This book is the best summary of the development and clinical usefulness of the various antibiotics which the reviewer has seen. All the commonly used antibiotics are discussed in detail, and a short evaluation of the newer ones not yet in use because of their toxicity or lack of sufficient clinical trial is made. The latter group includes polymyxin, neomycin, mycomycin, viomycin, and subtilin.
Discussions of the antibiotics begin with a short biography of the discoverers and an account of the steps leading to the development of each new potent antimicrobial agent. Then follows a discussion of the therapeutic usefulness and an account of the pharmacology, toxic reactions, and forms of administrations of each drug. After all the antibiotics have been discussed, a final section of the book takes up their use, disease by disease. The truly enormous literature on the antibiotics has been adequately covered. At the end of