Praktische Psychiatrie

This book is written for the general practitioner; it has some shortcomings and many virtues, the latter being definitely more numerous. The book is addressed to Austro-German physicians, the bulk of whose patients are still treated in their homes even under circumstances that in America are considered to render hospitalization imperative. Part of the book is consequently devoted to detailed instructions on how to administer hydrotherapy and other therapeutic measures in the home. Even this, however, is of benefit to any one not experienced in institutional work. There is also a tendency to deal dogmatically with problems of pathogenesis and etiology. Aside from these rather negligible faults, the book may safely be recommended to any one who desires to orient himself in the field of psychiatry and demands a manual that is neither too technical nor too simple. The chapters on psychopathic personality, epilepsy and alcoholism are especially well done,