13 2 *. 



K.S.MOGHISSI and E. S.E.HAFEZ, eds. 1972. BIOLOGY OF MAMMALIAN 

 FERTILIZATION AND IMPLANTATION 



Thomas, Springfield. X,509 pp., 139 figs., 2 coloured pis., 

 90 tabs., subject index. $ 31.00 



This volume contains the proceedings of a Symposium held in 

 October, 1970 in Detroit, Mich. All but one of the 21 contribu- 

 tors were Americans. Although the main preoccupation was with 

 possible contraceptive applications, many of the contributions 

 will be of interest to mammalian embryologists generally. Most 

 papers range in length from about 15 to 30 pages, all are sur- 

 veys of original research that was recent to very recent at the 

 time of writing, and several have very long bibliographies 

 (which however do not go much beyond 1970). No discussions are 

 recorded. 



The 16 contributions are arranged in three sections dealing 

 with sperm capacitation, fertilization, and implantation respec- 

 tively. The first section will not be considered here. Papers 

 in the other two sections that are of particular interest to 

 our readers are the following: Brackett et al. on rabbit and 

 human fertilization in vitro; Stambaugh on acrosomal enzymes; 

 Zamboni on fertilization in the mouse (50 pp.); Edwards on hu- 

 man fertilization and cleavage in vitro; Hafez on differentia- 

 tion of the blastocyst (47 pp.); Mintz p on an implantation fac- 

 tor from mouse uterus; Boving on blastocyst spacing and orienta- 

 tion in the rabbit; Laurence on immunological studies of nida- 

 tion. 



The book is well produced and profusely illustrated. The 

 numerous photo- and electron micrographs are well reproduced. 



135. 



S.J.SEGAL, R.CROZIER, Ph . A . CORFMAN, and P .G .CONDLIFFE , eds. 



1973. THE REGULATION OF MAMMALIAN REPRODUCTION 



Thomas, Springfield. XXIV, 586 pp., 202 figs., 91 tabs., subject 



index. $ 44.50 



This volume embodies the proceedings of a Conference held in 

 Bethesda, Md . in September, 1970. Consequently, the publication 

 has taken more than two years, which detracts from the topical- 

 ity of the book. The Conference had more than 130 participants 

 from 23 countries throughout the world. 



The 39 papers and their discussions are grouped into six 

 sections as follows: 1. Regulation of pituitary function (7 

 papers); 2. Regulation of sperm production (6); 3. Fertilizing 

 capacity of spermatozoa (6); 4. Biology of the mammalian ovum 

 (4); 5. Tubal transport of gametes (6); 6. Corpus luteum func- 

 tion (10). Section 4 has papers by Biggers on oogenesis and 

 ovum maturation, by Graham on nucleic acid metabolism during 

 early mammalian development, by Brinster on protein synthesis 

 and enzyme constitution of the preimplantation mammalian embryo, 

 and by McLaren on blastocyst activation. In sections 1, 2, and 

 5 almost all papers are of potential interest to mammalian em- 

 bryologists. The book is concluded by 30 pages of general dis- 

 cussion which contain several original contributions, complete 

 with illustrative and tabular material. Most of these centre 

 around endocrinology and male contraception. A conference sum- 

 mary of nine pages is provided by Diczfalusy. 



The book is beautifully produced and illustrated, but one won- 

 ders whether a less luxurious production resulting in a lower 

 price could not have made the book accessible to more potential 

 users . 



241 



