sity of Oxford. It is mainly of interest to obstetricians and 

 paediatricians. The book's aim is "to explore the factors asso- 

 ciated with variations in fetal growth rate, and to make a pre- 

 liminary examination of their peri-natal and post-natal sequelae" 



Ch.l considers the following general factors: ethnic groups; 

 geographical situation; socio-economic factors; maternal factors; 

 multiple pregnancy; fetal factors; growth curves. The authors' 

 own studies are mainly described in chs.4 and 5, together cover- 

 ing 33 pages. Experimental studies on other mammals relating to 

 fetal-maternal interactions are discussed in ch.3. The hypotheses 

 discussed in ch.6 relate to the following aspects: genetic poly- 

 morphism; ethnic variation; evolution; growth acceleration; gen- 

 der difference; antigenic dissimilarity; parity effect; role of 

 Y chromosome. 



The book is well printed and well illustrated. It has a bibli- 

 ography of over 500 titles. 



44. 



K.THEILER. 1972. THE HOUSE MOUSE, development and normal stages 



from fertilization to 4 weeks of age 



Springer, Berlin, etc. VIII, 168 pp., 335 figs., subject index. 



DM 124.00, $ 39.40 



This is the first complete Normal Table of mouse development 

 to be published, and therefore will be welcome to many. We may 

 be thankful to the author for undertaking this huge task single- 

 handed in the most thorough manner. 



The book is subdivided into 26 chapters corresponding to as 

 many stages of intra-uterine development, plus one chapter on 

 the neonate and one on postnatal development (with brief des- 

 criptions at 7 and 24 days post partum) . For the first 12 days 

 most of the stages are half a day apart, while the later stages 

 are one day apart. The material consisted of hybrid embryos ob- 

 tained by crossing two inbred strains (female: C57BL/6; male: 

 CBA). Mating times were carefully controlled (+ 2 h; at least, 

 this can be inferred from the preface; the section on procedure 

 is not specific about it). As a rule the most advanced embryos 

 in a litter were taken as being representative for an age group. 

 All chapters contain a table listing the total material used for 

 that stage, which allows evaluation of the stage criteria used 

 and of the variability encountered (which may be very large). 

 Equivalent Streeter horizons for human development are given 

 wherever possible. 



Each chapter has a concise but comprehensive text which con- 

 siders all essential aspects. For the later stages the text is 

 conveniently subdivided according to organ systems. The earlier 

 chapters contain additional data on the tubal and intra-uterine 

 localization of eggs, on the structure of the corpus luteum, and 

 on the endometrial reactions and placentation. Some histochemical 

 information is also provided. 



The illustrations, so important in a work of this kind, are of 

 the highest quality, and all are original and based on the pre- 

 sent material. Numerous reconstructions and schematic diagrams 

 are included to clarify complicated relationships. In fact, the 

 later chapters provide a more or less complete developmental 

 anatomy of the mouse (both gross and microscopic), which makes 

 the book valuable for those working on particular organs (al- 

 though not all organs are traced back to their very first rudi- 

 ments). All figures are clearly labelled, but it is a pity that 

 the letter labels on the photographs betray their German origin 

 and are therefore often not self-explanatory to English-speaking 



203 



