the author does not hesitate to suggest personal interpretations, and to point 

 up new possibihties of approach. 



The book is in two parts, the first of which deals with the normal cell periphery 

 and contact phenomena. It starts with a chapter on the chemical constitution 

 and molecular organization of the cell periphery (59 pp.). Then follows a 

 chapter on the dynamic nature of the cell periphery (43 pp.) which contains, 

 among other things, sections on cytodifferentiation, embryonic induction, 

 cellular modulation, and physiological variation in cellular electrophoretic 

 mobility. Chapter 3 is entitled "Cell contact phenomena" (48 pp.) and suc- 

 cessively reviews amoeboid movement, the direction of cell movement, ag- 

 gregation and segregation phenomena among dissociated cells (slime molds, 

 sponges, vertebrate cells) and finally cell contact phenomena in embryogenesis 

 (morphogenesis in the sea urchin; epiboly in the teleost gastrula; gastrulation, 

 precardiac mesoderm movement, and neural crest migration in the chick 

 embryo). The next chapter (65 pp.) deals entirely with physical aspects of 

 cell contact, and the last chapter of part I (28 pp.) reviews methods of studying 

 the periphery of viable cells (cell electrophoresis; the assessment of cell 

 adhesion; the measurement of cell detachment; tension at the cell periphery). 



Part II occupies the remaining one third of the book and deals mainly with 

 the malignant cell periphery, metastasis and infiltration. Although not apparent 

 from the chapter headings, this part contains some additional information on 

 the normal cell periphery, e.g. on surface ultrastructure and on the role of 

 calcium in cell binding. These subjects would have been more logically placed 

 in part I. 



Each chapter has its own bibliography, which leads to repetitions and makes 

 it more difficult to look up references than if the whole bibliography had been 

 given at the end of the book. Moreover, it is regrettable that no full titles of 

 references are given. The majority of the illustrations are original diagrams. 

 Some of these are deficient in labeling. The few photographs and most of the 

 graphs are from the work of the author and his associates. The book shows 

 signs of careless proof-reading. It is otherwise well-produced and is concluded 

 by a detailed subject index. An author index is lacking; this would have 

 enhanced the value of the book as a work of reference. 



1 1 CELLS AND TISSUES IN CULTURE 



Methods, Biology and Physiology 

 Vol. 3, 1966 

 Editor: E. N. Willmer Academic Press 



842 pp., 130 figs., 22 tbs. London - New York 



Price: 189 s. 



Contributors: Bang (Baltimore, Md.), Braun (New York, N.Y.), Henshaw (Swansea), 

 Jackson (Cambridge), Jacobson (Cambridge), Jones (Aberystwyth), Lipetz (New York, N.Y.), 

 Melnick (Houston, Tex.), Nossal (Melbourne), Rapp (Houston, Tex.), Rosenoer (London), 

 Street (Swansea), Trowell (Harwell) 



This book is the last volume of a collaborative treatise, the first two volumes 

 of which were reviewed in the eleventh main issue of this periodical (1965, 

 p. 350). The present volume is devoted to the applications of tissue culture to 

 radiobiology, pathology, virology, immunology, and to results obtained with 

 invertebrate and plant organs, tissues, and cells. 



Of the 1 1 contributions the following are of more specific interest to devel- 

 opmental biologists: "The molecular organization of cells and tissues in culture" 

 (S. Fitton Jackson, 62 pp.) (including a section on fibrogenesis in tissue cul- 

 ture); "Invertebrate tissue and organ culture in cell research" (B. M. Jones, 

 61 pp.) (including a brief section on developmental studies of insect organs 

 and embryos in culture); and "Growth, differentiation and organogenesis in 

 plant tissue and organ cultures" (H. E. Street, 59 pp.). 



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