Somatic Stability in The Newly Born

Some papers are exceedingly short and frequently represent an abstract of work already published in full elsewhere. For the most part the discussions were terribly stinted. To the serious student, there is only a handful of new and worthy information. One such example was an interesting paper by Hofmann on the Micellar Solubilization of Fatty Acids and Monoglycerides in Bile Salt Solutions. The book suffers from many of the pitfalls which are becoming symptomatic of international conferences. Despite the good intentions of organizing committees, the written contributions of the participants are not of the same caliber as those which would appear in a good scientific journal. Frequently they represent a token effort to justify travel expenses to some distant place. The physiologic stabilization of the neonate has become the full-time preoccupation of an ever growing population of investigators. It has been interesting in recent years to observe the variety of approaches to the study of newborn stabilization that have been taken. Adherents of particular popular aspects, homeothermy, nutrition, enzymatic stabilization, cardio-vascular adjustments etc., frequently have presented their views singly or on panels devoted to single aspects, but only infrequently have multi-disciplined panels of quality been assembled. The Ciba Foundation Symposium , Somatic Stability in the Newly Born, is a stimulating blend of diverse points of view which results in an interesting and valuable volume. Several presentations are outstanding. The discussions by Zetterstrom on carbohydrate metabolism and the role of the liver, by Hahn and his group on the endocrine and metabolic aspects of the development of homeothermy, and by Dawes on oxygen consumption and hypoxia in the newborn animal are excellent. Of special interest also are the discussions by Migeon on endocrine function in the newborn and by Villee on enzymes in the development of homeostasis. Each of the presentations mentioned above should be of extreme interest to the clinician concerned with the newborn as well as to the investigator. Symposia such as this one point up the frequent lag in pertinent knowledge obtained by the biochemist, physiologist or other investigator with the possible direct application in the clinical situation. It should be pointed out that a great deal of the real "meat" to be found in this volume is not in the formal presentations but in the informal discussions which follow and which are printed essentially verbatim. Several of the discussions are far more stimulating than the parent presentations. …