REVIEW 



Retinitis Pigmentosa. With an Analysis of Seventeen Cases in Deaf -Mutes. — By 

 William T. Shoemaker, M. D. Laboratory Examinations of the Blood and 

 Urine, by John M. Swan, M. D. Cloth. Pp. IV+106. Price $2: 1st ed. 

 Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. 



This little book on retinitis pigmentosa gives an exceedingly satis- 

 factory discussion of the subject. The description of the pathology, 

 symjjtoms and fundus changes are concise and yet complete. The plates 

 are beautiful and anyone able to view the fundus should, with their 

 aid, have no trouble in making a diagnosis even in a first case. 



The author's statement that the disease is particularly prevalent in 

 the Orient should interest practitioners in this region and induce them 

 to investigate closely any complaint of night-blindness by patients. This 

 symptom with contraction of the visual fields and the retinal pigmen- 

 tation make the disease "one of the most easily recognized in the domain 

 of ophthalmology." 



Doctor Shoemaker's conclusions may be briefly summarized as follows : 



1. That the disease is a degeneration, not an inflammation, of the 

 entire neurovascular tract of the peripheral end-organ of vision. 



2. That the retinal changes are secondary to changes in the choroid. 



3. That the disease is congenital in all cases, however long the symp- 

 toms may be delayed, and that it may be considered as a stigma of 

 degeneracy. 



4. That heredity is a potent etiologic factor; parental consanguinity 

 is of importance only in connection with heredity and environment; 

 maternal impressions can not be excluded as a possible cause; and 

 syphilis as a cause of true retinitis pigmentosa is not established. 



5. That the distribution is of more importance than the mere presence 

 of retinal pigment in making the diagnosis. 



6. That the disease is always bilateral. 



E. P. O'C. 



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