invertebrates. Judging from these volumes the treatise will be an invaluable work of 

 reference not only for reproductive biologists but also for developmental biologists 

 working with these animals. All chapters follow approximately the same format and 

 consecutively cover, inter alia, asexual reproduction, sex determination, germ cell origin, 

 gametogenesis and reproductive cycles (and the factors influencing them), spawning, 

 embryonic development, larval development, and metamorphosis. 



Apart from an introductory chapter on general principles by the editors, the 10 chap- 

 ters in vol. I and the 9 chapters in vol. II each deal with a specific group. Understandably 

 in a work of this kind, not all chapters are equally up to date; no consistent attempts at 

 updating have apparently been made. With respect to development the coverage and 

 illustrative material vary among chapters, and in a few cases are minimal and restricted to 

 descriptive data. 



The books are very well produced and illustrated with good line drawings and with 

 numerous beautiful light and electron micrographs, most of them original and often not 

 pubhshed before. 



44. 



E. S. E. HAFEZ and T. N. EVANS, eds. 1973. HUMAN REPRODUCTION: conception 



and contraception 



Harper & Row, New York, etc. XXII,778 pp., 259 figs., 99 tabs., subject index. $ 26.95, 



£ 14.25 



This monumental treatise will be of most immediate interest to clinicians, but parts of 

 it will be very useful to human embryologists. It was written by a well-selected team of 

 57 co-authors, most of them American but with a spattering of Europeans as well. A high 

 multidisciplinary standard was ensured by having each chapter reviewed by at least three 

 other specialists in the field concerned. 



Of the book's five parts, the entire first part, entitled Parameters of human fertility, is 

 of great interest to embryologists. It covers ca. 250 pages and has chapters on spermato- 

 genesis, parameters of male fertility, oogenesis and follicular growth, gamete transport, 

 fertilization, implantation, reproductive life cycle, human reproductive endocrinology, 

 and immunologic aspects of infertility. All these are well written , well organized, and 

 fully documented. Together they present the latest state of the art in an area where rapid 

 advances have been made during the last decades. The remaining four parts of the book 

 deal with fertility inhibition, consequences of fertility inhibition, stimulation of fertility, 

 and social aspects of population control. 



Great care has been devoted to the many illustrations, all of which were specially 

 prepared for this book. The numerous photographs and electron micrographs are very 

 well reproduced. Many very clear summarizing diagrams are also included. The produc- 

 tion of the book is excellent. 



45. 



B. LOFTS, ed. 1974. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE AMPHIBIA. Vol. II 



Academic Press, New York, etc. XII, 592 pp., 115 figs., 17 tabs., author, species, and 



subject indexes. $ 45.00, £ 21.15 



Contents: 1. Integrative functions of the brain, 2. Cytology of the adenohypophysis, 

 3. Reproduction, 4. The physiology of vitellogenesis, 5. Reproductive and courtship 

 patterns, 6. Intersexuality 



Volume I of this treatise appeared in 1964 (J. A. Moore, ed.). A third volume is to be 

 published in the near futur'i. The present volume was written by an international team of 

 specialists and brings togethei a wealth of information otherwise often not easily found. 



The topics of the various chapters are interrelated and further integration has been 

 attempted by cross-referencing. The scope of the book transcends the strictly physiologi- 



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