24 JANUARY 1969, Page 19

Shorter notice

The Illustrated History of Medicine Roberto Margotta (Paul Hamlyn 63s). Hippocrates to Barnard, beautifully illustrated with pictures which may perhaps be regarded as a little grue- sonie for the coffee table. One of the sad facts which emerges is that medicine, in the shape of actually doing anything positive to cure patients, is an invention of the past hundred years. Before this, the account is mainly a melancholy history of cruelty, superstition and ignorance.