39 THE STABILITY OF THE DIFFERENTIATED STATE 



1968 

 Editor: H. Ursprung Springer - Verlag 



Res. and Probl. in Cell Berlin - Heidelberg - New York 



Diff., vol. 1 Price: DM 54.—; $ 13.50 



154 pp., 56 figs., 15 tbs. 



Contents: 1. Oscillations of the chondrogenic phenotype in vitro (H. Holtzer and J. Abbott); 

 2. Phenotypic expression and differentiation: in vitro chondrogenesis (J. W. Lash); 3. The 

 nature and probable cause of modulation in pigment cell cultures (J. R. Whittaker); 4. Clonal 

 aspects of muscle development and the stabality of the differentiated state (S. D. Hauschka); 

 5. Factors affecting inheritance and expression of differentiation: some methods of analysis 

 (R. D. Cahn); 6. Dedifferentiation and metaplasia in vertebrate and invertebrate regeneration 

 (E. D. Hay); 7. The acquisition, maintenance, and lability of the differentiated state in Hydra 

 (A. L. Burnett); 8. The multipotential cell and the tumor problem (A. C. Braun); 9. The 

 stability of the determined state in cultures of imaginal disks in Drosophila (W. Gehring) 



This is the first volume of a new series. Since the rationale behind the 

 series seems very sound, and the organization is promising, we feel that we 

 can do no better than reproduce the series editor's preface in full in order 

 to characterize the series. 



"Looking through the tables of contents of recent "Advances" and "Progress" series in 

 Cell and Developmental Biology, one realizes that the majority of these publications still 

 take a systematic, rather than thematic approach for reviewing an area of interest. As 

 a consequence, a given volume in a series often contains a collection of articles that for 

 the specialist appear largely unrelated. 



We felt that the time had come to review, periodically, a few of the central issues in 

 Cell and Developmental Biology in highly topical volumes. This seems indicated if a 

 variety of seemingly unrelated avenues of research begin to illuminate one common problem 

 as in the present volume, for example. It is also indicated if a favorite exeprimental system 

 has been exploited in sufficient depth to warrant a coherent description; some of the 

 volumes planned for the near future fall into this category. 



The authors of this volume were instructed not to describe historical background and 

 experimental detail at great length, but to proceed, in each chapter, rapidly to the central 

 issue: "The Stability of the Differentiated State". The book as a whole is meant to 

 demonstrate the bearing of different lines of thought and experimentation on this central 

 topic." 



We do not intend to review the various contributions to this volume in 

 detail (see table of contents above). Suffice it to say that all are highly 

 authoritative, and truly topical in that they mainly concentrate on important 

 recent work which has opened up new perspectives. All but one paper deal 

 with animal cells (vertebrate and invertebrate); the paper by Braun is largely 

 on crown gall tumours and teratomas in plants. 



The book is very well printed and illustrated; it has no indexes. 



40 BIOLOGY OF GESTATION 



Vols. I and II, 1968 

 Editor: N. S. Assali Academic Press 



Vol. I: 507 pp., 156 figs., 23 tbs. New York - London 



Vol. II: 406 pp., 97 figs., 47 tbs., 2 pis. Price: Vol. I: $ 27.— 



Vol. II: $ 23.— 



Contents vol. I: 1. The neural control of ovulation (Gorski); 2. Gametogenesis to implan- 

 tation (Fridhandler); 3. Morphology of the placenta (Wynn); 4. Physiology of the placenta 

 (Assali, Dilts, Plentl, Kirschbaum, and Gross); 5. Placental hormones (Simmer); 6. Regulation 

 of myometrial composition, growth, and activity (Carsten); 7. The pregnant uterus: process 

 of labour, puerperium, and lactation (Vorherr); 8. Maternal physiological adjustments (Hytten 

 and Thomson) 



Contents vol. II: 1. Growth and composition of the fetus and newborn (Widdowson); 

 2. Fetal and neonatal circulation (Assali, Bekey, and Morrison); 3. Maternal and fetal blood 

 constituents (Kirschbaum and DeHaven); 4. The fetal and neonatal lung (Towers); 5. Fetal 



329 



