Advances in Cell Culture

314

moli K L V I ~ W

Pathology (1988), 20, July

Viral Heparrris. Edited h> F . C \ t i . r i . $1. ZOKLI4h1)

V. J . DtSvET.

Springer-Veriag, Berlin. Heidelberg, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo. ISBN 3-540-16730-7, pp. b i i i- 110, illustrated.

Thi\ book is based on a postgraduate course on viral hepatitis organised i n relation to the 50th Anniversary of the Brescia (Italy) Association of Blood Donors. The occasion attracted a distinguished international (mainly European) group of hepatitis experts and each has contributed a chapter on the area of their own special interest. These reviews are quite narrowly focused and are \vritten from a Lery personal standpoint. This makes for interesting and occasionally stimulating reading particularly Howard Thomas’r chapter on antiviral treatment and Hans Popper’s characteristically pungent summary. Long-time hepatitir watchers will enjoy identifying the shifting emphasis apparent in the present views of such doyen5 of hepatitir research as Dame Sheila Sherlock, Friti Deinhardt, Peter Scheuer and Arie Zuckerman. Overall, the choice of contributor and subject reflects the personal v i e w of Professor Desmet, whose o u n chapter on histopatholog! of chronic liepatiti5 reflect\ \o many years of experience. The hook i\ t h u s a good update for readerr who lack the time to cope \%itti the current avalanche of hepatitis papers in the literature. However, the book cannot be recommended as an introduction to hepatitis nor yet a h a comprehenrive review of the field. It lacks serious consideration of either hepatiti5 4 , or non-A non-B - the latter a very surprising omission considering the book’s origin in the transfusion service. Hepatitis H Xirur itself is also given rcant attention. The chapter on HBV-DNA hy Honino and his colleagues therefore stands isolated amongst the re\t of the book’s “pre-recombinant DNA” theory. No attempi has been made to revie\+ current knowledge about the cpidemiolog! of hepatitis In summary, this hook gives an attracti\e overbiew of the present \ i e w of the European school in clinical hepatology and will appeal niaiiily to clinicians and pathological practice rather than to researchorientated readers. ).wtine Cossarr

0u:l;ne.s ond Ker.rew

OJ Purho1og.v. Edited by HCKHEKT BR.ZIM T L I ~ . The C.V. Xlo\by Company. 1987. ISBN 0-8016-0647-0, pp. \. +526, illu\traled. $53.50.

The second edition of this book appears after an interval of fi\e years. .A\ in the firit edition. the \olume prebents, in outline form, a course i n general and $!steniic pathology. There are feu- illustrations and no bibliography. the book being intended for use in conjunction with a \landaid patholosk textbook or as a supplement to illustrated lectures. The thirty-one chapters are well arranged to cover most topics of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of pathology, and Doctor Hraunstein and his fellow contributorr, Theodore A. Friedman, Robert -2. S t w a r t and h l . Anthony Verity. provide a comprehensive review of areas of intere\t. The format, with clearly defined headings and subheadings in hold type, enables material to be easily located and would be u5eful in helping students to organize their knowledge before examination\. The major drawback to this note form of presentation i\ that it ic m t easily read and the information is, at times, sketchy. The \ysteniic patholog) component is well organized and cobers most major g r o u p of disease in a logical order and form, including useful reference to clinical, and, \+hereapplicable, biochemical aspects of the diseaae proce<+.The correlated clinico-pathological approach is used to particular advantage in the rection on hematology and lymphomas, which provides much uscful and up-to-date information in tables and diagrams. Inltaiouc diwase and paediatric disease are summarized, as i n h e first edition, in tabular form in t w o appendices. These supplement I1 too limited coverage of these areas in the general text. The prcwii LoIuine has been expanded by the addition of more than I .oOOmultiple choice questions, arranged in rele\ant groups at the end of cach c h a p i t r . Thf ari\iret to each que\tion and text reference i.;

giben, and this feature should prove useful to students revising for examinations as well as to examiners compiling this form of test. Despite the limitations mentioned, this book fulfills its stated aim of providing, in outline format, a review of general and systemic pathology, and when used in conjunction with standard texts on pathology should help students in both understanding and learning the subject. Janet Harvey

Advances in cell Culture, Volunle 5. Edited by K . MARAMOKOSCH.

Academic Press, Orlando, London, Sydney, 1987. ISBN 0-12-007909-4, pp. xvi + 297, illustrated. $79.00.

I t is difficult to envisage the target readership for this volume of Advances in Cell Culture. The chapters discuss islet cell-insulinoma hybrids, chondrocytes, lymphocytes as hosts for measles virus, variation and mutation in influenza virus, biochemical properties and drugresistant mutants of mosquito cell lines, regulation of insect fat-body function in organ culture, Lepidopteran cell lines, tree tissue culture, the propagation of Coccidia and, finally, certain aspects of the development of the cell bank at the American Type Culture Collection. Thus, the book overall is a very divene collection of special-interest reviews with a correspondingly limited and almost completely distinct audience for each one of them. Related series of publications such as Advances in Cancer Research or Advances in lmmunology are formulated such that most cancer researchers and immunologists will find much of current interest in each succeeding volume. Advance:, in Cell Culture 5, by contrast, has no contributions that go any depth into the principles of cell culture or the biology of cultured cells, or any that authoritatively tackle a rapidly developing area of research that would interest the broader range of reseachers working with cultured cells. Furthermore, the chapters are quite uneven in quality and in currency. They were variably up-to-date in their coverage to 1984, 1985 and 1986, perhaps reflecting an editorial difficulty in filling the volume promptly with fresh contributions. There appears to have been a general problem of marketability with this particular series, since only four of Australia’s major academic libraries hold even partial sets of the previous four volumes. The present volume’s heterogeneous collection of reviews looks unlikely to do much better. Alan W . Harris

Alitnenrary Tract. (Sysiemic Pathology, Vol. 3.) Edited by Basil C .

hlorson. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, London, Melbourne, New Y o r k , 1987. ISBN 0-443-03095-2, pp. i +462, illustrated. $195.00.

This volume, 3 in the third edition series of Systemic Pathology, covers the alimentary tract from mouth to anus within the compass of some 460 pages. The liver and pancreas are not covered but, somewhat unusually, the salivary glands are. The ten chapters, each essentially a short monograph, have been written by seven authors under the editorship of Basil Morson. The chapter layout follows a traditional pattern with a short introductory section on normal features followed by developmental disorders, miscellaneous conditions, inflammatory disorders and neoplasia. They vary in length from 19 pages for the esophagus to 83 for large intestine. The only seeming imbalance in treatment is the fact that, at 19 pages, the coverage of esophageal pathology is just over half that of peritoneum. The first three chapters on oral pathology bring together material usually found in diverse sources and are a useful adjunct to the rest of the text. The hook is, according to the preface, intended as “a source of reference for senior pathologists and a useful text for trainees in hi5topat hology.”