This volume is a collection of up-to-date, concisely described methods for the study of blood coagulation. Its chief virtues are brevity, authority, and an attempt to be self-critical, particularly in the effort to point out limitations and weaknesses of the methods described and their particular avenues of application. Subjects vary in range from the preparation of glassware to detailed description of the assays of the more recently discovered single factors. Topics covered include processing of blood, determination of clotting time, estimation of the rate and extent of clot retraction, platelets, plasma thromboplastin and precursors, thrombin and precursors, accessory plasma or serum coagulant factors, fibrin and precursors, fibrinolysin precursors and inhibitors, tissue coagulants, anticoagulants in the blood plasma and serum, and anticoagulants of tissue origin.
The job of editing is excellent, and the close cooperation between the various authors and Dr. Tocantins is apparent.
The book may serve as the beginning