GIFT BOOKS IN BRIEF : MEDICINE: A Treasury of Art and Literature, <i> edited by Ann G. Carmichael and Richard M. Ratzan (Hugh Lauter Levin Associates/Macmillan: $75).</i>

“Medicine is not a petty thing,” wrote Cahnge Chieh-pin in 1624, and it still isn’t when hefty tomes like this can be published on the subject. The editors, both physicians, have assembled a surprising compilation of excerpts from medical diaries, papers, novels, essays, short stories and poems written since the days of ancient Egypt. Much to their credit, the selections, accompanied by rich color plates of the corresponding periods, often reflect non-European perspectives on medicine. For the student of medicine and nursing, who isn’t required to read the works of medical luminaries such as Osler and Laennec, to the physician and general reader interested in the history of medicine, this rich work makes a fine introduction--but make sure you have a sturdy enough lap to hold it!