Military Preventive MedicineBy George C. Dunham, M.D. Carlisle Barracks, Pa.: Army Medical Bulletin No. 23, Medical Field Service School, 1938. 1198 pp. Price, $2.50. The first edition of this book appeared in 1930. The demand for a third edition is a proof of its practical success. It has also met with general favor at the hands of reviewers so that we welcome this new edition which has been revised and brought up to date, and is in every way an admirable book. The Foreword by the Surgeon General of the Army points out that the military environment shapes the policies of practical sanitation. Measures applicable in the home or in civil communities are often found impracticable in the military service. The difficulties encountered, however, are overbalanced by the opportunity which one has in the military service for the practice of preventive medicine and sanitation and the fact that measures are generally under the control of the officer in charge and can be enforced. Obsolete material has been deleted. Though it is written from the military standpoint, the underlying principles are the same as in civil practice, and both military and civil officers will find this volume very useful. The arrangement of the book is excellent and each section is treated adequately. Special attention is given to nutrition. There are good sections on water purification, food control, meat inspection, inspection of poultry, eggs, and fish, dairy and milk plant sanitation, mess sanitation, waste disposal, sewage treatment, etc. It goes without saying that the control of insect-borne diseases is prominent. We owe much to the officers of the Army for what they have taught us concerning insectborne diseases. There is also a chapter on Vital Statistics which seems adequate for the purpose. There are six appendices which give the caloric value of human foods, foods which are sources of protein and mineral elements and vitamins, and score cards for dairy farms, pasteurization and milk plants. The author holds that yaws is quite similar to syphilis, responding positively to the Wassermann and Kahn reactions. He regards alastrim as probably an aberrant form of smallpox. The book is excellently gotten up and well printed. It is abundantly illustrated with some colored charts, notable among which is one of the reactions of smallpox vaccination which was obtained from the Commissioner of Health of Baltimore, Md. Altogether the book can be recommended unreservedly. The remarkably low price at which it is sold is due to its being an Army Medical Bulletin published under the authority of the Secretary of War. MAZYCK P. RAVENEL