Pulmonary Vascular Diseases. Volume 14

reader for the subsequent complex terrain. The book includes chapters which catalogue topics such as efferent-afferent neuronal circuitry (M. Palkovitz and L. Zaborszky), limbic and brainstem connections (J. Sutin and R. McBride), and Golgi analysis of the major cell types in the hypothalamus (O. Millhouse). It includes a phylogenetic description of the hypothalamic monoamine and acetylcholinesterase systems (A. Parent) and a cytoarchitectonic atlas representing the rat hypothalamus in the three cardinal planes (R. Bleir, P. Cohen, and I. Siggelkow). The atlas regrettably does not include a calculated stereotaxic coordinate system, an omission which detracts from its overall usefulness. Highlights are the historically indepth chapter on the development of the hypothalamus (A. Keyser) and a remarkably detailed color and black and white angioarchitectonic pictorial analysis of the rat hypothalamic blood supply (G. Ambach and M. Palkovitz). Glaringly absent from this volume is an account of the "new wave" immunocytochemical anatomical research which has played a major role in repopularizing the hypothalamus among neuroscientists. The major focus is on rodent anatomy, an understandable selection, as this has been the principal laboratory animal of choice in most neuroanatomical investigations. Each chapter includes a plethora of drawings, photographs, tables and charts, or diagrams. While this organization prevents the chapters from reading as smoothflowing treatises, it facilitates the search for even the most obscure bits of information. Indeed, almost any anatomical fact can be extracted from this book. As is the case with most scientific books of this type, the references are two to three years out of date. This, however, does not detract from the general usefulness of the volume. The major drawback of this volume is the paucity of detailed written descriptions and discussions in some of the chapters. I was left with the feeling of having traversed well-mapped, complex geographical terrain without having gained an understanding of what the hypothalmic experts feel the importance and meaning of the geography is. Perhaps this is beyond the scope of such a book, whose editors have successfully chosen an alternate route of documenting the anatomy of the hypothalamus in extensive tabular, graphic, and pictorial fashion. This illustrated collection should be a worthwhile addition for the personal library of the "hypothalamic neuroscientist," but may be too costly for those having only a casual interest.