19 THE PATHOLOGY OF THE HUMAN PLACENTA 



1967 



By K. Benirschke and S. G. Driscoli Springer- Verlag 



512 pp., 321 figs., 16 tbs. Berlin - Heidelberg - New York 



Price: DM 132,—; $ 33.— 



Contents: I. Examination of the placenta. II. Unusual shapes of the placenta; placenta accreta. 

 III. Amnion and chorion. IV. Pathology of the umbilical cord and major fetal vessels; vestiges 

 of embryonic structures. V. The placenta of multiple pregnancy. VI. Cellular exchange between 

 mother and fetus; intervillous thrombosis; tumor metastasis. VII. Cysts and placental septa. VIII. 

 Circulatory disturbances. IX. Infections. X. Hemolytic disease of the newborn. XI. Abortion. 

 XII. Hydatidiform mole. XIII. Tumors of the placenta. XIV. The hormones of the placenta. XV. 

 Miscellaneous conditions. 



This large volume forms part of the "Handbuch der speziellen pathologischen 

 Anatomie und Histologie" (vol. VII/5). It is mainly of interest to practising 

 pathologists and obstetricians, and consequently will not be reviewed extensively. 

 The reader is referred to the table of contents above. The manuscript of the book 

 was finished in January 1966. 



It may be mentioned that chapter V (The placenta of multiple pregnancy, 89 

 pp.) covers more or less the same ground as the monograph by Strong and 

 Comey reviewed below (no. 29). The bibliography of this chapter contains 

 about half the number of references that the monograph has, but it is interesting 

 to note that a considerable proportion of these, both older and recent, do not 

 occur in the bibliography of the monograph. The two bibliographies thus sup- 

 plement each other. 



The production of the book is up to the high standards usual with this pub- 

 lisher. The book has author and subject indexes. 



20 THE CELL SURFACE: ITS MOLECULAR ROLE 



IN MORPHOGENESIS 

 1967 



By A. S. G. Curtis Logos Press - Academic Press 



415 pp., 23 figs., 6 pis., 2 tbs. London - New York 



Contents: 1. The composition and structure of the cell surface, 2. Basic physical and chemical 

 properties, 3. Cell adhesion: (I) basic structure and biophysics, 4. Cell adhesion: (II) the biological 

 evidence, 5. The behaviour of single cells, 6. The behaviour of cell populations: model systems, 

 7. Morphogenetic movements: the cell surface in the embryo. 



This book is presented by the author as a review and analysis of cell surface 

 functions connected with multicellularity and morphogenesis, based on present- 

 day knowledge about the molecular structure of surfaces. Compared with the 

 book by L. Weiss reviewed in the twelfth main issue of General Embryological 

 Information Service (1967, p. 274), the present work has the advantage of being 

 essentially conceived from the point of view of the embryologist. 



As is apparent from the table of contents, the treatment starts at the molecular 

 level and advances via cell adhesion and the behaviour of single cells to more 

 complex levels of cell surface interaction. The book may be characterized further 

 by a quotation from the Introduction: 



"I hope that the book will show that each level of interpretation rests on all 



preceding ones and that the molecular approach to the subject is the most 



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