Principles of Clinical Electrocardiography.

The author has made a credible attempt at achieving his stated purpose: to present the basic concepts of electrocardiography and their clinical application. In general his material is well organized and well illustrated. He confesses that in reviewing such a broad field his presentation must be simplified. It is in this simplification process that the reader may encounter certain difficulties. Several examples may be taken from the discussion of the ventricular excitation process. Most of this material has been derived from animal studies, yet it is presented as if it were known to be equally applicable to man. In explaining septal depolarization, the author invokes the obvious misconception that the left and right ventricles bear a purely left and right relationship to one another, and he ignores the predominantly apex-to-base direction of septal forces. Anatomic misconceptions in the name of simplicity are further encountered in the use of intracavitary and