16. DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS 

 OF VERTEBRATE EYE RUDIMENTS 



1963 



by G. V. Lopashov Pergamon Press 



(translated by Jean Medawar) Oxford, London, New York, Paris 



225 pp., 66 figs., 12 tabs. Price: 70s. 



This is a translation of the monograph which first appeared in Russian in 

 1960. Professor D. R. Newth has written a 'brief introduction to the English 

 edition. The book provides a review of the author's own experimental work 

 on amphibian eye development. A large variety of experiments were carried 

 out, in urodele as well as in anuran species. Excised eye rudiments were 

 1) explanted as such in saline, 2) explanted after the addition of various 

 quantities of ectomesoderm or mesoderm from different sources, and after 

 subsequent covering with ectoderm, or 3) transplanted into different regions 

 of host embryos. The results show that the differentiation of the eye rudiments 

 into pigment epithelium and retina is influenced by environmental factors. 

 The influence of mesenchyme and blood-supply, and the significance of the 

 connections of the eye with ectoderm and lens are investigated in particular. 

 It is concluded that crowding or dispersal of cells is a condition for their 

 development into either pigment epithelium or retina. The relation between 

 separate processes, their mutual strengthening or inhibition, and the species- 

 specific relations between the various processes are amply discussed, as well 

 as related facts known from eye development in fishes, birds and mammals. 

 In a concluding chapter the author tries to link up the regularities observed in 

 amphibian eye development with phenomena known from the development of 

 other organs, such as axial rudiments, lens, auditory vesicle, and larval 

 dorsal fin. 



The book is adequately illustrated with line drawings and photographs. 

 Two large outfolding tables provide surveys, arranged by stage, of the 

 correlations between developmental processes in the formation of the eye 

 rudiment of the Axolotl and Pelobates, respectively. An extensive bibliog- 

 raphy concludes the book. There is no alphabetical index. The book is 

 well-printed. 



The book is written in a rather elaborate and verbose style, which may make it somewhat 

 difficult for readers not familiar with the subject. 



17. PLANT TISSUE AND ORGAN CULTURE, 



a Symposium 

 1963 



Editors: P. Maheshwari and N. S. Ranga Swamy Internat. Soc. of Plant 

 420 pp., 237 figs., 32 tabs. Morphologists, Univ. of 



Delhi 

 Price: $ 7.50 



This volume brings together the proceedings of a Symposium held at the 

 University of Delhi in December, 1961, under the auspices of the UNESCO 

 South Asia Science Co-operation Office. The participants were 39 South- 

 Asian and 4 English scientists, as well as four invited specialists from the 

 Western hemisphere, viz. F. C. Steward (Ithaca, N.Y.), H. E. Street 



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