The Development of the Frog's Egg Ueber Verwachsungsversuche mit Amphibienlarven

Abstract

THE theories of Roux and Weismann concerning the significance of nuclear division have been the cause of much useful work. The attempt to decide experimentally whether the early divisions of a fertilised egg are in fact accompanied by a qualitative separation of nuclear or other “determinant” material has led to the remarkable observations of Roux, Driesch and others upon the behaviour of isolated blastomeres, and upon the effect of destroying one or more blastomeres in a segmenting egg. Prof. Morgan has attempted to collect the results of such observations in a form convenient for students. His book contains a fairly full account of the maturation, fertilisation and cleavage of the Frog's egg, but the later stages of development are treated very briefly indeed, the main purpose of the work being a discussion of hypotheses such as those of Roux and Weismann in the light of recent experiment. The Development of the Frog's Egg. By T. H. Morgan. Pp. x + 192. (New York: The Macmillan Company. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1897). Ueber Verwachsungsversuche mit Amphibienlarven. Von Dr. G. Born. 8vo. Pp. xi + 224. (Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1897).