Following an initial observation that current North American books purporting to instruct their readers in the subject of medicine dislay broad variations both in their form as well as in their contents, an investigation was undertaken of eight such 'books of medical instruction': three textbooks of medicine and five popular home medical books. / Based on a semiotic analysis of these two kinds of books of medical instruction (i.e. an analysis of their constituent linguistic and non-linguistic signs), textbooks were distinguished from popular books on the levels of both form and contents. / With respect to form, textbook style was found to be formal and authoritative, hence high in accountability. Popular style on the other hand, was found to be informal and authoritarian, hence low in accountability. / With respect to contents, the two groups of books were found to differ on two accounts: (a) their scope (i.e. the kinds and numbers of topics addressed), and (b) the manner in which each group characteristically portrayed homo medicabilis (defined as 'man as the object of a medical description').

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