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This little paperback is a compilation of lecture notes given to undergraduates of University College, Galway, Ireland. As the author states, it is impossible to learn about every tree in a forest, and although treatment of the commoner diseases is mentioned, the coverage is generally superficial. Nevertheless, the topics listed in the index cover a wide area, ranging from "pimples" and "the itch" to "constipation" and "the coated tongue." The chapters are listed by diseases or systems, apart from an isolated chapter on antibacterial drugs.
"Therapeutics" is taken in its true sense, and attention is given to important but neglected areas such as diet, nursing, rest, and physiotherapy. There is much therapeutic common sense, albeit of a homely old-fashioned variety, but the author is too dogmatic over controversial issues and is often out of date. For example, the use of chloramphenicol is tacitly encouraged without mention of its hematotoxicity, and