The Intervertebral Disc with Special Reference to Rupture of the Annulus Fibrosus with Herniation of the Nucleus Pulposus

After reviewing the second edition of this book, one is at a loss to understand the excuse for its publication, for with the exception of the chapter on cervical disks there is essentially no change. Readers have a right to expect that one who assumes to write a book is an authority. At least the book should be up to date. It is a volume of uncertainty and equivocation at a time when recent advances have completely transformed the field, both in diagnosis and in treatment, to one of accuracy and certainty. And they have stood the test of time. The diagnosis of defective disks is now so simple and free of error that contrast mediums in the spine are no longer indicated and should not be tolerated. Yet pages are devoted to their useless pictures. The diagnosis of defective disks by simple x-rays is pathognomonic in 75 per cent