This large, relatively expensive atlas opens with succinct, readable descriptions of the various methods for staining cells and their components, for fluorescent and phase microscopy, and for chromosome analysis. Most of the useful techniques, old and new, for cell identification by light microscopy are included, with the notable exception of that most used by American hematologists—the Wright's stain method. The May-Grünewald-Giemsa stain, used in most European laboratories, compares to Wright's stain much as does tempera to a clear watercolor, and the subtler hues of the latter stain are preferred by most American hematologists. The "Giemsa" stain is used in this country chiefly for special study of heavy aspirates or of tissue sections.
There are 169 full-page plates, involving 336 photomicrographs in color, in this 511-page book. In many photographic atlases of the blood, the color values in the photomicrographs vary so widely as to dismay the reader who seeks to