The Black Hole and Other Essays

We are not aware of ventriculography, with its attendant dangers, being carried out in similar circumstances in any established unit in Australia today. Cerebral angiography always takes precedence, and, in the vast majority of cases, a ventriculogram is unnecessary. Countless other examples may be mentioned. Whilst we agree (i) that there is an unnecessary mystic about neurology, and a commonly held idea that, it is something too difficnlt and esoteric for any but the most intelligent student, and (ii) that there is no reason why the average student should not be familiar with the understanding and technique of an adequate neurological examination, we believe that these cannot be learned from" do-ityourself" books and " spot-diagnoses" schemata. They come from work in the wards and the out-patient departments; they come from thorough teaching at an undergraduate level in both the lecture room and at the bedside; and they eventually come from experience. This volume cannot be judged as useful to our medical students, nor can it be acclaimed as a credit to the English school of neurology.