The phenomenal growth which has of late characterised medical science so
rapidly renders obsolete existing works that there is an admitted necessity for a
comprehensive System of Medicine which shall collect a-nd embody in convenient
form the present aspect of the science in its most advanced condition as viewed
from the standpoint of the experience of the clinicians and teachers who
are acknowledged leaders in professional thought and in practical work. A
reference to the list of contributors will show the generoxis rivalry with which the
most distinguished men—from the East and the West, from the North and the
South, from all the prominent centres of education, and from all the hospitals
which afford special opportunity for study and practice, have united in bringing
together their aggregate of specialised knowledge.
The design of The American System of Medicine is to present a thoroughly
practical work of ready reference for the practitioner of general medicine. Ex-
tended historical statements and discussions of mooted theories have been omitted,
but each author has sought to present the results of his personal experience and
to combine them with the views of other acknowledged authorities. In conformity
with the practical character of The System, it will contain no general articles upon
Hygiene, Bacteriology, Pathology, or Symptomatology, but these subjects will be
separately presented in connection with each disease, thus facilitating consultation,
by making each article a complete practical treatise in itself. Much original re-
search and investigation have been undertaken by the authors expressly for this
work, the results of which the reader will find both in the text and in the illustra-
tions. The latter have been made a special feature of those articles which admit
of such elucidation. Minute details are given in each practical subject, such as
the examination of the blood in malaria and in ansemisi, the examination of the
sputa, the physical diagnosis of the chest, the localisation of disease of the brain,-
spinal chord, etc. Particular attention has everywhere been bestowed to give full
directions for treatment, original prescriptions, formulas, diagrams, charts, and
tables being inserted wherever their admission seemed desirable. Much care has
been devoted to the preparation of the indexes, as upon their completeness depend
very greatly the convenience and utility of The System.
The American System of Medicine, is therefore a work of which the American
profession may reasonably feel proud, in which the practitioner will find a safe
and trustworthy counsellor in the daily responsibilities of practice, and for which
the publishers confidently anticipate a circulation unexampled in the annals of
medical literature. That these expectations are fully justified will appear from
the list of contributors.
" In the style and substance of its contributions, as well as in the handsome
manner in which the work has been produced, it leaves nothing to be desired.
. . . The work is, indeed, one of a high class, and will be all the more welcome as
the selection of writers has evidently been made with great judiciousness, so that
their contributions represent fully the high position which American medicine may
well claim to have attained."—Lancet.
" This System of Medicine will prove one of the most important contributions of
the kind ever made to medical literature."—Scottish Medical and Surgical
Journal.
44 It is impossible to speak in detail of the twenty-eight articles contained in
this, the first, volume, but there can be no question as to their value, and we
warmly recommend the first instalment of a work which bids fair to do honour
to the fair name of America in the world of medicine."—British Medical-
Journal.
AULDE.—The Pocket Pharmacy, with Therapeutic Index: A
Resume" of the Clinical Applications of Remedies adapted to the Pocket Case,
for the Treatment of Emergencies and Acute Diseases. By john aulde,
M.D., Member of the American Medical Association. Crown 8vo. Price
7s 6d.