This volume was apparently intended as an introduction to the general problems in poliomyelitis for medical students, nurses, and other paramedical personnel and not for those intensively involved in the care of patients with poliomyelitis. In the former instance it serves its purpose well, but with the one criticism that valuable statistical data are not included. As examples, one would like to have included the incidence of severe paralytic poliomyelitis versus that of the general paralytic disease, the incidence of renal calculi, and the fatality rates in acute paralytic disease and in long-term respirator patients.
As a guide for practitioners who are responsible for the care of patients with poliomyelitis, the handbook falls short of its goal. There are errors of omission as well as of commission. Examples of the former include details of functional positioning of the patient in the body respirator, value of spirometry as a guide to