The Care and Breeding of Laboratory Animals

As biological research is increasingly concerned with the description of the reactions and adjustments of individuals to the more subtle environmental changes and chronic rather than acute states, there is a growing demand for healthy animals of known lineage-and the necessity for their maintenance under experimental circumstances in normal condition; a demand that arises at a time when a large fraction of those who present themselves for training in research are quite unfamiliar with the habits of animals, many of urban origin have never had a pet. Hence there is an increasing need for adequate source books dealing with the care and breeding of the more commonly used laboratory animals, a need which this excellent monograph by Dr. Edmond J. Farris and collaborators-fifteen in all-will do a great deal to satisfy. The book consists of a series of essays, some of which are miniature monographs in themselves, each prepared by an investigator who is a recognized authority on the care and breeding of the specific mammal or class of animals about which he writes.