Kurt Benirschke – författare

Most obstetricians and pediatricians would agree that the examination of the placenta often helps to explain an abnormal neona tal outcome. As early as in 1892, Ballantyne wrote, A diseased foetus without its placenta is an imperfect specimen, and a description of a foetal malady, unless accompanied by a notice of the placental condition, is incomplete. Deductions drawn from such a case cannot be considered as conc- sive, for in the missing placenta or cord may have existed the cause of the disease and death. During intrauterine life the foetus, the membranes, the cord and the placenta form an organic whole, and disease of any part must react upon and affect the others. Similar thoughts were succinctly detailed in Price’s (1950) discussion of his concept of the prenatal biases as they affected twins. His contribution also admonishes us that placental study is a sine qua non for a more perfect understanding of fetal development. Despite all this understanding of the past and appreciation for plac- tal disease, great resistance still exists to perform the task of placental examination routinely. For many pathologists, therefore, the placenta has remained a mysterious organ.

This conference represents the first time in my life when I felt it was a misfor­ tune, rather than a major cause of my happiness, that I do conservation work in New Guinea. Yes, it is true that New Guinea is a fascinating microcosm, it has fascinating birds and people, and it has large expanses of undisturbed rainforest. In the course of my work there, helping the Indonesian government and World Wildlife Fund set up a comprehensive national park system, I have been able to study animals in areas without any human population. But New Guinea has one serious drawback: it has no primates, except for humans. Thus, I come to this conference on primate conservation as an underprivileged and emotionally deprived observer, rather than as an involved participant. Nevertheless, it is easy for anyone to become interested in primate conserva­ tion. The public cares about primates. More specifically, to state things more realistically, many people care some of the time about some primates. Primates are rivaled only by birds, pandas, and the big cats in their public appeal. For some other groups of animals, the best we can say is that few people care about them, infrequently. For most groups of animals, no one cares about them, ever.

This conference represents the first time in my life when I felt it was a misfor­ tune, rather than a major cause of my happiness, that I do conservation work in New Guinea. Yes, it is true that New Guinea is a fascinating microcosm, it has fascinating birds and people, and it has large expanses of undisturbed rainforest. In the course of my work there, helping the Indonesian government and World Wildlife Fund set up a comprehensive national park system, I have been able to study animals in areas without any human population. But New Guinea has one serious drawback: it has no primates, except for humans. Thus, I come to this conference on primate conservation as an underprivileged and emotionally deprived observer, rather than as an involved participant. Nevertheless, it is easy for anyone to become interested in primate conserva­ tion. The public cares about primates. More specifically, to state things more realistically, many people care some of the time about some primates. Primates are rivaled only by birds, pandas, and the big cats in their public appeal. For some other groups of animals, the best we can say is that few people care about them, infrequently. For most groups of animals, no one cares about them, ever.

This presentation of the diseases of the placenta differs in many ways from the first such treatment in these volumes by the eminent Robert Meyer. It is a deliberate attempt to bring together the practical information which has been gathered about the pathology of this complex organ and to make it available to the practicing pathologist as well as clinician. Despite the ready availability of the placenta for study, the pathologist is often ill-prepared to interpret lesions which he may find. Moreover, it has been difficult for him to find reference material, published commonly in journals and books with which he is not familiar. Further­ more, the interpretation of lesions affecting the placenta seemed less challenging since the organ had served its function, was to be discarded and presumably little of significance could be expected from such a retrospective study. Recently, with new emphasis on maternal and fetal health and disease, it has become apparent that knowledge of pathologic changes in the placenta often provides a unique insight into antenatal events. Thus, there has been an abundance of publications in this field in recent years, several in book form. These and the most important older investigations on the morbid anatomy of the human pla­ centa are here reviewed. This book has been written with a special point of view, however, which reflects our own bias.

This presentation of the diseases of the placenta differs in many ways from the first such treatment in these volumes by the eminent Robert Meyer. It is a deliberate attempt to bring together the practical information which has been gathered about the pathology of this complex organ and to make it available to the practicing pathologist as well as clinician. Despite the ready availability of the placenta for study, the pathologist is often ill-prepared to interpret lesions which he may find. Moreover, it has been difficult for him to find reference material, published commonly in journals and books with which he is not familiar. Further­ more, the interpretation of lesions affecting the placenta seemed less challenging since the organ had served its function, was to be discarded and presumably little of significance could be expected from such a retrospective study. Recently, with new emphasis on maternal and fetal health and disease, it has become apparent that knowledge of pathologic changes in the placenta often provides a unique insight into antenatal events. Thus, there has been an abundance of publications in this field in recent years, several in book form. These and the most important older investigations on the morbid anatomy of the human pla­ centa are here reviewed. This book has been written with a special point of view, however, which reflects our own bias.

