(8) The Britannica not only enlarges the medical library of the practitioner, but gives him, and the members of his family, the use of the only complete library of general information.
Scope of the Medical Section
Specifically, the medical and surgical section of the Britannica comprises 3 general articles, constituting broad systematic surveys of the various provinces of the subject: 103 articles on anatomy and physiology, which are partly surgical; 265 articles on pathology; 75 on pharmacology; 21 on public health, in addition to the articles on dentistry and on veterinary science, and 170 biographies. But this comprehensive scheme does not by any means include all the material of value to the medical man. The sister sciences of chemistry, physics, biology, botany, zoology and psychology, have much to offer him. A consultation of the list appended to this section will show how the needs of the physician and surgeon are served by the Encyclopaedia. It must suffice here to call attention briefly to some of the more important contributions.
Taking up, first, the more general articles, there is Medicine (Vol. 18, p. 41) containing about 35,000 words. This deals with the history and development of the science. Dr. J. F. Payne of the Royal College of Physicians, London, traces its history from the earliest known times to the middle of the 19th century; and Sir T. C. Allbutt, professor of physic in Cambridge University, completes this review with a section on Modern Progress (p. 55). Of high practical value is Medical Jurisprudence or Forensic Medicine (Vol. 16, p. 25), by H. H. Littlejohn, professor of forensic medicine, University of Edinburgh, and T. A. Ingram. This deals solely with that branch of the science which has to do with the application of medical knowledge to certain questions of civil and criminal law. There are discussions of questions affecting the civil or social rights of individuals, and injuries to the person, the function of the physician in questions of mutilation, homicide, infanticide, poisoning, etc. Medical Education (Vol. 18, p. 23) is a useful reference article by Sir John Batty Tuke, Dr. W. H. Howell, dean of the medical faculty, Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. H. L. Hennessy, furnishing data on the educational qualifications necessary to the practice of medicine in Europe and America.
Anatomy, Embryology, and Physiology
Dr. Frederick G. Parsons, vice-president of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, lecturer on Anatomy at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, contributes the general article Anatomy (Vol. 1, p. 920) which goes deeply into its history, and has further sections on Modern Human Anatomy (Anthropotomy) and Anatomy, Superficial and Artistic. This noted authority also writes detailed and fully illustrated articles on the anatomy and embryology of the Brain (Vol. 4, p. 392); Heart (Vol. 13, p. 129); Eye (Vol. 10, p. 91); Ear (Vol. 8, 791); Olfactory System (Vol. 20, p. 77); Lymphatic System (Vol. 17, p. 166); Vascular System (Vol. 27, p. 926); Nervous System (Vol. 19, p. 400); Muscular System (Vol. 19, p. 51); Reproductive System (Vol. 23, p. 129); and Respiratory System (Vol. 23, p. 184) and on the Skeleton (Vol. 25, p. 169); Skin and Exoskeleton (Vol. 25, p. 188); Skull (Vol. 25, p. 196); Joints (Vol. 15, p. 483); and Nerve (Vol. 19, p. 394). Another valuable anatomical article is Connective Tissues (Vol. 6, p. 958), by Dr. T. G. Brodie of the University of Toronto. Prof. Adam Sedgwick writes a most excellent general and historical account of Embryology (Vol. 9, p. 314); and Dr. Hans A. E. Driesch of Heidelberg University adds to it a section Physiology of Development (p. 329), treating of the laws that govern the development of the organism. The general article Physiology (Vol. 21, p. 554) is from the pen of the celebrated Prof. Max Verworn of the University of Bonn, and to this there are closely linked, according to the new plan of the Britannica, extensive and detailed accounts of the physiology of the Brain (Vol. 4, p. 403); Sympathetic System (Vol. 26, p. 287); Spinal Cord (Vol. 25, p. 672); Muscle and Nerve (Vol. 19, p. 44); Respiratory System (Vol. 23, p. 187); Vascular System (Vol. 27, p. 929); Alimentary Canal (Vol. 1, p. 663); Blood (Vol. 4, p. 77), etc., by noted specialists, including Dr. Charles S. Sherrington, professor of physiology in the University of Liverpool, Dr. J. S. Haldane of Oxford University, Dr. L. E. Hill, lecturer on physiology at the London Hospital, Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, and Dr. T. G. Brodie of the University of Toronto.
Articles on Pathology
Drs. D. J. Hamilton and Richard Muir are the authors of a brilliant summary of the whole subject of Pathology (Vol. 20, p. 913) with over 50 illustrations, including coloured plates. The whole story of the elevation of the science dealing with the theory and causation of disease from a mere philosophical abstraction to one of the natural sciences is admirably told. For the pathological details of various diseases and groups of diseases the reader is referred to Parasitic Diseases (Vol. 20, p. 770), fully illustrated, by Dr. G. Sims Woodhead, professor of pathology, Cambridge University, one of the notable contributions to the Britannica; Metabolic Diseases (Vol. 18, p. 195), by Prof. D. N. Paton of Edinburgh University; Digestive Organs, Pathology (Vol. 8, p. 262) by Dr. A. L. Gillespie of Edinburgh and M. Fisher; Kidney Diseases (Vol. 15, p. 784), by Dr. J. R. Bradford of University College Hospital, London, and Dr. Edmund Owen, the famous English surgeon; Bladder and Prostate Diseases (Vol. 4, p. 27); Venereal Diseases (Vol. 27, p. 983)—these two also by Dr. Owen; Skin Diseases (Vol. 25, p. 190); Insanity (Vol. 14, p. 597), by Sir John Batty Tuke, president of the Neurological Society of the United Kingdom, and medical director of the New Staughton Hall Asylum, Edinburgh, Dr. J. Macpherson, and Dr. L. C. Bruce, author of Studies in Clinical Psychiatry,—for this article the noted American specialist Dr. Frederick Peterson has written a section on Hospital Treatment of the insane; Neuropathology (Vol. 19, p. 429), fully illustrated, by Dr. F. W. Mott, the distinguished pathologist to the London County Asylums, and editor of the Archives of Neurology; Respiratory System, Pathology (Vol. 23, p. 195), by Dr. Thomas Harris, author of numerous articles on this subject, and Dr. H. L. Hennessy; Blood, Pathology (Vol. 4, p. 82), by Dr. G. L. Gulland of Edinburgh; Heart, Disease (Vol. 13, p. 132), by Sir J. F. H. Broadbent, author of Heart Disease and Aneurysm, etc.; Eye, Diseases (Vol. 10, p. 94), by Dr. George A. Berry, hon. surgeon oculist to his Majesty George V; Vision, Errors of Refraction and Accommodation (Vol. 28, p. 142), by Dr. Ernest Clark of the Central London Ophthalmic Hospital; Ear, Diseases of (Vol. 8, p. 794), by Dr. E. C. Baber, late senior surgeon, Brighton and Sussex Throat and Ear Hospital.
Dr. Harriet L. Hennessy is the author of Gynaecology (Vol. 12, p. 764).
For more specific details there is the complete list of articles on different diseases and ailments under their common names. This includes veterinary diseases, to which branch of medicine an admirable introduction is furnished by Veterinary Science (Vol. 28, p. 2), by Drs. George Fleming and James MacQueen. In the articles on diseases there will be found accounts of the latest methods of diagnosis and treatment, as, for example, the Calmette eye-test in tubercular diseases, serum treatment and its latest developments, vaccine therapy, etc.