Handbuch der Orthopädie in vier Bänden

About 23 authors have contributed to this volume, the first in a series of four, that will constitute an orthopedic encyclopedia rather than a handbook. The book is well organized, and some chapters make delightful reading. This volume starts with an interesting chapter on the history of orthopedic surgery. Weill's chapters entitled Congenital Diseases of the Skeletal System and Other Bone Diseases are outstanding. Unfortunately, they are practically devoid of illustrations, especially in the part dealing with benign tumors. While this volume furnishes a thorough theoretical background and should stimulate thought, therapy has been neglected. Most chapters are presented in a clear and understandable manner. The chapter on metabolic diseases and that on osteoporosis due to trauma (Sudeck's atrophy) (here called dystrophy) deserve particular mention. Unhappily, one of the chapters deals with vegetative derailment (Entgleisung), a term unknown in English literature. The chapter on the fundamentals of orthopedic surgery is