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Although it is primarily a book about Dictyostelium, the general biology of Polysphondelium is discussed by Frances. With its whorls of branches, this genus represents a higher order of morphogenetic complexity than Dictyos- telium. In addition, the evidence for the concept of de- pendent pathways-an idea that has been central to cellular slime mold development for some time-is dis- cussed as well as the author’s work on commitment to a developmental pathway.

The final chapter deals with one of the most obvious, but most perplexing, problems of developmental biology: the development of pattern. Considerable efforts have been made to understand the basis of this process in the cellular slime molds. The varying approaches and resulting data are reviewed by Morrissey. This chapter, which deals with the ultimate expression of the sum of all other devel- opmental events, is a fitting conclusion to the volume.

The multiple authorship of the volume is clearly a suc- cess. It allows presentation of the results of an enormous amount of research as well as a variety of points of view and approaches to the problems of development in the cellular slime molds. The authors have done an admirable job of representing each side of an issue where there is an unanimous agreement. There is surprisingly little repe- tition of information, and what does exist helps to integrate the chapters into a continuous whole. Although I found the book satisfying, I felt that two additional chapters should have been included on spore differentiation and germina- tion, and on timing in development. Relatively little is included in the book on these two well studied aspects of cellular slime mold development.

A few words about the general organization of the book are in order. The volume is well indexed and each chapter starts with an outline that should make the book’s infor- mation available to investigators interested in using it as a source book. Each chapter is completely referenced and, in addition, a very nearly complete bibliography on the cellular slime molds is included at the end of the book. The cost (about $75!) may limit the book’s appeal for individual collections. However, the book is a must for laboratories engaged in research on the cellular slime molds and would be a useful addition to the bookshelves of those working on other developmental systems as the messages and ideas are not restricted to the cellular slime molds. For real beginners, and as an adjunct to the present volume, I still recommend Loomis’s first book, which is eminently readable and presents an introduction to the bare bones (by 1983 standards) of the biology of this organism. The Development of Dictyostelium discoideum clearly shows the vitality and breadth of its subject matter and indicates a secure place for the cellular slime molds in the future of developmental biology, where progress promises to be rapid and profound.

Stephen Alexander Department of Molecular Biology Research Institute of Scripps Clinic La Jolla, California 92037

Pleasures of the Flesh

Biochemistry and Physiology of the Skin. Edited by L. A. Goldsmith. New York: Oxford University Press. (1983). 1323 pp. $150.00.

Of the medical specialties, dermatology has made a dis- proportionately large contribution to the fields of cell and molecular biology. The skin is such a complex organ that it contains something of interest to almost every biologist: a terminally differentiating renewal epithelium involving stem cells, high concentrations of structural proteins ex- pressed as a function of differentiation, a connective tissue of matrix macromolecules secreted by cells possessing wound repair and remodeling capacities, a vasculature, several types of sensory receptor, antigen-presenting cells that stimulate the immune system, appendages of complex structure and function (i.e., hair, nail, and sebaceous and sweat glands), and a susceptibility to radiation and chem- ical carcinogenesis. In response to the lack of a good, modern textbook on skin and a collection of comprehen- sive reviews of current research, Lowell Goldsmith has edited a 1323 page assemblage of monographs entitled Biochemistry and Physiology of the Skin. This two-volume work contains chapters on skin structure, ultrastructure, physiology, biochemistry, immunology, neurobiology, ra- diobiology, and some aspects of pathology. The book jacket advertises it as “an essential reference work for basic scientists involved in dermatological research and for clinicians who want to expand their knowledge of the scientific basis of dermatology.”

Goldsmith rather sentimentally conceived this book in 1979 as an update of Stephen Rothmans similar title published 25 years earlier, which had been an inspiration to the small band of research dermatologists of that era. Rothmans book was a much shorter and more limited volume, half of which he wrote himself (heavily and ob- viously weighted toward various aspects of sweat-ap- parently his specialty). Then, in 1984, Montagna and Lobitz edited a volume of monographs entitled The Epidermis, which became the principal reference for the next decade. The Structure and Function of Skin, published by Mon- tagna and Parrakal in 1974, was perhaps the last serious and reasonably successful attempt by one or two authors to write a comprehensive treatise, including up-to-date, detailed literature citations, on many aspects of skin biol- ogy. In the preface of their ambitious book, these authors referred to themselves as a “teacher and former student, each of whom is unaccountably but deeply devoted to all matters pertaining to skin.” Lowell Goldsmith, an enthu- siastic research dermatologist, is another from this mold, but in view of the vast and wide-ranging literature of skin biology today, he wisely invited over 50 contributors to provide chapters covering most of the topics that a book of this title might embrace.

