street, Miami, speakers and approximately 200 papers which will be Florida 33I31, USA. discussed by a faculty panel. Anyone wishing to present Postgraduate Course in Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery University of California, 3 to 4 March I977 This postgraduate course at the University of Cali- Rathbun, MD, Programme Chairman, School of fornia, San Francisco, will cost $150 (including lunches). Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA. Further information may be obtained from J. Earl