In order to produce a superior scholarly treatise in bio medical science, three important conditions need to be met. First, the subject needs to be of recognized importance and preferably one in which a sizeable volume of new knowledge has been added recently. Second, it needs to be quite evident that the field involved re quires much more up-to-date coverage than it has received and third, the choice of the editors and in turn the authors needs to be recognized as outstanding. This major treatise fills these criteria in an admirable way. There are few who would deny the importance of knowledge concerning the circulatory system. This all pervasive system is the route by which virtually all of the cells and tissues of the body receive their nutrition and it is the major route by which metabolic waste products are carried away. Furthermore, the diseases that involve the circulatory system are, by far, the underlying causes of death and morbidity in the largest number of Americans, Western Europeans and several other populations of industrialized nations. Not only is atherosclerosis-induced-ischemic disease of the heart, brain and extremities widespread in these populations but venous occlusive disease also takes a great toll from phlebothrombosis, pulmonary embolism, etc.

This is the third volume of the comprehensive series on Struc ture and Function of the Circulation, edited by Dr. Colin J. Schwartz with the collaboration of Nicholas T. Werthessen and Stewart Wolf. Dr. Schwartz, an authority on vascular structure and function and a respected investigator in this field for many years, selected as authors for the chapters an outstanding group of scientists from various parts of the world. As indicated in the Preface, the impetus for this broad treat ise evolved from the scientific sessions of three interdisciplinary international conferences held in Lindau in 1970, in Heidelberg in 1973, and Totts Gap, Pennsylvania, in 1976 as well as from numerous informal discussions. The subjects dealt with in these three volumes range from the roots of our knowledge in ancient history to the most recent inform ation on contractile proteins of smooth muscle cells. The structure, distribution, and dynamics of arteries, veins, and lymphatics are described in chapters on the systemic circulation as well as that of the heart, the vessels themselves, the brain, nerves, and viscera. Descriptions of ultrastructure, histochemistry, metabolism, and func tion of endothelium and of vascular smooth muscle and of vascular changes in aging are all included in the vast scope of this under taking.