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The book begins with two long and excellent chapters by Odland and Holbrook on the histology, ultrastructure, and development of the skin, including many high-quality photo- and electron-micrographs. A number of other chap- ters are also particularly good-those on epidermal pro- teases, epidermal lipids, hair proteins, hormonal control of hair growth, sebaceous secretions, melanin pigmentation, photobiology of vitamin D, the Langerhans cell, collagen, collagenase, and HLA-associated skin diseases. Unfortu- nately, although a frequent occurrence in today’s world of academic book publishing, at least ten chapters, including several of those mentioned above, are so similar in content and presentation to monographs published recently by the same authors (in books such as Fitzpatrick’s 1979 der- matology text), that their inclusion in this volume seems quite unnecessary. Some chapters, namely those on epi- dermal growth factor, delayed hypersensitivity reactions, radiation biology, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies, reviewed topics that have an historical association with skin but which are currently studied most intensively in very different experimental systems or conceptual frame- works. Several chapters on pathological conditions, al- though well written, shed little or no light on normal skin biology and should probably have been published else- where. Because the editor and most of the contributors are research dermatologists, studies of human material are emphasized. In view of its objectives, however, the book would have benefited greatly from the inclusion of chapters on the comparative anatomy and biology of skin and on the genetics of epidermal and hair pigmentation and growth in the mouse.

This type of book is often found by its readers to fall short of its optimistic objective to serve simultaneously as textbook, timely literature review, and monograph of the research and personal perspectives of individual scientists. The scientific editor is limited in his power to enforce conformity to a particular format, and publishers usually offer little editorial assistance. Chapter writers may use the opportunity to write a restricted or biased review magnify- ing their own contributions to a field. Thus the unevenness in quality and type of presentation found among the chap- ters of this book was not unexpected. Besides a higher than usual frequency of typographical errors throughout the text, several of the chapters were written with inexcus- ably poor sentence structure and were guilty of flagrant generalization unsupported by literature citations. Missing from many chapters were diagrams and figures to describe basic experimental techniques and to present raw data, which would have given a flavor of the research to the novice reader. Others exhaustively reiterated well estab- lished material that is easily found in textbooks. The overly specialized perspectives of most of the contributors frus- trate the reader’s attempt to integrate results of the various types and levels of analysis into a coherent picture of how the entire system works. This is a particular problem in the area of epidermal growth and differentiation. A function this book could have served, but did not, would have been to bridge the gaps between morphologist, biochemist, cell-

culture biologist, and dermatologist by providing a glossary defining such terms as “keratinization,” “comification,” “es- tablished cell line,” and the classical and modern meanings of “keratin,” and by editorially enforcing correct and con- sistent usage throughout the book.

This book succeeds in covering the literature as well as its predecessors, but it was disappointing to find few citations to literature published in 1981 or more recently, except to the authors’ own work. From this I infer that the chapters were written in early 1981 and that an inordinate publication delay occurred. Yet in spite of its particular shortcomings and the inherent limitations of a book of this size and genre, Biochemistry and Physiology of the Skin will undoubtedly become the prime reference for its field. Considering that about a dozen of the chapters are ex- tremely good and another dozen quite useful, albeit repe- titious of chapters published elsewhere, this book is an essential addition to medical libraries and reading rooms and is a valuable substitute for a real textbook in a number of topics of increasing interest to many cell and molecular biologists.

The skin is likely to continue to serve as subject of initial observation and source of experimental material in the investigation of many fundamental biological processes. For example, I learned from reading this book that black sheep were found to produce striped wool when periodi- cally deprived of dietary copper, which is in some way essential for melanin synthesis, and that an important paper contributing to the understanding of changes in tissue growth with age was provided by a fellow who kept careful records of the growth rate of this thumbnail for 35 years. As one who entered the field of epithelial cell biology ten years ago through experiments with epidermal cells and who has made many exhausting forays into the dermatology literature, I anticipate that Goldsmith’s book will play a significant role during the 1980s in abetting the development of basic research in skin-related biological phenomena.

James G. Rheinwald Division of Cell Growth and Regulation Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Department of Physiology and Biophysics Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts 02115

From the Hypothalamus to the Pituitary and Beyond

Cellular Regulation of Secretion and Release. Edited by P. Michael Conn. New York: Academic Press. (1982). 614 pp. S85.00.

At that time in the future when all the data are in and a complete description of metabolic and structural param-