The Imperial Animal

scriptions of genital and sexual development are clear and thorough. However, his description of the various genetic and hormonal factors involved in sexual development is skimpy and very difficult to follow. For example, Jost's classic experiments on the factors involved in determining sex and internal and external genital development are hardly mentioned, and certainly not dealt with in a way that would help the reader understand this complicated process. The second half of the book is devoted to disorders of male pseudohermaphroditism. In this section, again the illustrations and pictures are superb. However, the author's classification of the various types of male pseudohermaphroditism is an anatomic classification, and as such becomes cumbersome and confusing. Again, the author does not correlate well these various disorders with biochemical, genetic and hormonal defects. He is often either incorrect or not thorough in his descriptions of the types of male pseudohermaphroditism. For example, he attributes Reifenstein's syndrome to androgen insensitivity, but this has never been definitively shown. The section on adrenal hyperplasia does not mention the 17-a hydroxylase defect, a recently described cause of male pseudohermaphroditism. The author hardly mentions the psychological consequences of these disorders, as have been well described by Money. There is also too little emphasis on the treatment of these disorders. The book can best be recommended as an anatomic atlas and for its pictures, illustrations, and thorough bibliography.