In view of giving clinical material for the study of various forms of chorea, poliomyelitis and polyoncephalitis, the author used for this purpose the clinical histories of diseases of the Moscow Clinic of Nervous Diseases (director - prof. V. K. Rot). The entire work is divided into 7 chapters and contains in a short form 35 histories of diseases. In each chapter, the literature of the corresponding painful form is first given, and then its cases are described. Among them there are such not often encountered cases, such as syphilitic poliomyelitis and poliomyelitis on the soil of smallpox. In general, the work is of a lot of special interest for a neuropathologist and, together with it, introduces the direction of scientific thought, which has a place in the Moscow Nervous Clinic. With all the merits of the published work, one cannot remain silent about some of its shortcomings, in our opinion, one can reproach the author for his desire to give a short history of illness. In the study of clinical forms, brevity can quickly interfere with the understanding of the process underlying a particular nosological unit. For example, we will point to the observations of the XI and XV-e. It is not clear to the reader whether the attention of the study was drawn to the existence of pain in patients with pressure on the nerve trunks or nerves, but between the two this in our eyes may have a meaning for the purity of the diagnosis. It is unclear, further, why the author does not provide data on lumbar puncture and Wassermann's reaction in the cases where this could have been done (obs. XV). In the cases cited from the literature, the same excessive brevity is visible. So on p. 183 it says about anesthesia I and II in n. trigemini, but which side? Further, it is hardly advisable to use such expressions: (p. 58) degeneration of the posterior pillars from the lower back (?) To the cerebellum, or (p. 89): with tabes, not only the motor cells of the spinal cord, but also in the legs brain ". It would be desirable to avoid the term so-called. muscle sensitivity where there is a rumor about "muscle feelings".
Science and Civilization in China. Volume 1: Introductory Orientations. Volume 2; History of Scientific Thought (Needham, Joseph)