Laboratory Animal Medicine has made enor­ We deeply appreciate the efforts of each of the mous strides in the 47 years since R. Jaffe published authors and co-authors of the 23 chapters in this his "Anatomy and Pathology of Spontaneous Dis­ two volume work. In some instances the reader will eases of Small Laboratory Animals" in 1931. So note what appears to be repetition in certain chap­ ters. This repetition was allowed to stand in some much new information had accumulated that in a cases because different approaches seemed useful, new edition in 1958, Jaffe, aided by Cohrs and Meessen, needed the assistance of 46 colleagues to although efforts were made to delete most of the do the subject justice. Like its predecessor, this two redundancy which inevitably arises in a venture of volume comprehensive treatise on "Pathologie der this kind. We will be grateful if our colleagues point out errors and send us specific and general Laboratoriumstiere" was written in German and criticism of this work to allow corrections in the thus not readily available to the widening circle of event of reprinting or a next edition. veterinarians and pathologists who now are inter­ One objective has been to assemble current in­ ested in laboratory animals. Aside from the need to have a comprehensive formation in the pathologic aspects of diseases of review of laboratory animal pathology in English, laboratory animals.

Laboratory Animal Medicine has made enor­ We deeply appreciate the efforts of each of the mous strides in the 47 years since R. Jaffe published authors and co-authors of the 23 chapters in this his "Anatomy and Pathology of Spontaneous Dis­ two volume work. In some instances the reader will eases of Small Laboratory Animals" in 1931. So note what appears to be repetition in certain chap­ ters. This repetition was allowed to stand in some much new information had accumulated that in a cases because different approaches seemed useful, new edition in 1958, Jaffe, aided by Cohrs and Meessen, needed the assistance of 46 colleagues to although efforts were made to delete most of the do the subject justice. Like its predecessor, this two redundancy which inevitably arises in a venture of volume comprehensive treatise on "Pathologie der this kind. We will be grateful if our colleagues point out errors and send us specific and general Laboratoriumstiere" was written in German and criticism of this work to allow corrections in the thus not readily available to the widening circle of event of reprinting or a next edition. veterinarians and pathologists who now are inter­ One objective has been to assemble current in­ ested in laboratory animals. Aside from the need to have a comprehensive formation in the pathologic aspects of diseases of review of laboratory animal pathology in English, laboratory animals.

In recent years, because of advances in karyological techniques, we have witnessed a remarkable renewal of interest in studies of mammalian chromosomes. These techniques, generally involving the use of tissue culture, colchicine and hypotonic solution pretreatments, allow for a much clearer display of metaphase chromosomes of mammalian cells than the classic direct squash or tissue section methods. Consequently, what was known about the chromosome complement of most mammals must be revised. The most astonishing revision, of course, was that made by Tjio and Levan in 1956, who demonstrated that the diploid number of man is 46, not 48 as previously believed. Similar revisions will have to be made for many other mammalian species, either in number or in karyotype structure. Many animals are being examined cytologically for the first time. The findings are now extensive and scattered; they appear in numer­ ous periodicals and newsletters, or they are kept in cytologists'' file drawers without being published. It is difficult to have access to perti­ nent data for comparison among related species or for evaluation of various karyological characteristics within a karyotype. Such evaluations can be done only when reasonably uniform material is collected and placed side by side for comparison, accompanied by relative references. We considered that probably an Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes would fulfill such a need. Needless to say, it is impossible to present karyotypes of all mam­ malian species at one time.

