the first place for students, but the authors have also tried to make it a concise 

 reference work for physicians and biologists, by adding more detailed infor- 

 mation in smaller type. 



The present edition has been brought up to date once more, particularly in 

 the fields of cytochemistry and electron microscopy. The section on endocrine 

 glands has been re-examined in the light of the most recent data. 



The book's handy size and clear typography make it very easy to consult. 

 The illustrations are less satisfactory. The sparsely used photomicrographs are 

 not very well reproduced, whereas the black-and-white drawings, in majority 

 original, are usually not very distinct and often reproduced on too small a 

 scale. Coloured plates are lacking. 



"LES METAMORPHOSES" 



by M. Abeloos Libr. Armand Colin, Paris 



208 pp. with 37 figs Collection Armand Colin, no. 312 



(pocket book size) 



This is the first book that deals exclusively with the phenomenon of meta- 

 morphosis in a general way. This phenomenon is definable as the transforma- 

 tion of a post-embryonic "larval" stage into an adult form with a different 

 mode of life, and it is sufficiently distinguishable from other developmental 

 phenomena to justify its separate treatment in book-form. 



In the first two chapters the author treats the best known phenomena of 

 metamorphosis, viz. those occurring in the amphibians and insects respectively. 

 The third chapter is devoted to a survey of the phenomena of metamorphosis 

 throughout the entire animal kingdom. 



The last chapter discusses the problem of the relationships between meta- 

 morphosis and evolution. 



The book has no alphabetical index and only a very limited bibliography 

 (26 titles). It is illustrated with simple hne-drawings. 



"PARTHENOGENESIS AND POLYPLOIDY IN MAMMALIAN 

 DEVELOPMENT" 

 1957 



by R. A. Beatty Cambridge University Press, London 



132 pp. with 5 figs (no. 7 of the "Cambridge Monographs 



and 2 pis in Experimental Biology") 



Price: 15 s. 



The present monograph serves the aim of bringing together all the present 

 knowledge, until now widely scattered in the literature, concerning spontaneous 

 and experimental parthenogenesis and polyploidy in mammals, while at the 

 same time the non-mammahan (mainly amphibian) background is outlined for 

 comparative purposes. The facts are of mainly cytological and embryological 

 nature; those facts relating to postnatal stages still being highly controversial. 

 However, some extrapolation into the post-natal period is attempted by way 

 of working hypothesis. 



215 



