REVIEWS 



The Principles of Pathology : Vol. II. "Systemic Pathology." By J. George 

 Adami and Albert G. Nicholls. [Pp. xv + 1082.] (London : Henry 

 Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton, 1910. 30s. net.) 



The present volume, in which Dr. A. G. Nicholls co-operates with the author, 

 completes the treatise on pathology undertaken by Prof. J. G. Adami, the first 

 part of which has been already noticed in Science PROGRESS (vol. iv. p. 163). 

 It comprises the consideration of the special pathology of the different organs of 

 the body, or, as the authors prefer to call it, " Systemic Pathology." 



Prof. Adami put us in a happy frame of mind by his admirable discourse on 

 the various difficult matters with which he dealt in the first volume, but his readers 

 can hardly be so well drunk that they will fail to detect the deterioration in the 

 execution of this second part. The intention is admirable. Adami has himself 

 laid down most clearly that pathology is a co-ordinated science and not a catalogue 

 of phenomena, and in the preface to the present volume our expectation of some- 

 thing good is kept up by some pregnant sentences pointing out that the considera- 

 tion of morbid function must go hand in hand with the study of morbid structure. 

 But, in the body of the book, these very proper principles are followed out in a 

 half-hearted kind of way, and good intentions have paved the way to a mediocre 

 performance. 



The proportionate amount of space devoted to the various divisions of the 

 subject is curious. The pathology of the formed elements of the blood occupies 

 sixteen pages, this trivial treatment being excused on the ground that it is 

 a specialised subject dealt with in special text-books. But the section on the 

 skin runs to seventy pages, that on the eye to forty-eight — both are specialised 

 subjects with their own special text-books, and neither affords very suitable material 

 to illustrate the general principles of pathology, material which may be freely 

 drawn from the morbid changes in the tissue blood. The liver has but thirty-four, 

 and the whole of the urinary system only fifty-nine pages out of a total of 1016. 

 The relative detail in which the various subjects in a book such as this should be 

 considered would seem to be determined by considerations, on the one hand, of 

 their theoretical weight in a philosophical system of pathology, and on the other 

 by their practical importance. Text-books, after all, are intended for the instruction 

 of students, and it seems to us of the utmost importance that, in trying to impart 

 a proper knowledge of the fundamental conceptions of pathology, one should 

 utilise to the fullest possible extent material with which the student is likely to 

 come into intimate contact. In other words, his data should be drawn as far as 

 may be from diseases which are common in his experience and from material, 

 histological and the like, with which he can readily obtain direct personal acquaint- 

 ance. It seems further clear that it is well to impart information in proportion 

 as it is available, and above all to discourage the leach after the curious and 

 exceptional, except in cases where uncommon conditions are of material theoretical 

 importance. Judged by standards such as these, it is difficult to recognise that the 

 book as a whole has been well planned. 



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