genesis by means of the dialectic-materialistic method of marxist philosophy. 

 Unlike the writings of many marxist biologists of the recent past, however, this is 

 a strictly philosophical work, and the author is critical of those who in the past 

 have allowed political dogmas to influence their biological reasoning, and even 

 their experimental results (Lyssenko, among others). For this reason the book 

 is interesting for those who want to know about recent developments in this area 

 of philosophy in Eastern Europe. 



The central theme of the book is the problem of discontinuous qualitative 

 transformation ("qualitativer Umschlag") versus continuous quantitative change 

 in ontogenesis. The philosophical analysis of this problem makes use of numerous 

 biological data, mainly from the field of plant development, and taken from 

 recent work of both Eastern-European and Western biologists. Among the latter 

 E. Biinning is the author most frequently quoted. Frequent reference is made to 

 recent works by Russian and East-German philosophers. The book contains a 

 certain amount of controversy against neothomistic philosophy. 



8 LA CULTURE D'ORGANES 



1968 



By M. Sigot Presses Universitaires 



„Que sais-je" no. 1288 de France - Paris 



127 pp., 37 figs. 



This little book, though written primarily for the interested layman, can be 

 recommended as introductory reading for students and biologists of other 

 specializations who want a quick survey of the field of organ culture. The author 

 is chief assistant at the College de France, Paris, and the book has a preface by 

 Prof. Et. Wolff. 



Although the approach is of course highly selective, the history, the methods, 

 and the many-sided applications of organ culture are admirably surveyed, in- 

 cluding the major advances of the last decade. 



The clear illustrations have been well chosen. Numerous authors are mentioned 

 in the text; the bibliography is restricted to a few books. 



9 CALCIUM IN REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY 



A comparative study of vertebrates 

 1967 



By K. Simkiss Chapman & Hall Ltd., London 



278 pp., 63 figs., 9 pis., 123 tbs. Reinhold Publ. Corp., New York 



Price: 60 s. 



Although this monograph is concerned with a very specialized area of animal 

 physiology, calcium is of such vital importance in the developing animal that the 

 book will be valuable to many vertebrate embryologists. 



The book follows a broadly comparative approach, and brings together such 

 a wealth of data that it will serve as a work of reference for years to come. More- 

 over, the subject matter is very clearly organized. The 1 6 chapters are arranged 

 in two parts, the first of which consists of 7 chapters dealing with those verte- 

 brate organ systems that store or metabolize calcium (including the ovary and 



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