A SYLLABUS OF LABORATORY EXAMINATION AND CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS.

edited by Thomas Hale Ham '27, HarvardUniversity Press, 1950.

At the time this syllabus was compiled Dr. Ham was Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. He has since become Professor of Medicine, Western Reserve University.

The book is a collection of "units" prepared by authorities in the particular subject covered in each unit. The volume covers in considerable detail the various methods of laboratory examination as related to diagnosis. A brief introduction states the aims of the book: that of serving "as a teaching aid in diagnosis and management of the patient and to form a link between preclinical and clinical medicine."

In discussing each laboratory procedure certain aspects are methodically covered. The principle behind the test is elucidated. The technique is described briefly. The significance of the results are stated. Sources of error and degree of accuracy are analyzed.

The first units are introductory covering fundamentals such as units of measure and accepted normals. A particularly worthwhile contribution gives the reader an insight into the cost of laboratory medicine. The next group of units deal with laboratory examinations of the blood. This includes techniques of collection of blood, blood counting, chemical analyses and background of blood banking. Next a section on laboratory examination of the urinary system covers the basic laboratory examinations of the urine and then discusses special tests of kidney function. The next units include tests related to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, infectious diseases and diseases of metabolism. Finally procedures related to extravascular fluids are reviewed.

This volume is likely to become a standard text book in Clinical Pathology for medical students the country over and should find its way to the book shelves of many busy clinicians where it will be most useful as a reference book to aid in evaluation of laboratordata.