(1) A Text-book of Physiology (2) Text-Book of Pathology

Abstract

(i) PROF. ROAF'S volume is based on the course of instruction given at the London Hospital Medical School, and represents, presumably, a scheme for the presentation of the facts of physiology which he has found to be more satisfactory in its results than the traditional method, for it marks to some; extent a new departure in text-books on the subject. Hitherto it has been usual to consider as a group or system those organs of the body which act together for a common end. Thus the physiology of the alimentary system has embraced a description of all those organs the main function of which is to bring about digestion and absorption of an animal's food. They have been compared and contrasted as regards their structure, function, and the means whereby their function is regulated in order to further the ends for which they are designed and to assist in the coordination of the body as a whole. In the work under review this method is not adopted, but, instead, the subject of animal physiology is approached from the point of view of the chief activities which an animal displays. Mechanical aspects are dealt with in the first section, chemical activities in the second, regulative mechanics come next and occupy the largest section of the book, and, finally, a special section is devoted to the maintenance of the individual and reproduction.

(1) A Text-book of Physiology.

By Prof. H. E. Roaf. Pp. viii + 605. (London: E. Arnold and Co., 1924.) 25s. net.

(2) Text-Book of Pathology.

By Prof. Robert Muir. Pp. vii + 774. (London: E. Arnold and Co., 1924.) 35s. net.