BOOK REVIEWS

A n a t o m y o f t h e H u m a n B o d y . By R. D. LOCKHART, G. F. HAMILTON, and F. W. FYFE.

Second Edi t ion . Pp. 679, wi th 965 i l lustrat ions. ( L o n d o n : F a b e r and F a b e r L td .

1965. ) £6 . 6s.

In most universities the time devoted to anatomy in the curriculum has been drastically reduced. The standard of anatomical textbooks therefore assumes increasing importance as with dissection and tutorials curtailed, the anatomical knowledge which is necessary to separate the doctor from the charlatan still has to be learned somewhere,

Fortunately there exists an admirable selection of anatomical texts from which to choose, and the second edition of Lockhart's Anatomy is a notable contribution to these. There are many features of this book which warrant comment.

As Professor Lockhart remarks in his preface, " a little picture is worth a million words " and there are in fact 965 illustrations in a text of 677 pages. With artists of the calibre employed in this work~ it may be expected that illustrations would be of a high quality, and this expectation is more than realised. There is a wealth of admirably executed illustrations of the standard variety : Figs. 79 to 80 (skulls compared); Fig. 315 (Colles' fascia); Fig. 603 (median sagittal section of brain); Fig. 790 to 791 (anal canal) are examples. There are, moreover, unconventional figures with unusual views, and many novel schematic drawings, which are a special feature. For example, Fig. 159 (shoulder joint) ; Fig. 167 (elbow) ; Fig. 349 (flex. dig. superficialis); Fig. 498 (frontal nerve); Fig. 890 (splenic circulation); and many superb illustrations of the central nervous system. If one could offer a suggestion, there might be room in a subsequent edition for an illustration comparing the male and female bony pelvis.

A concise and lucid text has been achieved, with many telling phrases, " The mastoid is ransacked by air cells " ; " the upper part of the muscle (lat. dorsi) forms a vest pocket for the inferior angle of the scapula " ; " the hypophyseal fossa of the sphenoid bone, a tiny four-poster bed, canopied and side curtained by dura mater," are a few examples. And there is a graphic description of the diaphragm, " ever rising, ever falling to renew the breath of life."

The interposition of the description of each joint in its natural place between the bones forming the joint is an excellent compression, and the method adopted in the section on peripheral nerves of arranging text alongside figures with pointers from the names to the structures in the illustration has much to commend it.

The book is beautifully produced and free of misprints. Altogether it is an admirable production, well worthy to take its place among the great works of Anatomy.

J. A. R.

C l i n i c a l S u r g e r y , Vol . 7, T h e H a n d . E d i t e d by R. GuY P(ILVERTAFT. Pp. ix + 355, wi th

191 i l lustrat ions. ( L o n d o n : Bu t t e rwor ths . 1966.) £4 . I7S- 6d.

This volume is a worthy contribution to Clinical Surgery. The emphasis on function, which characterises it throughout, is set by Napier in his excellent opening chapter on Functional Aspects of the Anatomy of the Hand, and is maintained no less by Wynn Parry in the closing chapter on Rehabilitation. The immensely wide cover of injuries, malformations, infections and tumours within 350 pages has compelled condensation of material by all thirteen authors, and it is a tribute to their experience that they have been able to do this without loss of clarity. But these limitations have unavoidably made necessary the omission of much detail of operative technique, which many surgeons less experienced in this specialised field would have found useful. It may well be argued that such information should be sought in a book on operative surgery, but clearly the more of it which can be included in clinical surgery the better. The authors have had to content themselves, in the main, with a survey of modern methods and authoritative advice regarding their selection, and this they have done with a uniformly high standard rarely found in a multi-author book ; much of the credit for this must go to Pulvertaft, the Consultant Editor, who himself contributes an excellent chapter on Injuries of the Phalanges, Metacarpal Bones and Joints. The need for close co-operation between the general, orthopaedic and plastic surgeon is repeatedly demonstrated, and perhaps nowhere better than in Paul Brand's chapter on The Hand in Leprosy. The versatility of Campbell Reid is shown by the fact that seven chapters have been entrusted to him covering much in the field of hand injury ; his lucidity and simplicity of style do much to mitigate the restrictions imposed by limitations of space.

The impression left by careful study of the volume is that the authors have gone far towards proving Napier's contention that " the human hand achieves its purpose only when it is fulfilling its intrinsic capabilities as the master of the arm and the servant of the brain."

D. N. M.

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