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Elucidation of the organization of each of the various parts of the nervous system depends upon the skillful and effective application of the most appropriate method (s) of investigation, whether they be well etablished or newly developed, and on the proper interpretation of the results. One of the newer and more exciting families of methods, those using intraneuronal axonal transport to trace pathways in the nervous system, forms the subject of the present volume and was the topic of discussion at a symposium held at Gwatt-Thun, Switzerland in 1974. (A special issue of Brain Research [vol. 85, No. 2, February 1975] contains a number of short papers presented at the symposium.) The authors of the invited papers have contributed eleven chapters to this book, each generally concerned with certain aspects of the applications, limitations and interpretations of the results of the various axonal transport methodologies. In addition, the editors have provided an interesting retrospective survey in an introductory chapter and, in the final chapter, a thought-provoking discussion of future developments in the use of these methods. Each chapter has an up-to-date bibliography, and the book contains both an author and a subject index. A listing of the contents of the contributed chapters will give the reader some idea of the scope of this book: A. LAJTHA on transport and incorporation of amino acids; B. GRAFSTEIN on principles of anterograde axonal transport; K. KRISTENS-SON on retrograde transport of protein tracers; G. W. KREUTZBERG and P. SCHUBERT on the cell biology of intraneuronal transport; P. SCHUBERT and H. HOLLANDER on tracer delivery methods; B. DROZ on autoradiography as a tool for visualizing neurons and their processes; A. M. GRAYBIEL on Wallerian degeneration and anterograde tracing; J. H. LA VAIL on retrograde cell degeneration and retrograde transport; and two chapters, one by T. HOKFELT and A. LJUNGDAHL and the other by L. GEFFEN on certain aspects of histochemical identification and tracing of transmitter-specific neuronal populations. The editors of this volume have overcome most of the difficulties that beset those who compile papers by different authors. And the contributions are generally of a high order. However, the chapters vary in style and scientific content from detailed philosophical treatments (such as those by DROZ, GRAYBIEL and HOKFELT and LJUNGDAHL) to shorter, less complete articles (SCHUBERT and HOLLANDER) or nmv ginally related reports (KRISTENSSON) which might better have appeared in the Brain Research volume. For the most part, those chapters which provide a final discussion are more helpful. There is some unavoidable overlap in the coverage of certain items. o