Advances in Metabolic Disorders

fields. Wherever indicated, as well, suggestions for promising avenues of investigation are included in the discussions. All of the chapters are of high standard, but some are particularly commendable. Kirk's review of the field of special education should be most helpful. His critical evaluation of many experimental procedures , practical teaching techniques and curriculum formulation has important guidelines for the expanding special educational programs being developed at the present time. The medical chapters are impressive reviews even considering my especial bias. The chapter on genetics in mental retardation by V. E. Anderson is particularly praiseworthy for its comprehensive coverage while maintaining a clinical orientation. This volume is testimony to the remarkable progress achieved in a field that not too long ago was considered barren of possibilities for the research oriented scientist. and it mainly addresses itself to species differences in neurochemical patterns, metabolism, and drug responses. Its major drawback is that it fails to integrate the data derived from comparative studies in different disciplines and, like most symposia, tends to be somewhat disjointed and uneven. This shortcoming is partially a reflection of the newness of neurochemistry as opposed to anatomy, for example, in which classification is easily accomplished and phylogenetic comparisons are quite clear. Many individual articles in this book are fascinating. Some of the more important ones are included in the sections on energy metabolism and transmitter substances and their metabolism. The article by Waelsch's group on carbon dioxide fixation in nervous tissue offers an excellent summary of his previously reported work. Printing errors detracted from two of the four chapters on neurosecretory mechanisms. This book will be of particular interest to pharmacologists and biochemists and to others occupied with problems related to neural metabolism. The purpose of this new international publication is to provide comprehensive and critical reviews of advances in metabolic disorders. The authors wisely refrain from defining too narrowly the term, "metabolic disorders." The first volume offers a kaleidoscopic view with chapters on glycogen storage disease, the parathyroids, mitochondrial respiratory control, osteo-porosis, basal metabolic rate and thyroid hormones, insulin antagonists, aldosterone physiology, and folic acid deficiency. The reviews are best 427