is almost entirely new, and constitutes an excellent summary of the molecular-biological 

 aspects of cell differentiation. It includes (among other things) discussions of bacterial spo- 

 liation, the differences between procaryotic and eucaryotic cells, differentiation in the cel- 

 lular slime moulds, cell cloning in vitro, the cell cycle, euchromatin and heterochromatin, 

 repetitive DNA, gene amplification, stable mRNA, nuclear transplantation, and cell fusion. 

 The addition of this chapter makes the book more balanced and even more useful than it 

 already was. 



Developmental Physiology (including endocrinology, immunology, etc.) (see also 



w 1, 11, 13, 21, 26, 27, 34, 36, 47, 48, 60, 67, 84, 87) 



Monographs 



76 



THE TRANSMISSION OF PASSIVE IMMUNITY FROM MOTHER TO YOUNG. 1970. By F. W. R. 



BRAMBELL 



North-Holland, Amsterdam; American Elsevier, New York. Frontiers of Biology, vol. 18. 401 



pp., 72 figs., 18 tabs., 9 pis., author and subject indexes. SBN 7204 7118 4. $ 18.20, 152 s., 



H.fl. 65,— 



This book is a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the subject indicated in the title. 

 The author for many years was the world's leading authority in this field. We can only be 

 thankful that he was able to complete the manuscript before his death. The book is best 

 characterized by a quotation from the preface: 



The plan has been to review for each species, or group of similar species, the route of 

 transmission including the development and arrangement of the foetal membranes which are 

 involved in transmission before birth and the mammary secretion of antibodies and struc- 

 ture of the neonatal intestine which absorbs them when transmission is after birth; the 

 kinds of molecules that are preferentially transmitted; how they can interfere with each 

 others transmission; the duration and termination of transmission; the waning of passive 

 immunity and the beginning of active immunity. A separate chapter has been devoted to 

 the comparative treatment of haemolytic disease in man and animals. The final chapter 

 deals with the resemblances between the phenomena of transmission, anaphylactic sensitiz- 

 ation and y-globulin catabolism and offers a working hypothesis to account for transmis- 

 sion and, possibly, y-globulin catabolism. 



The species, or groups of species dealt with in consecutive chapters are the birds, the rabbit, 

 the rat and mouse (two chapters), the guineapig, cat, dog, and hedgehog, the pig and horse, 

 the ruminants, and finally man and the monkey. The book is of interest to embryologists 

 particularly because it throws new light on the functions of the placenta and foetal membranes. 

 The book is beautifully produced and superbly illustrated with line drawings and photographic 

 plates. It has a 41-page bibliography. 



77 



ASPECTS DYNAMIQUES DU METABOLISME GLUCIDIQUE CHEZ L'EMBRYON DE RAT, action 



de substances hypoglycemiantes et teratogenes. 1970. By J. L. DE PLAEN 



Arscia, Bruxelles; Maloine, Paris. Collection "Medico-Monographies d'Agreges", 250 pp., 68 figs., 



41 tabs. F. Belg. 500 ; Fr. 70 (paper) 



Surprisingly little is known about the carbohydrate metabolism of the mammalian embryo 

 during the period of organogenesis. Yet such knowledge is indispensable for the interpretation 

 of the teratogenetic effects of hypoglycemia-producing agents used in the treatment of maternal 

 diabetes. The present research monograph fills this gap to a considerable extent. It is concerned 

 mainly with rat embryos of 12-16 days gestational age. Professor H. Tuchmann-Duplessis wrote 

 a laudatory preface to the book. 



The book is in two main parts, the first of which deals with the carbohydrate metabolism 

 and respiration of the isolated rat embryo and its organs. Part two reports on experimental 

 results obtained by the administration of hypoglycemia-producing substances to the pregnant 

 rat and their effects on the embryo in vivo and in vitro. The author tries to establish a link with 

 the teratogenic effects of these substances, which however does not appear to be straightfor- 

 ward. 



The book has an extensive English summary and a 14-page bibliography. There are no 

 indexes. 



352 



