BOOK REVIEWS 285

neoplasms, the last chapter having a mixed bag of diseases which the authors could not include in any of the preced- ing categories.

The text is brief and the content is generally adequate as a basis for a lecture series, the least satisfactory section being that on injury and repair. Short bibliographies have the advantage of not overwhelming the student but suceed only if the references are well chosen. In this case there is a distinct bias to North American authors and an imbalance in the selection of the ‘General Readings’ which lists six books on the pathology of bone tumours but none on the arthritides. Up-to-date references are use- ful as a lead into the literature, but two of the ‘Suggested Readings’ were ‘in press’ at the time of printing.

Illustrations and text have been kept together. The radiographs are both well chosen and reproduced. Some of the gross specimen photographs and micrographs could be improved, the former by the elimination of highlights from the specimen surface, the latter by using the correct colour temperature. When sections have been stained by techniques other than haematoxylin and eosin, the technique has not always been stated in the caption. Some of the photomicrographs are of too low a magnifi- cation for the features described to be clearly seen.

This is not a bench book for the reporting room. It would be a very useful book for pathologist preparing lectures for medical students or orthopaedic surgeons. 1 would also recommend that junior histopathologists read it as an introduction to orthopaedic pathology.

c. G. WOODS Nufield Orthopaedic Centre

Oxford

Development of the Vascular System. Ciba Foundation Symposium 100. J . NUGENT and M. O’CONNOR (Eds). Pitman, London, 1983. No. of pages: x + 254, including 54 figures and 15 tables. Price: E25. ISBN: 0 21219132 4.

This book is composed of a series of symposium papers and the accompanying discussion. Although it covers many aspects of development of the vascular system, little emphasis is placed upon cell differentiation or pattern for- mation in the early stages of development; most of the symposium is devoted to morphogenesis.

The first section, which deals with development of the normal vascular system, starts with a paper on the control of embryonic heart morphogenesis. It is proposed that the extracellular matrix, synthesized by the myocardium, generates biomechanical forces which are important for cardiac morphogenesis. This is followed by an account of the growth pattern of blood vessels in the cerebral cor- tex and a morphological account of elastin in foetal ves- sels. An interesting section on structural adaptations of blood vessels to pressure is accompanied by a discussion which, at one point, centres on the problems of

circulatory adaptation faced by foetal giraffes at birth and the difficulties encountered by the sea snake when held in a vertical position. The papers on vascularization of turnours discuss physical factors which influence angio- genesis and the part played by mast cells. A chapter on the role of basement membrane degradation in neovascularization is followed by a useful discussion on the whole subject of tumour angiogenesis factors. The symposium report ends with two papers, one on neovascularization of coronary intima and the other on the broad spectrum of angiogenesis defects in man.

The book is a collection of well written contributions, and the discussions following each paper and section are useful and sometimes amusing. As such, it will certainly be widely read by those specifically interested in the development of the vascular system, but it will also be of general interest to a wider audience in biological sciences and pathology.

R. 0. WELLER Southampton General Hospital

Exotica: A Further Miscellany of Clinical and Pathologi- cal Experiences. WILLIAM ST CLAIR SYMMERS. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984. No. of pages: 226. Price E8.15 (clothbound). ISBN: 0 19 261225 5.

This book describes a collection of fascinating and exotic cases and might be regarded as the ultimate in histopathological one-upmanship, if the cases were not presented with such elegance and gentle humour.

I greatly enjoyed reading it. It vividly recalled to me the days of my youth when Professor Symmers and I worked in the same department. How I marvelled at his apparent effortless ability to attract the sort of cases he describes in this small volume. I still clearly remember seeing the material from his cases of thread worm granuloma, Linguatulu serruta infestation, and Crypto- coccus neoformans infection.

Since that time I have often wondered why I see no such cases now. Despite my occasional bursts of enthusiasm for sectioning fibrous nodules in the liver cap- sule not a single case of Lingualula serrata infestation have I found. I suspect that my failure to recognize these exotic cases is because, like most people, my daily work is diagnostic histopathology is unconsciously govcrned by that uninspiring old adage ‘common things commonly occur’. After reading this book with its beautifully precise and elegant accounts of Professor Symmers’ fascinating cases, I hope attitudes will be changed to ‘uncommon things uncommonly occur, but today, if I am lucky and alert, I may encounter one’.

We cannot all hope to have a pearl pop out of the speci- men and disappear down the laboratory sink (see ‘He who would search for pearls must dive below’, pp. 195-201) but with increased awareness of what we might be miss-

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ing, at least, we might hope to increase our recognition rate of fungal infections.

I accept that orthodox documentation would have inhibited the narrative flow but we would be eternally in his debt if Professor Symmers would sometime let us into the secret of how he does it.

GERALDINE HOLMES University of Leicester

Interpretation of Liver Biopsies, R. J. STENGER. Raven Press, New York, 1984. No. of pages: xii+ 164. Price: $42.50. ISBN 0 89004 554 2.

This monograph presents a brief account of liver histopathology intended to facilitate the interpretation of human liver biopsies. Emphasis is given to clinico- pathological correlations but electron microscopy is excluded. There are 13 chapters, each concerned with one broad aspect of liver disease, such as viral hepatitis, cholestatic disorders and tumours, being preceded by three chapters which deal with the collection and proces- sing of biopsy material and with its interpretation in general. The last of these provides ir useful introduction

to the subject by defining and illustrating some of the common appearances of liver damage. The book is copiously illustrated with 150 photomicrographs, 12 in colour, and all are of a very high standard. Each chapter has an adequate and up-to-date reference list.

There are now several books on liver biopsy interpreta- tion on the market and one may wonder whether there is a need for yet one more. The main points in favour of Dr. Stenger’s book are the inclusion of modern views on all important aspects of the subject, the stress on clinico-pathological correlation and the excellence of the illustrations. On the other hand, many may find it rather too concise; for example there are little more than one page of text and seven illustrations to cover the important topic of drug-induced liver injury ; many uncommon, but nonetheless important, conditions are not illustrated, such as hepatoblastoma, cytomegalic inclusion disease and graft versus host disease. There are no sub-headings of disease entities and the index is rather brief. Neverthe- less, the book has much to commend it as an introduction to this difficult branch of diagnostic histopathology.

R. S. PATRICK University of Glasgow