In the preface of this first edition of this brief book the authors state, "... the book is a general effort—diagnostic and operative—to improve the results of surgery of malignant disease of the colon and rectum." That portion of the book which pertains to this problem deals with the authors' experiences and is well done, although little which has not been written by others is included.
The book consists of 32 chapters on important topics. The first chapter is devoted to "Surgical Anatomy of the Colon and Rectum." It is instructive and comprehensive. Proctoscopic and sigmoidoscopic examination are included in this chapter. The description reveals a decided lack of knowledge of this important subject and is too brief to possess any value.
The second chapter, "Surgical Physiology of the Colon and Rectum," is fairly well done but is incomplete. The same opinion applies to chapter III, which deals with "General Diagnosis