For anyone interested in the history of Entomology in
Canada and the life and works of Edmund M. Walker,
this book will remain the source.
OLIVERS. FLINT, JR.
U.S. National Museum,
Smithsonian Institution,
lVashington, D.C.
of radiation and isotopes in entomology and for scientists
wanting to apply these new techniques.
The value of the information from the symposium lies
in the cosmopolitan makeup of the contributors and in the
scope of the material presented. This report is of definite
interest to those concerned with arthropod propagation
and biological control agents. In the field of arthropods
of medical importance this symposium can be likened to
the contribution made by the compendium "Culture Methods for Invertebrates" that appeared in 1937. The World
Health Organization is to be commended for its sponsorship of this Symposium.
H. F. SCHOOF
Technical De·l.'clopmem Laboratories
Co11l1ll1tllicableDisease Center
Savannah, Georgia
This little book will be of interest to all thoughtful
biologists and in fact to anyone with a sense of biological
responsibility. The style is unpretentious, the reasoning
philosophical and the neomalthusian message clear.
The manual is arranged in two parts; in the first, four
main topics are adequately discussed with a minimum of
theory. They are: properties of radioisotopes and radiation, detection of radiation, health physics, and some uses
of basic principles (isotope dilution, tracer kinetics, activity analysis, etc.). A series of 14 laboratory exercises
SYMPOSIUM ON CULTURE PROCEDURESFOR ARTHROPOD complements the lecture material. These exercises are
VECTORS AND THEIR BIOLOGICALCONTROL AGENTS. well organized and logically arranged, and they enable the
Bull. World Health Organ. 31 :4. Columbia Univ.
student to progress step by step. The second part consists
Press, Int. Doc. Serv., 2960 Broadway, New York,
of a series of 29 laboratory experiments of varying comN. Y. 10027.
plexity, 12 on various aspects of pesticide metabolism, 9
on ecological and physiological applications, and 8 on inThis report represents the views and ideas of 26 scisect sterilization by radiation and chemosterilants. Each
~ntists from 16 countries on the colonization, rearing, and
experiment is followed by a series of questions designed
handling of various species of flies, mosquitoes, lice, fleas,
to stimulate the student. The many laboratory exercises
bugs, and related arthropods. While certain species disoffer an advantage; the instructor can select those that
cussed, such as Musca dOlllestica and Aedes aegypti, are
are necessary to meet the course requirements or for
common laboratory insects, there is a wealth of informawhich instrumentation is available.
tion on the rearing of other arthropods such as Glossina,
Fmlnia, Opi/ex, Eretlllapodites,
Armigeres,
Culiseta,
The usefulness of the manual is increased by the incluCulicoides, Plz/ebotomus, Triatoma, Rhodllius, and Rhipision of four appendices, three that relate to techniques
cephaills. Aside from the techniques for culturing arand a fourth that is a table of maximum permissible conthropods, special consideration is given to parasites of
centrations of radionucleotides in air and in drinking
mosquitoes and black flies, both from the rearing standwater for occupational exposure and maximum body burpoint and from their use as biological control agents.
den. A short bibliography listing some basic books in the
field is also included.
The 44 articles in the resume are grouped under Culicidae: General, Culicidae special topics, Simuliidae, BioThe manual is marred by a few typographical errors,
logical Control Agents, Other Medically Important Inespecially in some equations. The errors are unfortunate
sects and Acarina. Certain articles are primarily a desince they occur in the basic portion and were present also
scription of the author's particular method for rearing a
in the soil-plant relations manual. It is hoped that they
specific insect, but many of them review the techniques
will be corrected in succeeding manuals.
employed by various workers, and thereby serve as exSuch a manual serves a very useful function because it
cellent source references for workers interested in arbridges the gap between the fundamentals and the applied
thropod rearing and maintenance.
aspects; it should be especially helpful to the beginner in
One explanation of the marked variations that frethe field. Therefore it should receive wide use.
quently occur in results obtained by investigators evaluCLAUDEH. SCHMrDT
ating insecticides against a species of insect lies in the
Metabolism and Radiation Research Laboratory
differences reported on the type of nutrition and method
Entomology Research Division, A. R. S., USDA
of handling that species. However, full recognition must
Fargo, North Dalwta
he given to the fact that in many countries controlled
t>nvironmental conditions and standardized
commercial
THE OVERPOPULATED
SOCIETY,THE CHALLENGEOF AMERmedia are not so readily available as in the United States,
ICA'S BIOLOGICALAND SOCIALCRISIS, by Richard B.
