In this handbook the opportunity has been taken firstly to present the waterbalance in the horny layer and the sweat secretion process with particular emphasis on their relationship to the pharmacodynamical aspects of the micro circulation and permeability of the skin. F. A. 1. THIELE was unable to witness the printing of his life-work concerning the water balance of skin, which he had compiled at the university in Nijmegen with J. W. H. MALI and G. 1. DE JONGH and D. A. REAY from Great Britain. Their contribution concentrates on evaluating the cooling function of the sweat glands with their heat-pipe system and on the physico-chemical effects of dermatological therapy and topically applied cosmetics. A certain amount of overlapping with Volume I/4A (E. SCHWARZ) could not be avoided, and yet the presentation by THIELE and co-workers considers different aspects. The pharmacodynamics of externally applied substances involved in microcirculation are related thematically also to percutaneous resorption. Function and morphology of pharmacodynamics in microcirculation are inseparable. Therefore the structural alterations of the blood vessels in reaction to foreign agents or as an adaptation to endogenous tissue hormone release have been examined electronmicroscopically by W. G. FORSSMANN and his team, and relay a distinct picture of the microcirculation in the area of skin reactiveness. The direct pharmacological aspects of the skin and the systemic effects on blood vessels and their permeability have been listed according to the latest research material."

The most prominent function of the central nervous system is the control of motor functions by rapidly transmitted impulses through efferent cranial and spinal peripheral nerves. Besides electrically transmitted neural impulses, humoral mechanisms with more sustained actions are exercised by the brain and spinal cord to regulate body homeostasis. Thus, the brain may be regarded as an "endocrine gland" discharging neurohormones (peptides) either into the general circulation (neurohypophyseal hormones) or into the hypothalamo-adenohypophyseal portal circulation (releasing and inhibiting hormones). The brain, therefore, which is protected by the blood-brain barrier from disturbing and potentially noxious exogenous and endogenous agents circulating in the blood, has to have certain neurohemal regions beyond this barrier, such as the neural lobe and the median eminence (infundibulum), where neurohor mones have free access to the blood stream. To regulate somatic and autonomic functions in the best possible way, the central nervous system is highly dependent on feedback signals conveyed through somatic and visceral afferent nerves as well as on peripheral humoral signals such as peripheral hormones and other circulating substances that are under homeostatic regulation, e. g., peptides, arnines, electrolytes, and other biologically active agents. In this chapter, the role of the blood-brain barrier in the regulation of these sub stances will be discussed with special emphasis on the access through the blood-brain barrier to cardiovascular centers. 2 The Blood-Brain Barrier 2."

"Anatomy is the mother of physiology" - this statement was used to characterize the evolution of physiology from anato my as an independent science in the late nineteenth century. It had particular truth for neurophysiology, which started as functional neuroanatomy based on the observation of changes in behaviour after lesions of the nervous system both in ex perimental animals and in human patients. Today, anatomy may again be considered the mother of physiology; however, the meaning of this statement is rather different from that 100 years ago: The modem mother provides a dwelling for an increasing number of children endowed with new functional capabilities. This book provides a good illustration of such se mantic metamorphosis in the case of neuroanatomy. After a long period of little progress in either macroscopic neuroanatomy or neurohistology, during which the heritage of Cajal, Golgi, and others was developed and refined to yield a functional concept of the nervous system, the past two de cades have seen tremendous progress in methods applicable to the analysis of the nervous system. The new era was heralded by the introduction of the electron microscope to investigate the nervous system. This book is an impressive witness to the more recent developments."

The articles in this publication represent invited contributions to a symposium on Peripheral Neuroendocrine Interaction, held in Basle, Switzerland, on 30 August, 1977. This formed part of the programme of the Fourth European Anatomical Congress. The subject was selected as appropriate for review and discussion in the light of the rapid progress made in this field since the develop- ment of techniques in the functional and morphological identifica- tion of peripheral neurons and associated cells with an endocrine or paracrine function. Recent work has demonstrated the functional association between nerve fibres and granule-containing cells that synthesize and secrete biogenic amines and peptides. However, many of these endo- or para- crine cells are also responsive to other hormonal and relatively simple chemical or physical stimuli, and adjacent nerve fibres may often modify rather than control function. In addition, the products of the endocrine cells may locally influence neuronal function. Since work in disparate regions that present common relationships often reveals common principles, the subjects covered include chro- maffm cells, small granule cells of the sympathetic nervous system, gut endocrine cells, carotid body, endocrine pancreas and the juxta- glomerular apparatus of the kidney. R.E. Coupland, Nottingham W.G. Forssmann, Heidelberg v Contents 1 Techniques for Localizing Transmitter Substances and Secretory Granules Cytochemistry and Autoradiography in the Search for Transmitter-Specific Neuronal Pathways J.G. Richards ...