The physician concerned with hematologic disorders is strongly oriented towards those functions of the blood which may be grossly altered in these diseases, but he gives little thought to many other functions. This little volume is of interest, since it concisely reviews a good part of existing knowledge regarding all blood functions, including fluid balance, oxygen, transport, cellular defense against infection, humoral defense, hemostasis, temperature regulation, and the transport of foodstuffs, metabolites, vitamins, enzymes, and waste products. Topics of greatest emphasis are fluid balance and blood coagulation.
The style is expository, with quantitation where appropriate. There are 44 chapters, most of them four to eight pages in length. General organization is adequate but could be better. References are at the bottoms of pages and include particularly initial articles, selected references of interest to the author, and some current items. He has relied heavily on the Biological Handbook (1961) and Wintrobe's