Symposium reports 



51. 



M. EDIDIN and M. H. JOHNSON, eds. 1977. IMMUNOBIOLOGY OF GAMETES 

 Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, etc. Clinical and Experimental Immunoreproduction 

 vol. 4.x, 310 pp., 91 figs., 40 tabs., subject index. £ 14.50 



This meeting of 26 specialists was held in Boston in May 1976. Of the 1 1 papers pres- 

 ented 10 were by American authors. Most of the contributions are concentrated reviews 

 of recent research and all are followed by extensive and interesting group discussions, 

 complete with references. 



The first seven papers all deal in one way or another with the membranes, surface anti- 

 gens and enzymes of mammalian spermatozoa. The last four are of wider interest to 

 embryologists. Two of these are somewhat outside the scope of the volume (one by Van 

 Blerkom on electrophoresis of rabbit oocyte and embryonic proteins, and one by Epel on 

 fertilisation in sea urchins). The other two are by Solter (organisation and antigenic prop- 

 erties of mammalian egg membrane) and by Yanagimachi (sperm egg interaction in 

 mammals). 



The volume is very well produced and illustrated. 



IMPLANTATION, PLACENTA, FETAL MEMBRANES AND FLUIDS (see also 3,37, 47, 



50,86,101) 



Dissertations 



52. 



R. BAUR. 1977. MORPHOMETRY OF THE PLACENTAL EXCHANGE AREA 

 Springer, Berlin, etc. Advan. Anat. Embryol. Cell Biol. Vol. 53, 1. 65 pp., 37 figs., 9 tabs., 

 subject index. DM 32.00, $ 14.10 (paper) 



Thorough study based on macroscopic and light-microscopic measurements of volume, 

 chorionic surface area, and villous surface area; developmental data for six species with 

 different types of placenta, starting at ca. 2 wks for the smaller and 5-1 5 wks for the larger 

 species; full-term placentas of 30 species with compact or diffuse placental types; extensive 

 mathematical analysis; much German literature. 



Symposium reports 



53. 



K. YOSHINAGA, R. K. MEYER and R. O. GREEP, eds. 1 976. IMPLANTATION OF THE 



OVUM 



Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Mass. XII, 161 pp., 56 figs., 21 tabs., subject index, £ 11.25 



Contents: 1. Introduction (Meyer); 2. Ovarian hormone secretion and ovum implanta- 

 tion (Yoshinaga); 3. The use of agents other than natural hormones (Emmens); 4. 

 Methods for studying the blastocyst (Biggers); 5. A morphological approach to the 

 study of ovum implantation in the rat (Tachi, Tachi, and Lindner); 6. Biochemical 

 approach to ovum implantation (Beier); 7. Interspecific egg-host relationships in the 

 rat and mouse (Zeilmaker); 8. Recent research on ovum implantation (June 1972-June 

 1975) (Yoshinaga) 



This symposium was held in Washington, D. C. in June 1972 and the papers for the 

 book were prepared soon after that. The time-lag until publication is bridged by the last 

 Daper, which is up to date until the middle of 1975 and has over 180 references. 



The table of contents speaks for itself. All papers are authoritative reviews with varying 

 emphasis on the authors' own research. Nearly all are of great interest to mammalian 



216 