Canada, and Europe, thereby taxing the ingenuity of the
Spurrier.
1967.
Exposition
Press Inc., 386 Park Ave ..
\\'orker to adapt local products and facilities for these
South, New York, N. Y. 10016. 91 p. $4.00.
purposes.
There is an introduction, eight chapters and an appendix.
The chapters are entitled as follows:
I. The Social-Biological Background
II. America's Assets
III. America's Liabilities
IV. Attacking the Problem
V. Analogies with Nature
VI. Weaving the Strands Together
VII. The Precipice We're On
VIII. Fruit Basket Upset
Each chapter consists of short pieces many of which
LABORATORY
TRAINING MANUAL ON THE USE OF ISOTOPES
merit being designated as vignettes. Nearly all of these
AND RADIATION IN ENTOMOLOGY.Joint FAO/IAEA
close with a question and we quote selected ones.
Division of Atomic Energy in Agriculture.
Technical
Report Series no. 61, International
Atomic Energy
"If Americans do not protect their own country and its
Agency, Vienna, 144 p., 29 Fig., 9 Tables. $3.50. (Nainterests, who will?"
tional Agency for International Publications, Inc., 319
"If genetics is not the first controlling factor in human
E. 34th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016).
events, wherein lies the key?"
This laboratory training manual is the second in a series
"What good is a consensus of the uninformed?"
on the use of isotopes and radiation in the general area of
"How many more years can we live in our present
agriculture. The first dealt with soil-plant relations; the
state of pollution-or
worse?"
three forthcoming will concern agricultural biochemistry,
"What is the price of security-and
how secure is it?"
animal research, and plant pathology. This manual is de"Who wants bread made with insect damaged wheat?"
signed both for participants in training courses on the use
135
"Where will you and yours be in history's 'tomorrow
morning?"
As this is printed ESA member Dick Spurrier is working as a civilian entomologist in the plague ridden rat
warren that is Vietnam.
R. H. NELSON
Entomological Society of America
College Park, Marylalld
BIOCHEMISTRYOF PARASITES, by Theodor von Brand.
1966. Academic Press, New York and London, x
429 p. $15.95.
As the author points out in his preface, classical physiology of the parasites has, within the past 15 years or so,
shifted its emphasis to studies of what may now be more
appropriately termed the biochemistry of parasites, and
in this book he picks up from where he left off in 1952
on chemical physiology, and brings to the reader, mostly
in review form, substantially all the literature that has
accumulated up to 1964 in this fast-developing field. That
this must have been a very considerable task is witnessed
by approximately 65 pages of references listed in the
volume.
To cover the biochemistry of the endoparasitic protozoans, helminths, and arthropods, the author has divided
the subject matter into nine chapters which cover the
major classes of biochemical compounds, and which include a chapter each on inorganic substances, and on
respiration. A little more than a third of this material deals
with distribution, metabolism, and the effects on host
and parasite relations of carbohydrates.
The remainder
deals in essentially the same manner with lipids, proteins,
nucleic acids, and vitamins.
+
The book has all the merits that this kind of thorough,
and nearly complete, coverage can provide. A considerable
amount of information is presented in well prepared
tables, simplifying the task of making comparisons between parasites. The tables include literature citations
as well, which make for easy reference. Again, an au tho;
index coupled with an excellent subject index eases the
task of searching out the specific details of a specific
piece of work within a given area. But by the same
measure, the book becomes difficult for the general reader
who may be interested only in a broad sweep through a
given field, since it tends to overwhelm him with its succeeding waves of detail. On the other hand, since the
hook was written primarily for students and workers, it
fulfills a real need and should be considered a necessary
addition to the library of parasitologists, as well as those
interested in parasite biochemistry.
