Priests of Lucina: The Story of Obstetrics

of the process of growing old as it has been seen by twenty-four top-flight investigators. Each author presents the evidence from his own field of the slowing of physiological processes during the passage of time in all forms of life from plants, through protozoa and invertebrates, to mammals and man. Some attention is paid to personality and to psychological factors, as well as to the more obvious physical changes. The majority of the authors have gleaned from their own experimental work that which has a bearing upon the biological and chemical phenomena associated with senescence. Few of the reports represent direct studies of the ageing problem itself. As a result, the book is not only highly informative but also stimulating, since it posits far more questions than it answers. Society seems to be more and more conscious of the ageing problem, and this comprehensive study suggests definite directions in which further research must go. The Macy Foundation and Dr. Cowdry are to be congratulated on this valuable integration of widely divergent fields. H. S. BURR.