A Short History of Cardiology by James B. HerrickReview by: J. B. de C. M. SaundersIsis, Vol. 34, No. 6 (Autumn, 1943), pp. 530-531Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/225912 .

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530 Reviews

It is the externalization of certain aspects of our ambivalent feelings, their rendering into con- structed myth. The author still feels herself justified, however, in analyzing music; it is to be treated, not as mere expression, which she is sure it is not, but as a kind of "language of feelings," with a definite logical structure analogous to the struc- ture of feelings.

The analysis of music as a non-discursive sym- bolism may remind the reader of PEIRCE'S iconic signs and of Professor CHARLES MoRRis' theory of esthetic signs. But in its present rendering, Mrs. LANGER'S discussion throws little light on the shapes of music or of feeling. Nor, indeed, would it seem easy to say very much about a medium that "articulates forms which language cannot set forth." This type of difficulty is a familiar one to students of WITTGENSTEIN, and leaves the reader of Mrs. LANGER'S work with a like sense of paradox.

Mrs. LANGER'S discussion of language and of the logic of signs and symbols makes no substan- tial addition to the many other recent works on the subject, nor will it serve as an adequate in- troduction to contemporary semantics. She does have some cogent criticisms of prevailing theories, and several new distinctions, to offer. What she has to say, for instance, in criticism of the theory that a symbol evokes action appropriate to the presence of its object, is certainly convincing. Her distinction between significance, denotation, and connotation. is also worth considering. But the reader will undoubtedly find that the most interesting and novel portions of the work are those dealing with ritual, magic, and music. In these portions, Mrs. LANGER not only applies her theory of non-discursive, "presentational" sym- bolism, but supports it with numerous quotations from literature probably not too well known in this country.

Wit, rhythmic epigram, and vivid metaphor are in evidence in the style of this book. At the risk of carrying an author's phrase too far, one might say that Mrs. LANGER often shows herself a master of non-discursive literary symbolism.

MILTON B. SINGER

The College of the University of Chicago

JAMES B. HERRICK: A Short History of Cardi- ology. xvi+258 pp., 48 pls. Springfield, Illinois and Baltimore, Maryland, Charles C. Thomas, 1942. $3.50.

Professor HERRICK, distinguished clinician and eminent cardiologist, makes a valuable and useful contribution to the history of medicine in this short history of cardiology. His survey, following a very brief sketch of earlier times, begins natu-

rally enough with HARVEY and covers for the most part the contributions of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries to clinical cardiology. His plan of presentation is a com- promise which virtually divides the work into two parts; the first centering around those epochs which saw the appearance of new and important discoveries such as those of HARVEY, LAENNEC, VIRCHOW, PASTEUR, and KOCH, and the second, related to the development of our knowledge of specific clinical entities such as the inflammatory lesions of the heart, affections of the myocardium, cardio-vascular syphilis and the diseases of the coronary arteries. The author lightly touches here and there the present and closes with a brief but suggestive chapter on prognosis in heart disease. These discussions are "centered about individuals who, because of their personality, their important writings or their influence in the development of knowledge may properly be regarded as worthy of remembrance."

It should be sufficiently apparent from the out- -line of its contents given above that HERRICK'S small volume is primarily a history of clinical cardiology. The author confesses as much in a modest and disarming preface in which he states that "his years of experience in practice have better qualified him to write from the clinical than from the physiologic or experimental point of view." The essays on clinical aspects, based on careful reading of original sources, are brilliantly executed and succinctly bring into .perspective the evolution of our knowledge of many phases of cardiac disease.

In view of the severe limitations which the author has placed upon himself as expressed in the preface and introduction, it is perhaps ungracious to remark that none the less a somewhat fuller consideration of the fundamental sciences, no matter how brief, would have illuminated greatly the raison d'etre of changing conceptions and theories in the clinical field and given greater unity and perspective to the study which a bio- graphical method alone makes somewhat dis- jointed in tracing the evolution of ideas. For ex- ample, one finds no mention of such key figures as PRIESTLEY and LAVOISIER or their contributions. Indeed advances in any field should not be dis- sociated too far from the environmental develop- ment of the times, particularly if one is to under- stand the direction of the interests of scientific men who are ever conditioned, as BUKHARIN says, by the structure of the world they live in.

Among minor imperfections is noticed the hy- perbolic statement on page 17 that students of the history of medicine trace to VESALIUS' Fabrica "the beginning of histology and cellular pathol- ogy," and in a footnote on page 25 that FABRICIUS OF AQUAPENDENTE'S De Venarum Ostiolis (not

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Reviews 53 1

osteolis) was published in 1574-of course 1574 was the year in which FABRICIUS claimed to have discovered the valves as reported in the De Vena- rum published in 1603.

