Mass spectrometry

Book reviews Histological Techniques, By M. Gabe. Masson, Paris, and Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1976. pp. xxiii + 1106. DM 120.80. "La technique n'est rien; la mani/~re de l'appliquer est tout." (A. Branca, 1924) Towards 1800, the Parisian anatomist Xavier Bichat propounded the notion of a tissue and thus laid the foundations of histology, a science devoted to the morphological study of tissues and their constitutive elements. At that time, thin hand-cut sections stained with natural dyes were examined under a simple monocular lens. Progress has accelerated rapidly since then with the introduction of coal-tar dyes and improvements in microscope optics. The stains developed by such famous men as Ehrlich, Weigert, Perls and Feulgen are still widely used today, but other techniques of that era were overtaken by subsequent developments in microscopy and dyestuffs. Fluorescence, interference and phase-contrast microscopic techniques became available, together with numerous dyes seconded from the textile industry. This classical period of histology has now passed and interest is concentrated on specificity, purity and quantitation. Mucoproteins are now glycosaminoglycans--no longer stained empirically by Southgate's mucicarmine method but with alcian blue at pH 1.0 or 2-5 to demonstrate sulphated or carboxylated groups respectively. To attempt to cover such a diverse period of histological development is an unenviable task. Dr. Gabe has encompassed this in one large volume divided into five parts for ease of reference. Part I covers the general principles involved in the handling of tissues, vital staining, embedding techniques and cutting, while the general methods dealt with in Part II include the majority of the 'routine' stains. The third and largest section, of over 400 pages, is concerned with histochemical techniques for the demonstration of metals, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and enzymes. Part IV describes the established methods for studying the nucleus, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria and secretory granules, and the final part is a large section of 300 pages describing techniques for studying the majority of mammalian tissues, including the central nervous system, as well as techniques applicable to such tissues as the digestive glands of invertebrates and the swim-bladder of fish. The appearance of the book is nostalgic; the variations in type face, the layout and the paper itself remind one of a bygone era. The translation from the French is excellent, phrases such as "....a chemical compound which has been placed on the market by good suppliers of requirements for microscopy...." being the exception. This book should be judged not by its omissions, which are numerous because of its broad coverage, but by the great diversity of its inclusions. Many of the techniques will be unfamiliar to histologists in the UK but are well known to colleagues in Mainland Europe. The index is just adequate--only with prolonged browsing can one find such rarities as the method for "bulk staining of Corti's organ"--and familiarity undoubtedly increases the book's value. r.c.r

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This book, as the foreword points out, "'is based on more than a quarter of a century of reading, reflexion and especially of the daily practice of histological technique. It is addressed to those who in turn wish to experience the harsh joys of encountering a subject that is difficult but of inexhaustible wealth." While it may not satisfy the pathologist addicted to modern quantitative techniques, it is a must for the traditionalist who still gets pleasure from a good 'H &E'. Mass Spectrometry. Vol. 4. Senior Reporter R. A. W. Johnstone. The Chemical Society, London, 1977. pp. xii + 357. £22.50. This volume provides a valuable source of reference to many of the more significant papers on mass spectrometry published between July 1974 and June 1976. Following the format of previous volumes, the obligatory coverage of the theoretical aspects of the subject is quickly followed by reviews of the extensive and ever-expanding literature on application of the numerous forms of the technique. Each of the 12 chapters has a different author and between 60 and 810 references, so inevitably there is some overlapping between contributions. New chapters on "Trends in instrumentation" and "Field ionization and field desorption" reflect the proliferation of 'hardware' which is making mass spectrometry such a growth industry. Clearly a great deal of useful and reasonably up-to-date information is available in these pages, but for a book of this kind the promise of a cumulative index in volume 5 hardly compensates for the absence of a subject index in this and previous volumes.

BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW Immunology of the Gut. CIBA Foundation Symposium 46.

Edited by R. Porter and J. Knight. Exccrpta Medica, Amsterdam, 1977. pp. viii + 376. $28.00. Residue Reviews: Residue, of Pesticides and Other Contaminants in the Total Environment. Vol. 65. Edited by F. A. Gunther. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1976. pp. viii + 103. DM 36.20. Trace Elements in Human Health and Disease. Vol. Ii. Essential and Toxic Elements. Edited A. S. Prasad and D. Oberleas. Academic Press, inc., (London) Ltd., London, 1976. pp. xviii + 525. £22.90. Lecture Notes in Biomathematies. Vol. I I. Mathematical Models in Medicine. Workshop, Mainz, March 1976. Edited by J. Berger, W. Bfihler, R. Repges and P. Tautu. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1976. pp. xii + 281. DM 28.00. Current Topics in Pathology. Vol. 63. Pathology of the Gastro-intestinal Tract. Edited by B. C. Morson. Springer-

Verlag, Berlin, 1976. pp. 353. DM 96.00. Caffeine and Chromosomes. By B. A. Kihlman. Elsevier

Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1977. pp. xviii + 504. $63.25. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology. Vol. XVI. Experimental Production of Diseases. Part 5. Liver. Edited by O. Eichler. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1976. pp. xiii + 377. DM 192_00. Pesticide ManuaL Basic Information on the Chemicals used as Active Compm~mtaof Pesticides, 5th Ed. Edited by H. Martin and C. R. Worthing. Issued by the British Crop Protection Council, 1977. pp. ii + 593. £15.1)0.