Each year, it becomes more apparent that trace elements play an important role in human metabolism. The concept is no longer new. The literature on the subject is voluminous. Dr. Prasad, who has been interested in this field for many years, has undertaken the enormous task of bringing our knowledge together in a comprehensive fashion. This monograph should prove very informative and extremely useful to everyone who is concemed with human disease and with the maintenance of good health. His coverage of the subject is broad. Because ofthe importance of iron, in addition to "trace" elements, in...

This monograph is the first of a series which is designed to present in depth timely reviews of subjects related to the blood. Insofar as each subject lends itself, the clinical aspects of each topic will be presented as fully as is appropriate, in addition to the basic features. As a consequence, the various monographs should be found useful not solely by hematologists. Depending on the nature of each topic, it is expected that these monographs will be found important by physiologists and specialists in fields other than hematology, as well as by scientists of very diverse interests. The...

"People . . . see you sweat in agony, turn pale, turn red, trem ble, vomit your very blood, suffer strange contractions and con vulsions, sometimes shed great tears from your eyes, discharge thick, black and frightful urine, or have it stopped up by some sharp rough stone that cruelly pricks and flays the neck of your penis. " * These 16th century frustrations of Michel de Montaigne which most graphically reflect his experience with renal colic still plague approximately 1 per 1000 individuals in the United States annually. Since as many as 75% of clinically. apparent episodes of renal colic...

Each of the four authors of this book has a particular interest in disorders of porphyrin metabolism and special experience in their management. Their individual involvement in the field varies from 12 to 52 years and, combined, represents more than a century of personal experience. Since it has been written by both basic scientists and practicing physicians, the book is intended to be of value to all those involved in porphyrin metab olism and the porphyrias. It is hoped that the fascination of porphyrin metabolism and the clinical challenge of the porphyrias experienced by each of the...

I am prepared to predict that this monograph by Dr. Ernest Beutler will long serve as a model for monographs dealing with topics in medical science. I make this bold statement because we encounter in this work a degree of accuracy and authoritativeness well beyond that found in much of the medical literature. Too often, a monograph is simply a review of past reviews. The preparation of an exhaustive and completely accurate study such as the present one is a very laborious task; consequently, many authors make extensive use of the reviews of earlier writers assum- ing that the latter have...