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In this rather short single volume Harrison has given the American medical profession the first concise but complete discussion of the significance of the failure of the circulation in its various forms. After a brief introduction in which he gives an interesting historical review of the outstanding contributions to the mechanism of heart failure, followed by a definition of the terms that he is to use in the subsequent chapters, he starts directly with the main discussion. He then takes up what he calls the three main methods by which the circulation fails, the hypokinetic, the hyperkinetic and the dyskinetic syndrome. By hypokinetic circulatory failure is meant an insufficient circulation, such as is found in shock and collapse. The hyperkinetic state signifies an overactive circulation such as occurs in certain nervous conditions, for example, neurocirculatory asthenia and hyperthyroidism. The dyskinetic syndrome indicates the "inefficient" circulation which is present in myocardial