Books of readings 



48. 



T.V.N.PERSAUD, ed , 1977. PROBLEMS OF BIRTH DEFECTS; from Hippocrates to 



thalidomide and after 



MTP, Lancaster. X,399 pp., 102 figs., 108 tabs., no indexes. £ 13.95 



This book brings together 57 facsimile reprintings of key papers in tera- 

 tology, interspersed with thoughtful editor's commentaries. Most papers 

 date from about 1950 till 1975; four older papers are historical classics 

 by Murphy, Hale, Gregg, and Barr and Bertram. The papers are grouped in 

 eight sections, of which we mention four: Teratological mechanisms (papers 

 by Roberts and Powell, Saxen, Wilson, and Dunn); Cytogenetic and chromosomal 

 studies (10 papers); Environmental influences and congenital abnormalities 

 (24 papers) ; and Detection of environmental teratogens (papers by Persaud 

 and Doll) . A few papers have been translated or abridged. 



The editor's commentaries have their own references and the book is con- 

 cluded by a list of further references containing some 140 titles going 

 into 1976. The great majority of this literature is in English. 



Refevence works 



49. 



T.H.SHEPARD. 1976. CATALOG OF TERATOGENIC AGENTS. 2nd edit. 



Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, etc. XXIV, 291 pp., author and subject 



indexes. $ 16.50, E 13.25 



This extremely useful catalog now contains over 800 agents, as against 

 about 500 in the first edition (1973). There are 200 newly listed agents 

 and many non-teratogenic agents ("negative data") . 



DEVELOPMENTAL PATHOLOGY, CANCER (see also 13,89) 



Symposium reports 



50. 



C.BOREK, C.M.FENOGLIO and D.W.KING, eds. 1977. CANCER BIOLOGY. IV Differen- 

 tiation and carcinogenesis 



Stratton, New York. Advan. Pathobiol. vol.5. XVI, 323 pp., 77 figs., 26 tabs. 

 $ 24.50 (paper) 



This symposium report bears witness to the fact that the study of carcino- 

 genesis and that of normal differentiation are fusing more and more into one 

 subfield of modern cell biology. The symposium was held in Aspen, Colo, in 

 August 1976. All contributors but one were Americans. The 18 brief contribu- 

 tions are best characterised as progress reports and the volume is thus an 

 interesting but probably short-lived "instant photograph" of the state of 

 this important field. 



If we mention a number of contributions specifically, this does not mean 

 that the others are not of interest to developmental biologists. Moscona 

 writes on embryonic cell recognition, O'Malley on hormone receptors and gene 

 transcription, Kuo and Garen on maternal contributions to embryogenesis in 

 Drosophila. The differentiation of cartilage is discussed by Dorfman, cell 

 differentiation in normal hematopoietic and leukemic ceils by Sachs (Rehovot) 

 Pierce and Mintz deal respectively with teratocarcinoma and genetic mosaics 

 in the mouse. 



The volume also contains reports of five workshops on modern techniques, 

 among them complementary DNA, cell fusion, and immunohistology. These have 

 their own reference lists. Th^ volume is well produced and illustrated. 



20' 



