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For optimal usefulness to the modern clinician, a book on blood and marrow cell morphology should include (1) techniques of obtaining, preparing, and examining cell materials; (2) high-fidelity illustrations with helpful and accurate descriptions; (3) correlation of anatomic features with pathophysiologic mechanisms; and (4) significance for diagnosis and therapy.
This publication rates unevenly when measured against these criteria.
The proper indications for marrow examination are not given. The author's account of technique for obtaining and preparing the cell material is personalized and confined to posterior iliac crest aspiration and Vim-Silverman needle biopsy. His loose use of the terms "aspiration," "spicule," "smear," and "squash" does not permit the reader to determine their similarities or distinctions. Laudable emphasis is given to the importance and role of histologic preparations. However, the writer does not refer to the substantial superiority of the hematoxylin-eosin azure staining method of Maximow and Block over the traditional pathologist's