Symposium reports 



25. 



P. CAPPUCCINELLI and J. M. ASHWORTH,eds. 1977. DEVELOPMENT AND DIFFER- 

 ENTIATION IN THE CELLULAR SLIME MOULDS 



Elsevier-North Holland, Amsterdam, etc. Developments in Cell Biology, Vol.1. XX, 317 

 pp., 145 figs., 12 pis., 35 tabs., subject index. 



This symposium volume is a must for all those working on or interested in cellular 

 slime moulds. The meeting was held in Sardinia in April 1977 and publication was thus 

 extremely rapid. There were 70 participants from all over the globe, including many of 

 the younger members of the "slime mould community". 



The 24 research reports and reviews of recent work range in length from about five to 

 about 20 pages. Between them they cover almost all conceivable aspects of the develop- 

 ment of these fascinating organisms, including membrane physiology, biochemistry, 

 molecular biology and genetics. No discussions are recorded. The Editors' Preface 

 contains a brief account of the basic biology of these organisms. Although there is not 

 much unity in the book, it is extremely useful as a "cross section" of most of the work 

 that is going on right now. 



The papers are reproduced from typescripts. They are well illustrated. 



26. 



J. R. COLLIER, F. J. LONGO, R. L. MILLER and J. B. MORRILL, organizers. 1976. 



SPIRALIAN DEVELOPMENT 



Amer. Soc. of Zoologists, Thousand Oaks, Calif. American Zoologist vol. 16, 3. 352 pp., 

 308 figs., 24 tabs. 



This symposium was held in December 1974 and consequently part of the material 

 may now be outdated. Nevertheless, it is very helpful to have much work prior to 1974 

 together in the form of a series of well-written and well-illustrated reviews. All contribu- 

 tors but one were from North America, but one contribution is a joint American-Dutch 

 paper. 



The material discussed pertains to a large number of different spiralian forms. The dis- 

 cussions range from the morphological to the molecular-biological level. After a review of 

 basic types of spiral cleavage the remaining papers are arranged in five sections as fol- 

 lows: Gametogenesis and fertilization (5 papers); Experimental cytoembryology (6); Bio- 

 chemistry of development (5); Larval development and metamorphosis (2); Regeneration 

 and adult growth (2). 



The volume is profusely illustrated, predominantly with light and electron micro- 

 graphs. 



27. 



P. A. LAWRENCE, ed. 1976. INSECT DEVELOPMENT 



Blackwell, Oxford, etc. Symposia Royal Entomol. Soc. London vol. 8. X, 230 pp., 114 



figs., 8 tabs., combined subject and taxonomic index. £ 10.50 



Contributors: Ashbumer, Bohn, Gehring, Illmensee, Kalthoff, Lawrence, Morata, 

 Nothiger, Richards, Sander, Schneiderman, Shelton, Whittle, Wigglesworth 



This symposium was held in London in September 1975. That it was a didactic sym- 

 posium is evident from the fact that all contributors have tried to write non-technically 

 and have provided essential background material. The result is a collection of very 

 readable reviews which clearly reflect the excitement engendered by the rapid flow of 

 new data in this field. There is considerable overlap among some contributions but there 

 are adequate cross-references. 



The first essay (by Schneiderman) is the longest and spans the entire field. Of the 

 other contributions three deal with eggs and embryos, four with imaginal discs, and four with 



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