DEVELOPMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY (incl. endocrinology, immunology, be- 



haviour, etc.) (see also 2,17,19,22,52,56,60,74,106,130) 



Monographs 



107. 



J.M.ANDERSON. 1972. NATURE'S TRANSPLANT, the transplantation 



Immunology of viviparity 



Butterworths, London, etc. VIII, 145 pp., 2 figs., 10 pis., 2 



tabs., subject index. £ 3.00 (paper) 



Contents: 1. Mythology and science; 2. Review of problems; 

 3. Properties of the offspring and mother; 4. The placenta as 

 a filter; 5. Immunological inertia; 6. Enhancement; 7. An in- 

 tegrative hypothesis; 8. Other immunological aspects 



The author of this concise research monograph writes in his 

 preface: "The important facets of the possible mechanisms that 

 avert immunological destruction of the fetus by the mother and 

 allow fetal immunity to develop without reacting to maternal an- 

 tigens in humans remain speculative. The available clues to an 

 understanding of these mechanisms indicate that the depression of 

 some immune responses during pregnancy resembles other sorts of 

 adaptive immunity such as "tolerance", "paralysis" and "enhance- 

 ment", also that firm correlations exist between the fetus-mother 

 relationship and the surgical transplant-recipient and cancer- 

 host relationships". This sets the scene for an authoritative 

 and highly interesting discussion of these subjects on a broadly 

 biological basis in eight short chapters, the titles of which 

 speak for themselves. The aspects which are considered in the 

 concluding chapter are artificial inertia, hemolytic disease, 

 and infertility. 



Each chapter has its own selective reference list. Apart from 

 this, there is a 48-page, up-to-date classified bibliography 

 (9 sections) which covers the literature much more completely 

 and shows hardly any overlap with the chapter references. The 

 book is illustrated with ten photographic plates bound in the 

 middle of the book. 



108. 



A.C.BARNES and A. E. SEEDS, eds. 1972. THE WATER METABOLISM OF 

 THE FETUS 



Thomas, Springfield. X,171 pp., 36 figs., 38 tabs., subject in- 

 dex. $ 15.75 



Most of this book deals with amniotic fluid and with water 

 and electrolyte exchange among uterine compartments. The book 

 is mainly meant for clinicians, and all authors are obstetri- 

 cians or pediatricians. However, some chapters contain informa- 

 tion that may be of interest particularly to human embryolog- 

 ists . 



This holds particularly for the chapter by Biggers (29 pages), 

 in which he reviews modern work on the origin of blastocoelic 

 fluid and the formation of the blastocyst in mammals, and points 

 out possible parallels with amnion formation. Seeds briefly 

 treats the biophysics of intra-uterine water transfer in preg- 

 nancy (16 pp.), and then deals more extensively (26 pp.) with 

 various aspects of amniotic fluid per se, such as its volume and 

 chemical composition throughout pregnancy and their regulation, 

 fetal urine production, and fluid exchange between amniotic 

 fluid, fetus, and maternal organism. A chapter by Nadler (17 pp.) 

 is mainly a compilatory review of biochemical components of am- 



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