LEVONA. TERZIAN
Naval Medical Research Instih/fe
Bethesda, Maryland
NATURAL PEST CONTROLAGENTS by Donald G. Crosby,
Symposium Chairman. 1966. Advances in Chemistry
Series 53. American Chemical Society, Washington,
D. c., 146 p. with index. Clothbound $5.75.
This little volume is a collection of papers given at an
American Chemical Society symposium in Detroit in
April 1965. There are a dozen brief sketches on the following topics: natural pest control agents (D. G. Crosby,
University of California at Davis) ; natural insect attractants and repellents (M. Jacobson, USDA, Beltsville,
Md.); biosynthesis of monoterpenes in an ant (G. M.
Happ and ]. Meinwald, Cornell University,
Ithaca,
N. Y.) ; insecticides occurring naturally in crops (E. P.
Lichtenstein, University of Wisconsin);
chemistry and
biochemistry of pyrethrins (J. B. Moore, McLaughlin
Gormley King Co., Minneapolis, Minn.);
analysis of
pyrethrins (H. Beckman and P. T. Allen, University of
California at Davis); crystalliferous
bacteria as insect
toxicants (R. F. Anderson and M. H. Rogoff, Interlmtiona! Minerals & Chemical Corp., Wasco, Calif.) ; some
antifungal factors in barley (A. Stoessl, Canada Department of Agriculture, London, Ontario) ; virus replication
inhibitors and stimulators from plant sources (P. C. Cheo
and R. C. Lindner, Washington State University, Wenatchee, Wash.) ; chemistry and physiology of abscisin II, an
abscission-accelerating hormone (F. T. Addicott and associates, University of California at Davis);
biologically
active agents from llelmillthosproi21m sativlIm (E. Y.
Spencer and R. A. Ludwig, Canada Department of Agriculture and P. deMayo and associates, University of
Western Ontario) ; regulation of plant growth by constituents from higher plants (D. E. Moreland and associates,
USDA and North Carolina State University, Raleigh).
The material, although presented in a sketchy way
and without a record of discussion, is nonetheless uncommonly interesting.
S. A. HALL
Entomolog)1 Research Division, ARS,
U. S. Department of Agriwltllre
Beltsville, Maryland
NEW PUBLICATION
INS£CTSOF MICRONESIA,Vol. 14, No.7, p. 243-79. Issued
January 10, 1967. Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii. $1.75.
DIPTERA: CLUSIIDAE, by George Steyskal, Entomol.
Res. Div., USDA, Washington, D. c., and Mitsuhiro
Sasakawa, Entomol. Lab., Faculty of Agr., Kyoto
Prefectural Univ., Kyoto, Japan. p. 243-9.
DIPTERA: HIPPOBOSCIDAE;STREBLIDAE,by T. C. Maa,
B. P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii. p. 251-74.
DIPTERA: NYCTERIDIIDAE,
by O. Theodor, The Hebrew
University-Hadassah
Medical School, Jerusalem,
Israel. p. 275-9.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Sir:
Professor Tien-Hsi Cheng, Pennsylvania
State University, has accepted the Headship of the Zoology Section of its newly formed Department of Biology: Although a successful teacher of zoology (he shared with
two other professors his University's Lindback Award
for Distinguished Teaching in June 1964), he is primarily
an entomologist known for his research on the control of
insects attacking livestock. Society member Cheng is also
known for his studies of the capabilities of Red China in
biological research.
Dr. Cheng's decision to accept new responsibilities was
made under the greatest stress; his daughter Meimei, a
graduate student in nutrition at Cornell University, was
among the victims of the fire that occurred early in the
morning of April 5 in the Cornell Heights Residential
Club. Miss Cheng was a 1966 graduate of Stanford University. She had hoped to become proficient in the problems of international nutrition.
Her parents intend to
establish at Stanford a scholarship in her memory to
help needy students get foreign experience, a privilege
Meimei had enjoyed in Europe in 1965. She is also survived by an older brother, William, a student in Harvard's Graduate School of Business Administration.
Sincerely,
FRANK L. CAMPBELL
136