Neurologic infections in children.

scure to our descendents as the practices of physicians in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece now seem to us. If we are lucky, Dr Guido Majno will be reincarnated every thousand years to resurrect our dusty medical archives and clarify our medical ideas. Undoubtedly, he would display the same energy, wit, and enthusiasm evident in the present book. However, instead of tackling mummies, bones, hieroglyphics, excavations, and artwork, he would have to scrutinize miles of microfilm and millions of tons of journals, deciphering longforgotten computer codes, laboratory results, and operative procedures. With enormous curiosity and indepth knowledge of pathology, Dr Majno has analyzed the development of wound care, surgery, and anatomical knowledge between 3000 BC and AD 200. The major civilizations included in his study are Mesopotamia, Egypt, Arabia, Greece, Alexandria, Rome, India, and China. With vivid imagination he has reconstructed many short vignettes of medical prac¬ tice, based on ancient case reports. Patients with wounds caused by snake bite, warfare, gladiator fights, and assorted accidents are escorted to the physician's office and treated ac¬ cording to the customs of the time. Each civilization faced similar basic problems in wound care: stop the bleeding, cleanse the wounds, apply poultices, and cover with bandages. Except for the widespread use of ani¬ mal dung on wounds, many treat¬ ments frowned upon by modern sci¬ ence were at least partially helpful. Washing wounds with hot vinegar, wine, or beer helped combat infection, as did the application of salves con¬ taining honey, myrrh, or copper pig¬ ments—convincingly demonstrated by Dr Majno to be moderately anti¬ septic when placed on bacterial culture plates. Also beneficial was the use of tourniquets, opiates, and ephedrine. Ancient wound care included cer¬ tain basic steps which now seem to have no rationale: incantations to please the deities; purging to fight in¬ ternal decay; and acupuncture, star¬ vation dieting, and blood-letting to balance the basic body humors and opposing cosmic forces. Much of our knowledge of these treatments comes from the writings of Hippocrates, Celsus, and Galen, who collectively dominated medical thought for more than 2000 years. This beautifully illustrated, thor¬ oughly referenced book certainly de¬ serves recognition as an outstanding contribution to the history of medi¬ cine. Hopefully, physicians and histo¬ rians will take advantage of its en¬ joyable wisdom. Those who don't deserve to be "beaten to a nanvrus."