36. 



R.V. SHORT, ed. 1979. REPRODUCTION 



Brit. Council, Med. Dept., Brit. Med. Bull, vol.35, 2. Ill pp., 25 figs., 11 



tabs. £ 6.00, $ 12.50 (paper) 



This number of the B.M.B. is obviously meant primarily for members of the 

 medical profession, yet it is of interest to developmental biologists because 

 the reviews it contains are terse, topical and well illustrated, and have 

 very complete and up-to-date reference lists. 



We restrict ourselves to listing the first six reviews (average length 

 8 pp.): Meiosis in mammalian oocytes (Moor and Warnes) , In-vitvo fertiliza- 

 tion, embryo transfer and storage (Whittingham) , Control of early development 

 (Adamson and Gardner) , Sex determination and differentiation (Short) , Em- 

 bryonic signals that establish pregnancy (Heap, Flint and Gadsby) , Growth of 

 the fetus (Robinson) . 



37. 



J. VAN BLERKOM and P.MOTTA. 1979. THE CELLULAR BASIS OF MAMMALIAN REPRODUCTION 

 Urban & Schwarzenberg, Baltimore, etc. XII, 252 pp., 235 electron micrographs 

 on 85 pis., subject index. $ 29.50, DM 62.00 



Contents: 1. The ovary prior to ovulation (text 9 pp.), 2. The ovary and 

 ovulation (text 9 pp.), 3. The related ducts (text 4 pp.), 4. Physiological 

 and morphological aspects of spermatozoa leading to the attainment of the 

 capacity to fertilize an oocyte (text 7 pp.), 5. Fertilization and preim- 

 plantation embryogenesis (text 18 pp.) 



This book, with its numerous plates and topical text, will be of great value 

 to both students and researchers. The figures are original scanning and 

 transmission electron micrographs of superb quality, some of them not pub- 

 lished previously. Most of the illustrations refer to the rabbit, with rat 

 and mouse in second and third place. The text, on large, closely printed 

 two-column pages, is comprehensive, authoritative and entirely up to date. 

 Stress is placed on morphodynamic processes but physiological and molecular 

 aspects are duly considered as well. 



The last chapter, which is obviously of most immediate interest to mam- 

 malian embryologists, occupies about one third of the book and has some 240 

 references. It has sections on fertilisation, the cytoplasm of the preim- 

 plantation embryo, the differentiation of major cell organelles (including 

 intercellular junctions and cell surface) , and the formation of the endoderm. 



The book is superbly produced at a very reasonable price. 



REPRODUCTION, SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT, GAMETOGENESIS , FERTILISATION (see also 36, 



37,47,50,77,79,88) 



Monographs 



38. 



T.A.DETTLAFF, ed. 1977. CURRENT PROBLEMS IN OOGENESIS (in Russian) 



Izd. Nauka, Moscow. Series: Problems in Developmental Biology. 319 pp., 



45 figs., 21 pis., 17 tabs., subject and taxonomic indexes. R.2.60 



I. Oocyte growth and vitellogenesis (Aisenstadt) , II. The nucleus in oogene- 

 sis (Gruzova) , III. The organisation of mature eggs of amphibians and fishes 

 in the final stages of oogenesis and during maturation (Dettlaff) , IV. Meio- 

 tic division (Vassetzky) , V. Hormonal regulation of vitellogenesis in fishes 

 and amphibians (Goncharov) , VI. Mammalian oocytes (Dyban, Baranov) , VII. The 

 regulation of respiration during oogenesis (Ozernyuk) , VIII. Control of car- 

 bohydrate exchange during oogenesis (Milman, Yurovitskij, Ermolaeva) , IX. 

 Oocyte maturation as a model for the study of protein synthesis (Stepanov) , 



217 



