In the preface to his "Clinical Gastroenterology" Spiro says, "it is customary to confess that gastroenterology is now so complex that no one man can know about all its realms." Whether or not one man can know everything about gastroenterology could be the subject of extended discussion. Spiro, however, has given his own answer to the logical next question, "Can one man write a comprehensive textbook of gastroenterology?" He has written this volume for the express purpose of assisting practitioners in "updating their knowledge and understanding the clinical phenomena" of this rapidly enlarging division of internal medicine. To a very commendable degree he has succeeded.
The book is well organized. It is divided into nine units. These discuss disorders of the esophagus, stomach, peptic ulcer, diseases of the small intestine, lower bowel, gallbladder and biliary system, pancreas, liver, and a few miscellaneous disorders. There is a short introduction that deals