This volume is, for the most part, a combination of two earlier works" Scabies Civil and Military" and" Biology of Acarus Scabiei"[this Bulletin, 1944, v. 19, 402]. The sub-title is" The Prevalence (Civil and Military), Prevention and Treatment of Scabies, and the Biology of Acarus Scabiei, from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of World War II." In his preface, the author more precisely defines the period thus covered as"'... from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of America's Participation as an Active Belligerent in World War II'(December 7, 1941)", and he goes on to state that" Volume II will be devoted to the advances that have been made in our knowledge of various aspects of scabies from the beginning of World War II until the end of 1947. It will also include chapters on Clinical Scabies and on Norwegian, Animal and Avian Scabies". Volume III, we are informed," will be devoted to the History of Scabies".

The accepted beliefs concerning the life-cycle and control of Sarcoptes scabiei and the treatment of the disease which it produces, have undergone much radical alteration since the period covered in this first volume of Dr. Friedman's work, but such is the manner in which the material is presented that, when the book is read in the absence of the succeeding volumes, it is impossible to judge whether or not the statements are now out of date, and the reader may in consequence be misled. For instance:(a) the life-cycle, as recorded by the author, shows many gaps; but most of these have since been filled in by more recent workers, notably by HEILESEN [this Bulletin, 1946, v. 21, 476];(b) on control, the author affirms his belief in the important role played by fomites in the dissemination of scabies in World War II; possibly he is right, but the arguments he employs in support of his belief are based exclusively on observations and statements made before or during the course of World War I, and take no account of more recently published careful experiments which resulted in the abandonment of the disinfestation of fomites in the British Army-a measure which did not appear to result in any noticeable rise in the incidence of scabies;(c) concerning treatment, more than 100 remedies are considered, but no mention is made of tetraethylthiuram monosulphide, although most authorities regard this drug as high in the list of efficient sarcopticides.