JRSM > Volume 98, Number 9 > Pp. 434

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Other books received

On the table in my window sits a collection of books for which, with my editorship running out, I failed to find a reviewer. On top of the pile is Dr Ayan Panja's An Essential Medical Miscellany,¹ advertised in the JRSM as ‘everything you ever wanted to know about medicine and much more.’ The book is an obvious though undeclared imitation of the best-seller Schott's Original Miscellany, right down to shape and size, but I am not convinced that Panja shares Schott's obsessive attention to detail. Where Schott gives us verbatim the Irish Code Duello of 1777 (rules for duelling in Ireland), Panja tells us that ‘In Paraguay, duelling is legal provided both parties are registered blood donors’. These very words can be found on numerous internet sites: Schott, I think, would have made inquiries in Paraguay and (if the statement is true) offered guidance on how to issue the challenge—for instance, ‘Sir, I demand satisfaction if you, like me, are a registered blood donor’. Among the few referenced items in the book are the Wilson and ‘Junger’ criteria for screening: if this entry persuades people that screening is not always a good idea, three cheers—but the next edition should spell Jungner correctly. Panja's method for taking the blood pressure seems to require three hands. I am of course nitpicking; in truth this miscellany is what used to be called a commonplace book—an engaging collection of random facts and factoids. Harmless fun.

Now some historical items. The History of Albuminous Nephritis² is a translation from the French and Latin of a work by Pierre-François Olive Rayer (1793-1867) originally published in 1840. In his introduction, Campbell Mackenzie describes Rayer as ‘one of the foremost and greatest physicians to have adorned the renal specialty, dwarfing in many ways the achievements of his renowned colleague, friend and inspiration, Richard Bright.’ Rayer was the first to distinguish acute from chronic nephritis, and his History bemoans the failure of clinicians for many generations before Bright to see the connection between dropsy and an abnormality of the kidneys. Read these translations with their accompanying commentaries, and you will wonder just how the work of this great clinician-scientist could have been so widely ignored across the Channel. The answer, alas, is chauvinism. I looked up Rayer in another work received for review, Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography,³ and found two books (in French) published in 1931 and 1997. Now in its third edition, with about 40% more biographies than the second, Morton and Moore clearly retains its place as a prime work of reference. Lastly, a word about David Hay's history of the St. Alban's Medical Club, Honest Talk and Wholesome Wine.⁴ The club, which has been meeting since 1789, has had some very famous members, including Richard Bright and Thomas Addison. However, scientific discourse was not its main purpose, and Dr Hay's account tells us about personalities and interactions—wagers, blackballing and so on. Much of the book consists of mini-biographies of the members, derived principally from sources other than the club records. Seemingly the wine and talk were not much to the taste of Addison or Bright, neither of whom stayed long. In a foreword, Sir Richard Bayliss says that Dr Hay has done the St. Alban's Club proud. That is true.

REFERENCES

1. Panja A. An Essential Medical Miscellany. London: RSM Press, 2005 [124 pp; ISBN 1-85315-631-0; Price £12.95]

2. Rayer P-FO. The History of Albuminous Nephritis. French text translation by D Berry and S Cameron; Latin text translated by M Booker; introduction and commentary by C Mackenzie. London: Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, 2005 [114 pp; ISBN 0-854-84-098-2; Price £32]

3. Morton LT, Moore RJ. Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography, 3rd edn. Aldershot: Ashgate,2005 [438 pp; ISBN 0-7546-5069-3; Price £85]

4. Hay D. Honest Talk and Wholesome Wine: a History of the St. Alban's Medical Club, 1789 to the Present. Andover: EDA Hay, Stoke Hill Farm near Andover SP11 0LS, Hampshire, 2005 [298 pp; ISBN 1-9548770-4; £25 incl. p&p]

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This Article Full Text (PDF) Send a Quick Comment Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Quick Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                      What's this?