35 



a picture of the ossification and growth of the various bones concerned. The 

 material consisted of 50 fetuses, which were dissected in order to permit 

 microradiography of the individual bones. 



Although we do not underestimate the difficulties of writing in n foreign language, we 

 think that it would have been n great advantage if this important work could have been 

 written in a language which is more widely known than Italian. 



It is a pity that a table of contents and a list of illustrations are lacking. Unfortunately 

 the bibliography contains many printing errors, particularly in the foreign titles and authors' 

 names. 



"THE AVIAN EMBRYO. 



structural and functional development" 



1960 



by A. L. Romanoff The Macmillan Company 



1305 pp.. 426 figs. New York 



Price: $ 35.00 



This compilatory monograph is a complementary volume to "The avian egg ' 

 by Romanoff and Romanoff (1949). It is an effort to bring together in one 

 volume all the known scientific facts about the structural and functional 

 development of birds. The book is based on a critical study of more than 7000 

 original publications, of which 2700 are cited in the text. The book thus 

 contains an enormous wealth of information, supplemented by more than 2250 

 drawings. The latter are either original or redrawn after other authors. 

 Although they are on a relatively small scale (which is unavoidable in a book 

 of this kind), they are of outstanding quality and exhibit a remarkable unity 

 of style. Moreover they are labelled in a clear and uniform way. The printing 

 of the book is beautiful and clear. 



Nine chapters dealing with the various organ systems are preceded by 

 chapters on "reproductive cells", "fertilization and fertility" and "early 

 morphogenesis '. and followed by a final chapter discussing the extraembryonic 

 membranes. Each chapter is preceded by a diagram, summarizing the morpho- 

 genetic interrelations which play a part in the development of the system 

 concerned. An appendix contains tables and figures summarizing all kinds of 

 numerical data. The book is concluded by an extensive subject index. 



In accordance with the scope of the book the data relating to the causal analysis of 

 development are treated rather briefly. To compensate for this the author could have referred 

 to an important book like Waddington's "The epigenetics of birds", which, however, is 

 lacking in the bibliography. The same holds for Hamilton's revision of Lillie's "Development 

 of the chick", only the original edition of this book being listed. 



"ANOMALIES DES AMPHIBIENS ANOURES" 



1958 

 by J. Rostand Societe d'Editions 



100 pp.. 84 figs. d'Enseignement Superieur 



(paper bound) Paris 



The first 16 pages of this monograph contain II descriptions and brief 

 discussions of various anomalies, mainly affecting the limbs, and occurring in 



