This valuable addition to the principal sources of information o n veterinary anatomy is an unrevised translation of Vol. I11 in the five-volume series The Anatomy of the Domestic Animals, which was first published in German in 1976. It begins with general chapters on the blood, blood vessels, and heart, and then devotes a section to the heart of the individid domestic mammals. The arteries and veins are presented region by region, vessel by vessel, comparative details for each species being introduced within the description of each vessel. The only exception to this procedure is the account of the vasculature of the fore and hind feet, which is presented separately for each species. The description of the lymphatic system opens with a general survey of structure and function. There follows a comparative study of the system region by region, and the section ends with a n account of each individual specivs. Extensive general surveys begin the discussion of the cutaneous organs, including skin, hair, glands, mammae, and horny derivatives. Finally these structures are examined for eadi individual species.The general sections contain a great deal of useful information, ranging widely over developmental, phylogenetic, physiological, and clinical aspects. Inevitably there are disappointing omissions in such a huge field. For instance the structure of the microcirculation is treated relatively superficially despite its importance in normal and abnormal physiology.The most difficult sections are those on the arteries and veins. These must have been appallingly difficult to write, requiring endless decisions about what to leave out, and extreme ingenuity in weaving the species details into a coherent whole. The outcome is a highlv condensed mass of information, within which it becomes difficult to see the wood for the trees. Try, for example, to ascertain the main arterial supply to the hind foot of the dog. Some aspects have been left out. For instance, the intracranial venous sinuses are deferred to Vol. IV, and the carotid sinus and carotid body receive only the most brief mention.There are nearly 500 illustrations, many of those showing the arteries and veins being in colour. The illustrations relating to cutaneous organs are especially generous. The Figures in the lymphatic section are derived extensively from the elegant illustrations of Baum. These are most beautifully drawn, but are not always really clear, particularly those that tend to be too small (e. g. Figs. 265, 266, 285, and 300).The nomenclature faithfully follows the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria, with heatry emphasis on Latin. This has created some problem for the translators. In places the density of Latin terms is quite overwhelming. Sometimes the terminology, whilst being technically correct, is nevertheless excessively esoteric; how many English-speaking veterinary schools will recognize acropodium for digit and basipodium for tarsus and carpus? In a few othcr instances the translation really needed a more formal anatomical interpretation: for exampl...

Deep pectoral myopathy (DPM) is a disease that affects commercial poultry selected for large breast muscle development. The muscle affected by the disease is the supracoracoid muscle and usually one side of the breast musculature atrophies. The necrotic muscle has a characteristic pale green color. Heavy breeds of turkeys and broilers can be induced to show DPM by electrical stimulation of the breast muscle itself or by vigorous wing flapping; older birds are more susceptible. The cause of DPM is a fascial compartment too small to accommodate the enclosed supracoracoid muscle during vigorous exercise when the muscle increases its weight (and overall size) by about 20%. The inelastic compartment essentially strangulates the swollen, activated muscle. A possible means of correcting DPM is to train or exercise the flight muscles during the rapid growth phase of chicks or poults. Feed, for example, could be positioned above floor level so that birds would have to flutter up to reach it. There is also evidence to suggest a genetic component to the disease. Hence, an indicator such as high plasma creatine kinase levels may be used as a selection criterion.

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Urolithiasis and kidney disease as causes of significant mortality in fowls were investigated in two flocks of commercial laying birds on farms where outbreaks had occurred previously. The investigation, covering the first 10-11 months of egg production, included macroscopic and histological examination of individual cases of the disease, biochemical studies on blood samples collected at regular intervals from marked birds and the analysis of feed samples taken at the same time. The aetiology and pathogenesis of the condition was not established and the various investigations carried out did not reveal any consistent features. The possibility of an association between infectious bronchitis virus and the pathological entity described in the paper is discussed.