and one (briefly) with the ontogeny of immune responses. Each chapter has a selective 

 reference list of one to a few dozen titles. 



The book is adequately produced. All illustrations are original and serve their purpose 

 well. 



48. 



R. B. L. GWATKIN. 1977. FERTILIZATION MECHANISMS IN MAN AND MAMMALS 



Plenum, New York, etc. X, 161 pp., 34 figs., 6 tabs., subject index. $ 21.80, £ 11.03 



Knowledge of mammalian fertilisation has greatly increased in the last five years. In 

 this book the eminently qualified author reviews the new knowledge in a concise but well- 

 documented form, paying attention to morphological, physiological and molecular aspects. 

 Recent data on amphibian and invertebrate (mainly sea urchin) gametes have been inclu- 

 ded wherever appropriate. 



The book consists of 15 brief chapters. Fertilisation is defined broadly: there are chap- 

 ters on the egg and the sperm, on gamete transport, on sperm capacitation, and on part- 

 henogenesis. Other subjects are the prevention of polyspermy and pronucleus formation. 

 An epilogue lists some two dozen questions which should be attacked in the near future. 



The book is well produced and illustrated with good line drawings, photographs and 

 electron micrographs. The 34-page bibUography is up to date until well into 1976. 



49. 



E. C. ROOSEN-RUNGE. 1977. THE PROCESS OF SPERMATOGENESIS IN ANIMALS 



Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, etc. Developmental and Cell Biology Series, vol. 5. VIII, 

 214 pp., 38 figs., 14 pis., 12 tabs., author, taxonomic and subject indexes. £ 15.50 



This scholarly monograph is comparative in character and emphasises spermatogenesis 

 as the development of a peculiar population of cells set apart in the metazoan body, an 

 organismic process in some ways similar to early embryogenesis. It follows that much 

 attention is devoted to the relationships between germ cells and somatic cells. Differen- 

 tiation and endocrine and genetic control are treated as supplementary subjects. Much 

 older work that is in need of re-investigation is cited. 



After an interesting historical survey the treatment is at first strictly systematic, starting 

 with the Porifera and ending with the vertebrates (with comparatively little space devoted 

 to mammals). Next there are brief chapters dealing in a general manner with the kinetics 

 of spermatogenesis; degeneration, polymorphism and genetic control; and compartments 

 and auxiliary cells. Much useful information is presented in tabular form. 



The book has a glossary that is meant as a contribution to the conscious use of terms. 

 The bibliography covers 31 pages of small print. In the text there are numerous good line 

 drawings reproduced from various (often older) sources. These are supplemented by 14 

 plates of good quaUty , several of which are again beautiful old drawings. 



50. 



J. S. SCOTT and W. R. JONES, eds. 1976. IMMUNOLOGY OF HUMAN REPRODUC- 

 TION 



Academic Press, London; Grune & Stratton, New York. XXII, 476 pp., 58 figs., 26 tabs., 

 subject index. £ 15.00, $ 32.75 



This book was written primarily as a quide for clinicians to an expanding field of 

 knowledge. It contains 14 well-organised reviews written by experts in the field. They are 

 not exhaustive but are meant as surveys of current knowledge. 



The chapters of most immediate interest to mammalian embryologists are those by 

 Johnson (Fertilisation and implantation, 28 pp.), Mendenhall (The immunology of the 

 fetal-maternal relationship, 20 pp.), Billington (The immunology of trophoblast, 22 pp.), 

 Jones (Fetal and neonatal immunology, 42 pp.), and Scott (Immunological aspects of 

 trophoblastic neoplasia, 20 pp.). Several other chapters maybe of interest to teratologists. 



The volume is well produced and adequately illustrated. 



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