18 



'DIE KONGENITALEN MISSBILDUNGEN, IHRE URSACHEN UND 

 PROPHYLAXE. cm kurzcs Lchrbuch fur Studierende und Arzte" 



1955 

 by M. Wrete Almquist & Wiksell 



J21 pp. with 284 figs Stockholm 



Price: ? 



This concise textbook has been written for preclinical students, but may 

 also be useful for clinical students and physicians as a compact reference work 

 in this rather neglected field. 



Whereas in the past the operative correction of malformations formed almost 

 the only practical interest, the progress in our knowledge of the genetical and 

 environmental factors which can play a role in their formation has opened 

 a wide field for prophylactic treatment. 



In this work the author has restricted himself to those developmental 

 disturbances, which are present at birth or which appear soon afterwards. 



The second part of the book, in which the individual malformations, arranged 

 according to organ systems, are described, comprises 5/6 of the entire work, 

 whereas the general part, in which are discussed subjects like vitality, 

 genetically and environmentally condtioned malformations, their causes, their 

 frequency and their prophylactic treatment, takes up only the first 40 pages. 

 The emphasis in this book therefore strongly lies on the descriptive part. 



Although we appreciate the comprehensive character of the systematic part 

 of this textbook, which is richly illustrated, we cannot conceal that a causal- 

 analytical treatment of the various types of malformations with emphasis upon 

 their genesis would have given the reader a much deeper insight. 



We should also like to suggest that the author, in future editions, should 

 either insert bibliographical references in the text of the various chapters, or 

 arrange the bibliography in a svstematic. instead of in the alphabetical order. 



P. D. NIEUWKOOP 



"LETALFAKTOREN in ihrer Bedeutung fur Erbpathologie und 

 Genphysiologie der Entwicklung" 

 1955 

 by Ernst Hadorn Georg Thieme Verlag 



338 pp. with 129 figs Stuttgart 



Price: D.M. 39.— 



Lethal factors form a rather arbitrary group among the Mendelian factors. 

 They distinguish themselves from other factors only by the fact that they 

 condition death at a developmental stage preceding that of sexual maturity. 

 However, so much interesting and fundamental information has been ac- 

 cumulated regarding these factors during the last decades, that it seems fully 

 justified to devote a special work to the discussion of this group of factors, 

 particularly when this is done by a leading authority in the field. 



The present book contains even more than the title suggests. Seen from the 

 viewpoint of the developmental biologist one might say that the book has in 



