August 1, 1878.] REVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE. 225

gj^biefos.

Atlas of the Diseases of the Skin. Part I. By Balmanno Squire, M.B., Surgeon to the British

Hospital for diseases of the skin: London, J. and A. Churchill.

Mr. Squire aims, by this publication, to supply an atlas of skin diseases of convenient size, more easily shelved and handled than the huge, unwieldy volumes which have hitherto been published. He believes that it is

possible to delineate diseases of the skin with sufficient accuracy of detail, and without loss of any essential character necessary for their easy recognition and faith- ful representation, on an ordinary octavo demy page. He does not consider it really necessary to depict the large portions of the surface of the body which most plates of skin diseases display, nor to furnish the wide

margin useful for artistic effect, but a waste of space as far as the true representation of the disease itself is con- cerned. Convenience and handiness are certainly use- ful objects in a publication ; but, however advantageous ?aud welcome, the value of a work of this kind will de-

pend not on its size but on the truthfulness of the pic- tures and the accuracy of the descriptions which it con- tains. The present part is devoted to the illustration of two forms of skin disease,?namely Nsevus vascularis planus or port wine mark and Psoriasis diffusa. There are four plates in it, two devoted to each disease. They are excellent chromolithographs, and give a capital idea of the appearance of these affections. The first plate re- presents a typical instance of port wine mark affecting the face, the second a more extensive patch of the same similarly situated and complicated with molluscum. The third shows a severe affection of the forehead, scalp and eye-brows with diffuse psoriasis. The eyelids are the seat of ophthalmia tarsi, and islets of psoriasis occur on the cheeks and lips. In the fourth the same face is seen after cure of the complaint Though the plates are good, and impress a vivid idea of the diseases de-

picted, the letter press is, we think, decidedly the best part of the work. It gives a plain, practical description of the features, pathology, diagnosis and treatment of the affections concerned, by a man who has evidently made them the subject of close and intelligent attention. The methods of obliterating port wine marks by cautery- points and close shallow parallel incisions are clearly and practically described, and the various plans of treat- ing psoriasis, including the_ ointment of crysophanic acid (Goa powder) introduced into practice by the author, fully given. We can recommend this atlas with con-

fidence, and if future numbers sustain the merit of the

present part, it will constitute a very valuable addition

to a medical library. The paper and printing are particularly good, and the

descriptive part of the work is illustrated by several ex- cellent woodcuts.