Every specialty has its eponyms. But ask who was the person after whom this or that disease or test was named, or what did he actually say about it, and we will realize that most proper nouns have lost their special signification. They remain only as a sound, which serves to identify a disease or sign but not to convey any historical meaning. Similarly with many conditions without eponyms. If we ask who first described a particular disease, or what did it originally signify, we realize that for most practitioners the past is a closed book.
Many educators have regretted this state of affairs and a few have even tried to remedy the situation. There are many books on medical history, many anthologies of original writings. The present book, restricted to the specialty of orthopedics, is extraordinarily successful. Dr. Rang has, after some general introductory remarks, divided the field into