The Diseases of Occupations

From Occup Med (Lond) 1956;5 IT is FORTUNATE for medical men and women who give their services to industry that one of the finest teachers of medicine should have devoted so much of his life's work to the study of the influence of occupations upon disease. This fascinating subject attracts the attention of many physicians in a sporadic manner, but in the past 120 years or so only four general physicians have published major works on it. Donald Hunter takes his place beside Thackrah (1832), Arlidge (1892), Oliver (1908) and Legge (1934); indeed, with the accumulated knowledge of the present generation, he leads them all. This book should prove a valuable stimulus to the teaching of occupational health, of great help to both students and teachers. Neither it is a reference work for Industrial Medical Officers on points of detail nor is it intended as such; it will however be invaluable for any medical man or woman who is taking up an industrial appointment for the first time. The text is refreshingly free from typographical errors. There are >400 excellent photographs which in themselves form a useful education in industrial processes and illustrate many occupational diseases. There are >1000 references which cover each subject well as a guide to more detailed reading. Dr Hunter has amply fulfilled his purpose of reviewing 'on a broad basis and with emphasis on its clinical aspects the problem of disease, in relation to occupation'. This book will be our guide for many years in teaching and in encouraging our colleagues in other branches of medicine to develop an interest and perhaps even an enthusiasm for the study of the diseases of occupations. It does not matter if the details of our own special concern are sometimes not set out as fully as we should wish; what matters is that occupational health in general will gain in stature by the publication of this work by one of the leading consultant physicians of our day. L. G. Norman.