In recent years, because of advances in karyological techniques, we have witnessed a remarkable renewal of interest in studies of mammalian chromosomes. These techniques, generally involving the use of tissue culture, colchicine and hypotonic solution pretreatments, allow for a much clearer display of metaphase chromosomes of mammalian cells than the classic direct squash or tissue section methods. Consequently, what was known about the chromosome complement of most mammals must be revised. The most astonishing revision, of course, was that made by Tjio and Levan in 1956, who demonstrated that the diploid number of man is 46, not 48 as previously believed. Similar revisions will have to be made for many other mammalian species, either in number or in karyotype structure. Many animals are being examined cytologically for the first time. The findings are now extensive and scattered; they appear in numer­ ous periodicals and newsletters, or they are kept in cytologists'' file drawers without being published. It is difficult to have access to perti­ nent data for comparison among related species or for evaluation of various karyological characteristics within a karyotype. Such evaluations can be done only when reasonably uniform material is collected and placed side by side for comparison, accompanied by relative references. We considered that probably an Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes would fulfill such a need. Needless to say, it is impossible to present karyotypes of all mam­ malian species at one time.

Since the inception of the Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes, it is a surprise to us that we have finished five volumes with karyotypes of nearly 250 mam­ malian species. We acknowledge the fact that there are many imperfections in this series, but we also hope that these volumes have been useful to various investigators. Springer-Verlag has made a binder which will accommodate the material of all five volumes. We also revised our index to facilitate easy reference. If the material is arranged in the binder according to the Cumulative Contents, we believe one will find it convenient to consult with this book. Volume 5, as in the previous volumes, contains a Cumulative Index, Cumu­ lative Table of Contents, as well as an individual Index and Table of Contents for Volume 5. Previous Indices and Tables of Contents should be discarded. October, 1970 T. C. Hsu Kurt Benirschke v Instructions A special vinyl binder is available from the publisher which will accommo. date the material of the first five volumes. Twenty dividers have been provided with printed tabs. These dividers are intended to separate the Orders and the Index. It is suggested that the dividers be placed in the following sequence of Orders, which sequence will be followed in the future when presenting karyo.

Especially for this book, Andy Warhol has created prints (silkscreen over collage) of some of the most endangered animals in the world. Here they are joined with a stimulating text by Dr Kurt Benirschke affording the reader an opportunity to discover the lives and habits of these animals and what the outlook is for their survival.Extinction, the tragic and permanent loss of entire species of animals, should be a concern for everyone This concern and a strong desire to take action toward preventing the loss of more animals has brought about an unusual collaboration between art and science. The result is this beautiful volume in which artist and scientist have joined efforts to inform and inspire others to take action. It is hoped that these fascinating and striking portrayals will stimulate readers to join their own energies and talents to this important fight against the loss of more species. This book brings some of the less well known endangered animals to the reader''s attention. These animals deserve just as much attention as the giant panda or the mountain gorilla about which so much has already been said. Naturally, the animals presented here are very personal choices, having been selected from a virtually endless supply of animals whose last hour is rapidly approaching.

This is a completely new, second edition of the classic reference which has been out of print since 1984. It is the most comprehensive work available on placental pathology, which has recently gained importance in clinical medicine, and includes discussion of legal aspects dealing with the relation between placenta and perinatal damage.

Completey reorganized - a practical, how-to guide to placental examination plus the most authoritative reference available on all aspects of the normal and abnormal placenta. New chapters have been added on: Normative Values and Tables, Microscopic Survey and Histopathological Approach to Villous Alterations. More extensive indexing help meet the daily demands of bothe novice and experienced placental pathologists.

Since the publication of the first Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes in 1967 the continuous compilation of mammalian karyotypes has become a useful instrument in cytologic and taxonomic studies. Technical advances in preparing mitotic cells from nonmammalian vertebrates have since allowed a better comparison of taxa in fishes, amphibia, reptiles, and birds. In these fields the literature is also widely scat­ tered; and it has become difficult to survey such information, published as well as unpublished, by nonspecialists. These were among the reasons for the new endeavor of compiling a chromosome atlas for nonmammalian vertebrates. An annual publication is planned with presentation of between 10 and 15 karyotypes from each class. In this second volume, 52 species are presented. For convenience in future colation, the numbering system employs class abbreviations, viz. , P-Pisces, Am-Amphibia, R-Reptilia, and Av-Aves. Within each class, the numbers are necessarily consecutive. In general the karyotypes are laid out following the format employed in An Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes. Whenever possible both sexes are represented, even though sexual chromosomal dimorphism is not (currently) evident. When the sex chromosomes are known, they are so indicated by conventional nomenclature (XX/XY or ZW /ZZ). In the karyotypes of birds the so-called microchromosomes are grouped together at the end without an attempt at complete enumeration, which is presently impossible. They are usually considered as acrocentrics, but a few are distinctly biarmed.