11 



EXPERIMENTAL EMBRYOLOGY OF MARINE AND FRESH-WATER INVERTEBRATES. 1971. 

 Edited by G. REVERBERI 



North-Holland, Amsterdam, American Elsevier, New York. 610 pp., 301 figs., 26 tabs., 13 pis., 

 subject and author index. ISBN 7204 4080 7, 444 10065 2. $ 28.—, 233 s., H.fl. 100.— 



Contributors: Arnold, Brachet, Clement, Czihak, Green, Hess, Horstadius, Mergner, Re- 

 verberi, Skaer 



This is a collaborative treatise of a kind that has never been tried before. Never has so much 

 information on the experimental and physiological embryology of invertebrates been brought 

 together in one book. Embryologists everywhere will be thankful to the editor and the authors 

 for supplying this long-needed supplement to the excellent descriptive texts available. The only 

 thing one regrets is the decision to restrict the book to the artificial category of aquatic 

 invertebrates. It is difficult to see why it was necessary to exclude, e.g., the insects and the 

 spiders, on which equally important work has been done. The only reason one can think of 

 is that of space. 



The original intention was to restrict each chapter to one species, but the majority of 

 contributors found this impossible — very fortunately, as it turns out. As it is, of the 14 

 chapters only four are devoted to a single genus (Mytilus, llyanassa, Dentalium, Amphioxus). 

 The other chapters deal with the following groups: Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Planariidae, Annelida, 

 Nemertini, fresh-water Gastropoda, Cephalopoda, Crustacea, Echinodermata, and Ascidiae. 



Wherever possible, information has been included on the techniques for obtaining animals 

 and eggs, fertilization, decapsulation, etc., and of course normal development is usually given 

 ample attention before turning to experimental data. 



The book is well printed and profusely illustrated with line drawings, photomicrographs, 

 and electron micrographs. The latter are not always of the highest quality, but it is difficult 

 to judge whether this is due to reproduction or to the quality of the originals. Each chapter 

 has its own bibliography. 



Monographs 



12 



OVARIAN DEVELOPMENT IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. 1970. By R. C. KING 

 Academic Press, New York. 237 pp., 75 figs., 4 tabs., author and subject indexes. SBN 

 12 408150 9. $ 16.50, 154 s. 



Contents: I. The preadult development of the female reproductive system, II. The 

 structure and functioning of the reproductive system of the adult, III. Cell division, migration, 

 and differentiation within the germarium, IV. The genetic control of cystocyte divisions, V. 

 The behavior of the oocyte chromosomes, VI. Cellular interactions during the development of 

 the egg chamber 



The title of this research monograph is definitely misleading, because the word "develop- 

 ment" is taken to include the adult ovary and the final stages of oogenesis. In fact, most of 

 the subject matter deals with oogenesis and its genetic and epigenetic control. The author has 

 been active in this field for nearly two decades and has greatly contributed to it. The book 

 bears the mark of this, in that it perhaps leans too heavily on the author's own work and that 

 of this associates. Nevertheless, many workers on oogenesis, not only of Drosophila, will be 

 thankful to him for bringing together a wealth of data in logical order, while many geneti- 

 cists will welcome the book as a work of reference on such subjects as meiosis, crossing-over, 

 and chromosome structure and behaviour. 



The book is sufficiently characterized by the table of contents given above. Many of the 

 numerous illustrations are superb line drawings taken from publications of the author and 

 his associates; they are based on light and electron micrographs. There is also a cytological 

 and genetic map of the Drosophila salivary gland chromosomes incorporating some of the 

 latest data from Lindsley and Grell (1968). 



The book is well produced and has a 20-page bibliography. 



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