Dr. HERRICK has succeeded admirably in his intentions and not only the cardiologist but the general physician and medical student will enjoy and derive pleasure and benefit from his small volume. It is an excellent survey of those who have contributed to the development of clinical cardi- ology. In addition we are indebted to Mr. CHARLES C. THOMAS, the publisher whose name we not only associate with attractive printing but with the issuance of many volumes of imporance in the his- tory of medicine. J. B. DE C. M. SAUNDERS

IAGO GALDSTON: Behitnd the Sulfa Drugs. A Short History of Chemotherapy. With a preface by PERRIN H. LONG. xix+ 174 p. New York, D. Ap- pleton-Century Company, 1943. $2.00.

Historically, this is an excellent survey of the development of chemotherapy. As Doctor GALDS- TON indicates, the word is unfortunate. It does not mean "treatment with chemicals," but rather the attempt to destroy specific infectious organisms of diseased beings by means of specific chemicals. This idea was developed by PAUL EHRLICH (1854- 1915).

Doctor GALDSTON writes popularly, but he is his- torically sound. In many ways his book reminds one of, and covers much of the same material as, MILTON SILVERMAN'S Magic in a Bottle (New York, MacMillan, 1941). While SILVERMAN's effort is much more comprehensive, he treats of KOCH'S work on "inner disinfection," EHRLICH'S studies on dyes and organic arsenicals for the treatment of syphilis, and the recent studies on the sulfon- amides, in much the same way as Doctor GALDS- TON. SILVERMAN offers a bibliography to some of the chief scientific reports, but unfortunately Doctor GALDSTON omits this significant scholarly aid.

Most of Doctor GALDSTON's book deals with the development of chemotherapy from PARACELSUS in the sixteenth century, through ROBERT BOYLE in the seventeenth, W. H. PERKIN in the nine- teenth, and through the work of PASTEUR, KOCH, EHRLICH, to the development of the interesting dye, "prontosil," by GERHARD DOMAGH in the last decade. Doctor GALDSTON shows clearly that the publication credit for the basic scientific work on the sulfa drugs in destroying bacteria should go to the TREFOUELS working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris under the direction of FOURNEAU.

Doctor GALDSTON indicates the mechanism of action of the sulfonamides by interfering with the metabolism of bacteria. He fully shows the extra-

ordinary significance of the sulfonamides in mod- ern medicine. Regardless, however, of the new vistas of "cure" afforded by new drugs, he wisely concludes by saying that "in the scale of social significance, preventive medicine outweighs cura- tive medicine."

CHAUNCEY D. LEAKE University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

MAX NEUBURGER: British Medicine and the Vienna School. Contacts and Parallels. 134 p., 13 plates. London, William Heinemann, 1943. lOs/6d.

Happily dedicating this work to the late Sir D'ARCY POWER, Dr. MAX NEUBURGER, distin- guished and honoured dean of historians of medi- cine, pays a notable and graceful tribute to the country which has given him asylum from the barbarian horde. As the author observes in his preface, the history of the medical faculty of Vienna has been extensively considered in its rela- tions with those of Padua, Leyden, Paris, and the German schools. However, its connections and re- lationships to British medicine have not as yet been studied and it is the purpose of this work to fill the gap.

Anyone who has studied at a British school of medicine cannot but be sensible of the great debt these schools owe to Vienna, and realize how great its influence has been on the development of the specialties of dermatology, oto-laryngology, and of the eye. It is therefore surprising to learn in turn of the extent of the English influence on Vienna. The relationship seems to have been one of mutual action and reaction.

The connection between the Old Vienna School of VAN SWIETEN and that of Scotland has been clear enough, for both received their impetus and inspiration from the master of Leyden, BOER- HAAVE. From this natural point of departure, Dr. NEUBURGER follows in great detail the interaction of the two centers through to the present century and illustrates the leavening effect of the pragmatic and empirical tradition of British medicine in counteracting the influence of German speculation, the sound principles of SYDENHAM being an im- portant factor. It was more than appropriate that the Sydenham Society should have made so many of the classics of the Vienna school available to the English speaking world.

The contributions of the New Vienna School of ROKITANSKY and SKODA and their successors were immense, their influence world-wide and their con- tacts with British medicine, legion. In this period, Dr. NEUBURGER has compressed an enormous amount of information into the very limited space of the less than a hundred pages. Much of this

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