163 



primitive streak formation in the chick are not very clearly described and are 

 not brought completely up to date with our present knowledge of these impor- 

 tant phases of development. 



In the chick the development of the central nervous system, sense organs, 

 alimentary canal, circulatory system and genital system are discussed in detail. 



The chapters on mammalian development are also very comprehensive and 

 give an excellent survey of our basic knowledge of the descriptive develop- 

 ment of Mammals, in particular Man. 



The illustrations, large in number, are very well chosen and are for the far 

 greater part reproductions of figures from original publications, so that the 

 student gets also a very good impression of the morphology and histology. 



The last chapter on experimental embryology forms the weakest chapter of 

 the book since it is rather fragmentary and in several respects not up to date. 



Although our knowledge of vertebrate embryology is chiefly based on 

 amphibian, bird and mammalian development the complete absence of the 

 embryology of fishes and reptiles must give the premedical student an incom- 

 plete picture of vertebrate embryology especially from a comparative point 

 of view. This is, in our opinion, a deficiency of many text books. 



Notwithstanding some suggestions for further improvement the thorough 

 and in general very accurate treatment of the material presented makes this 

 text book on vertebrate embryology recommendatory not only to premedical 

 students but just as well to college students in general. 



P. D. NIEUWKOOP 



