Booknotes

Guido Cimino and François Duchesneau, eds. Vitalisms from Haller to the Cell Theory. Biblioteca di Physis, no. 5. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1997. 357 pp. $43.00; L 70,000.00 (paperbound).

This volume of conference proceedings contains the following contributions: Guido Cimino, “Introduction: La problématique du vitalisme”; Roselyne Rey, “Lignes de force et tendances actuelles des études sur le vitalisme”; Richard Toellner, “Principles and Forces of Life in Haller”; Maria Teresa Monti, “Les dynamismes du corps et les forces du vivant dans la physiologie de Haller”; Giulio Barsanti, “Les phénomènes ‘étranges’ et ‘paradoxaux’ aux origines de la première révolution biologique (1740–1810)”; Federico Di Trocchio, “The Vital Principle in Therapy: Barthez and the Theory of Fluxions”; François Azouvi, “Le vitalisme de Maine de Biran”; Brigitte Lohff, “The Concept of Vital Forces as a Research Program (from mid-XVIIIth Century to Johannes Müller)”; Frederick Gregory, “The Newtonian Vitalism of J. F. Fries”; Dietrich von Engelhardt, “Vitalism between Science and Philosophy in Germany around 1800”; Roselyne Rey, “Bichat au carrefour des vitalismes”; Jacalyn Duffin, “Cadavers and Patients: Laennec’s Vital Principle and the Historical Diagnosis of Vitalism”; François Duchesneau, “Vitalism and Anti-vitalism in Schwann’s Program for the Cell Theory”; Guido Cimino, “Propriétés ou forces nerveuses dans l’oeuvre de Flourens”; Frederic L. Holmes, “Claude Bernard and the Vitalism of His Time”; and François Duchesneau, “Territoires et frontières du vitalisme (1750–1850).”

Michael E. Mulligan. Classic Radiologic Signs: An Atlas and History. New York: Parthenon, 1997. x + 198 pp. Ill. $49.95.

“Sausage (cocktail sausage) digit,” “Napoleon hat (bow) sign,” “celery-stick (celery stalk) metaphysis,” and “telephone receiver femur” are featured in this catalog, along with some one hundred other colloquially named radiographic patterns. The author explains: “If we are to be able to use these terms with full understanding, we must visualize the object depicted by the term, imagine its radiographic appearance and transfer that picture to the radiographic image before us. This book is intended to help all students and practitioners of our art accomplish this task” (p. ix). For historians of medicine and other interested readers, the author has also tried to identify the first use (published or otherwise) of each term, including a brief description and a short list of references for each one.

John Komlos and Joerg Baten, eds. The Biological Standard of Living in Comparative Perspective. Contributions to the Conference held in Munich, 18–22 January 1997, for the XIIth Congress of the International Economic History Association. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1998. 528 pp. Graphs, tables. No price given (paperbound).

Part 1 of this volume, which concerns the Americas, Asia, and Australia, contains the following chapters: “Biological Indicators of Change in the Standard of Living in China during the Twentieth Century,” by Stephen L. Morgan; “The Welfare of Indigenous and White Australians, 1890–1955,” by Stephen Nicholas, Robert Gregory, and Sue Kimberley; “Does the Early-Economic Growth Puzzle Apply to Contemporary Developing Countries?” by Henk-Jan Brinkman and J. W. Drukker; “A Most Difficult Case of Estimation: Argentinian Heights, 1770–1840,” by Ricardo Salvatore and Joerg Baten; “Heights and Welfare in Late-Colonial and Post-Independence Argentine,” by Ricardo D. Salvatore; “Stature, Consumption, and the Standard of Living in Colonial Korea,” by Insong Gill; “Skeletal Remains, Health, and History: A Project on Long Term Trends in the Western Hemisphere,” by Richard H. Steckel, Paul W. Sciulli, and Jerome C. Rose; “Health, Height, Nutrition, and Mortality: Evidence on the ‘Antebellum Puzzle’ from Union Army Recruits for New York State and the United States,” by Michael R. Haines; “An Exploratory Essay on the Impact of Diseases upon the Interpretation of American Slavery,” by Philip R. P. Coelho and Robert A. McGuire; “Nutritional Status and Agricultural Surpluses in the Antebellum United States,” by Lee A. Craig and Thomas Weiss; “Variation and Trends in the Stature of Pennsylvanians, 1820–1860,” by Timothy Cuff; “On the Biological Standard of Living of African-Americans: The Case of the Civil War Soldiers,” by John Komlos; “The Antebellum Puzzle Revisited: A New Look at the Physical Stature of Union Army Recruits during the Civil War...