940 QUARTERLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Dentists everywhere should take pride in their profession noting Horace Wells’ discovery which revolutionized medicine, surgery, and dentistry. A special committee of fifteen and numerous organizations and individuals from all parts of the world collaborated with the editor of this fact-filled memorial volume. The editor, the collaborators, and the American Dental Association deserve commendation for presenting this work to the world. No dental or medical library is complete without this narrat,ive of so colorful a story of man’s achievement, an achievement in which the dental profession takes great pride.

Alfred .J. Asgis.

A Text Book of Surgery for Dental Students. By G. PERCIVAL MILLS, M.B., B.S., F.R.C.S., AND HUMPHREY HCMPHREYS, O.B.E., M.C., T.D., M.B., (yH.k%., M.D.S., R.D.S.R.C.S. Ed 5. 368 pages. London, Edward Arnold & Co., 1948. Price $5.00.

As the title implies, this is an elementary text consisting of simple definitions and brief descriptions of numerous pathologic entities-the concepts of which a,re requisites for the practice of surgery. An impression is formed that because the data presented are for dental students it has been reduced to the most simple fundamentals. The book would not Berve as an acceptable reference for dental students in this country because it is so elementary. There are no references nor bibliographical appendix, which are vital in students texts.

There are 20 chapters dealing with surgical bacteriology, inflammation and gangrene, hemorrhage, surgical infectious diseases, tumors and cysts, fract- ures and dislocations, diseases of the eye, neck, larynx, bone, and nervous system. Affections of the face and lips, mouth and throat, nose and air sinus are also briefly covered. Surgical techniques are only touched upon.

The first edition of this book appeared in 1913. In the intervening thirty- five years. the dental curriculum has undergone extensive revision and improve- ment,. The courses in the basic sciences are identical to those offered the medical student. A text such as this loses effectiveness in attempting to cover too much too briefly and becomes little more than a definition book of medical terms with which even dental students are familiar.

D. J. H.

A Comprehensive Review of Dentistry for Use in Preparing for Dental State Board Licensing Examinations. By VINCENT R. TRAPOZZASO, D.D.S., F.A.D.P. 661 pages. Philadelphia and London. W. B. Saunders Company, 1949. Price $6.50.

Annually, at this time of the year, senior dental students give serious thought to study for dental state board examinations. The review of collect,ed lecture notes plus spotty reference to texts on anatomy, pharmacology, physiol- ogy, and biochemistry, and a borrowed set of previous state board questions have in the past been the usual plan of attack for this last of exams. It is re- grettable that the basic science trainin g of the first two years is so poorly cor- related with the clinical teaching of the last two years that even the funda- mentals of early courses are completely forgotten.

The author, with the collaboration of 24 well-known dental educators, has prepared 21 chapters of questions on all subjects involved in t’he dental curricu- lum.

The questions are reasonable and practical, and the answers have been well edited and clearly phrased. The index is complete, and cross references are included.

kEVIE:mS OF NE\V BOOKS 941

The author states t,hat the hook has a twofold purpose: first, to serve as a concise, authorita,tive guide for those preparing for dental state board exam- inations, and this the book does admirably ; second to serve as a general review for the undergraduate student and the general practitioner. It is very ques- tionable whether either the undergraduate dent,al student or the general prac- titioner would, in spite of the valuable contjents, use this as a reference text.

This is a good dental quiz book and of assistance to those making up exam- ination questions and to those responsible for the correct answers.

I>. J. I-I.

Atlas of Oral and Facial Lesions and Color Film Library. By RALPH HOWARD BRODSKY, D.&ID. 127 pages. 100 2 by 2 Kodachrome slides. Balti- more, Williams & Wilkins Company, 1948. Price $80.00.

The employment of visual education methods in modern pedagogy has proved popular and remunerative. This book is designed to be used with a series of colored slides showing many of the pathologic entities to which the oral cavity is subject. As a supplement to the film library, the atlas gives a brief description of the salient characteristics of the lesion and an equally brief dis- cussion of the corresponding therapy. Accompanying each description is a simple line drawing with arrows to mark the important feat,ures of the colored slide.

The photography of the slides is excellent and the clinical material is well selected. Dr. Brodsky has definite talent for literary condensation, and be- cause no attempt at detail in either symptoms or treatment was intended, no exception can be taken to the statements in the descriptive text.

The brevity of the descriptions and the absence of microscopic correlation limit the teaching usefulness of the atlas type of text. In oral lesions, par- ticularly t,he differential aspects, how the lesion differs from similar clinical entities is important and would add to the value of this book slide unit.

The cost of the atlas-library combination precludes it from the student’s list and perhaps from the libraries of most practitioners.

D. J. II.