BASIC METHODS FOR EXPERIMENTS ON EGGS OF MARINE ANIMALS

by Ernest E. Just '07. P. Blakiston's Son & Cos., Inc. pp. 89. $1.25.

The eggs of starfish, sea urchins, mud worms, various clams, snails and other marine animals can be obtained in enormous numbers during the summer when most biologists are free to do research. Such relatively uniform protoplasmic material has been, and is being, used in countless experiments on fundamental biological problems. Some years ago, Dr. Just, an internationally known experimental cytologist, brought together this booklet of methods and precautions, largely from his own experience, at the urgent request of his friends and co-workers at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It deals with the eggs and sperm of about two dozen of the species most frequently used in the marine laboratories of America and Europe. Since each species has its own special sensitivities and idiosyncracies, investigators have had to spend much valuable time establishing favorable laboratory conditions for them, prior to starting their experiments.

Basic Methods was issued first at Woods Hole in pamphlet form, and so many investigators wore their copies out completely that there is no doubt of the need for its issue again as a booklet with water shedding cover. Probably no American biologist is better equipped to perform this service than Dr. Just.