Abstract
THIS text-book by two Virginian embryologists has served a useful purpose in the past and will continue to do so in the future. It deals more particularly with human development, and the comparative method in deducing and interpreting the progressive changes is used but sparingly, the authors preferring generally to fill in lacunæ in our knowledge by postulating hypothetical stages rather than by referring to data derived from the study of other animals. In special cases, however, and more especially in describing the development of the fœtal membranes and their appendages, the comparative method is freely adopted. Furthermore, in the interpretation of vestigial and transitory structures full use is made of the 'law of recapitulation'. The separate section on “Laboratory Exercises” continues to be a feature of the work. The present edition does not differ materially from the last, but there are some additions, more particularly to the chapters on hæmopoiesis and sex determination, and certain errors in other parts of the book have been corrected. Of the errors which have been allowed to remain, those relating to ovulation, the corpus luteum and the sexual cycle are perhaps the most noticeable. Thus, the corpus hæmorrhagicum is described as the mass of clotted blood which fills the cavity of the ruptured ovarian follicle and constitutes the first stage in the formation of the corpus luteum. The name 'corpus hæmorrhagicum' or 'blood follicle' is now reserved for degenerate undischarged follicles which have never ruptured, and in the figure such a one is shown in the centre of the ovary and duly labelled. The lutein cells can scarcely be said to “invade the corpus hæmorrhagicum” since they are actually formed from the undischarged follicular epithelium, and the cells which grow inward from the wall are connective tissue elements, these giving rise to a network surrounding the enlarged lutein cells.
A Textbook of Embryology
By Prof. H. E. Jordan Prof. J. E. Kindred. Third edition. Pp. xiv + 613. (New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Co., Inc., 1937.) 25s. net.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
MARSHALL, F. A Textbook of Embryology. Nature 140, 949–950 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140949a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140949a0