The Middle Ear

The 41 papers that compose this volume were presented at the McCollumPratt Institute Symposium in the spring of 1958. They fall into four broad categories entitled Developmental Cytology, Cellular and Tissue Interactions in Development, Problems of Specificity in Development, and Control Mechanism in Development. Many of the current leaders in developmental biology contribute to the book either as author or discussant. In some respects this is not as desirable as might be supposed since many of the well-known participants have published the bulk of the material reported in this volume in one or several of the other symposia that have appeared in recent years. Because of this duplication the present volume would hardly be worth possessing were it not for the inclusion of about six outstanding papers and some penetrating and thought-provoking discussions. It is hoped that this will be the last symposium on developmental biology published until more new and significant advances are made in the field; it would be fitting in many ways to pause with this book in hand, for it does treat almost all of the great variety of subjects that interest contemporary researchers-a feat not often accomplished by a single volume. As the title implies, the predominant theme is the interpretation of developmental phenomena in chemical terms. The success achieved in this regard varies with subject and author; unfortunately, too many biologists have a superficial knowledge of contemporary biochemistry. A typical example, on the other hand, of a truly productive integration of modern chemistry and developmental studies is the A.D. Glinos study on liver growth and regeneration. In contrast to this is the Yamada work on inductor substances extracted from dead adult tissues. From the point of view of chemistry this is a first-rate contribution, but with regard to normal amphibian induction, as Holtfreter points out in the discussion following the paper, the work is at best of peripheral interest. From this and other papers in the volume, one gains the impression that certain developmental biologists have become so enamored with techniques that they have lost sight of the integrated biological system that should be the focal point of any information gained. It is encouraging that several authors (as S. C. Shen) caution the molecular biologist to pause and re-examine his experimental design and results in these terms. The book contains adequate author and subject indexes. It is well bound but printed on rather thin paper. The illustrations vary greatly in quality, some being quite inferior. The bibliographies of individual papers are excellent, although titles are not given. On the whole the inadequacies do not outweigh the advantage of having a single reference volume for all of modern developmental biology. N. K. W.