The effect urethan on humen limd development in vino was seen in limbs from embroys Streeter's (H.) XII to XVI cultured with urethan (50 μ/ml) for four days. In limbs from H. XII to XVI embroys, the mitotic inter ference in significant differences in the appearance of bone blastemata and differential state of cartilage were detected between the experimental and control explants. Thus, the present xeperiment showed that urethan affected human limb morphogenesis and the sensitive period to urethan was XII to XIV.

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Over 8.5 million microwave ovens are being used in the United States. Since it is known that the primary energy emitted from such ovens is concentrated heat, and that heat can sterilize the adult human testes, it seemed in order to investigate the effects of single or chronic microwave exposures on mice from embryos to adults, and determine any effect on fertility. The stages of exposure were 8 and 15 day embryos; weanlings of 4 and 6 weeks of age; and 2-month old adults. In addition 4- to 5-month old sexually mature mice were chronically exposed to the maximum tolerable dose for five consecutive days. When these various stages reached 2 months of age, they were housed with nonirradiated mates for a period of six months, and a complete record of litter numbers, dead and anomalous offspring was taken. A total of 247 irradiated mice and 204 control mice were thus fertility tested over the same period of time. A total of 2,466 control and 7,694 irradiated offspring were delivered and examined. The total of dead and anomalous offspring were less than 1%. Among the immature mice irradiated, 17,081 offspring were produced and examined. The irradiation in all cases was just sublethal. The average number of offspring produced in the six months period by either the irradiated or the control mice ranged from 56 to 68, with no indication of any sterility of those with a history of microwave irradiation. The study included 31,398 surviving offspring produced over the six months period. Microwave irradiation at 2,450 MHZ of mice at any age or either sex did not appear to affect their reproductive capacity.

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Spontaneous dislocation of the atlanto-axial joint is a frequent occurrence in Down's syndrome. Atlanto-axial dislocation was observed in 25 out of 135 subjects ranging in age from 2 to 47 years. The incidence of dislocation appears to be more frequent in Down's syndrome with the advancement of age. Out of 25 patients with dislocation, 4 had an ossiculum terminale and hypoplastic odontoid, 2 had third condyle, 5 had agenesis of apical segment of the odontoid, and one had a bassilar process. It was thought that the cause of dislocation in the remaining 13 patients was due to abnormality of the transverse atlantal ligament. A dislocation associated with cervical cord compression was observed in two cases. One child was treated by laminectomy for decompression, and another, who showed compression signs of cervical cord, spontaneously improved.

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The perineal groove is an uncommon anorectal malformation in the female. A case of a female child with a perineal groove is presented. She complained of anal pain during defecation, but had no anal bleeding. She had a normally formed vestibule, hypertrophied minoral tails skirting the perineum, and a wet groove in the perineum between the fourchette and the anus. Her anus was not stenotic and she had no incontinence. Since wet perineal sulci may gradually become epithelialized into normal skin, treatment is usually unnecessary and was not indicated in this case.

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Hemorrhages in the foot plates of fetal rats following amniotic sac puncture on day 15 of gestation were compared with those appearing after uterine vessel clamping for one hour, Intensity and frequency of hemorrhages in the puncture group were more than those resulting after clamping. Hemorrhages were homogeneous in the clamping group whereas these showed alternate concentric rings of dense and light hemorrhagic zones in the puncture group. In the clamping group blood vessels were more engorged and discontinuity of endothelium was seen. It appeared that the concentric rings of dense and light hemorrhagic areas resulted from bouts of uterine contraction after leakage of the amniotic fluid in the puncture group.

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An electron microscopic investigation was performed on the skin biopsy specimen from a 20 months old girl with Tay-Sachs disease. Abnormal cytosomes such as homogenous electron dense bodies and zebra bodies were observed in neuronal axons and Schwann cells. The obtained results suggest that ultrastructural examination of skin biopsy specimens may be useful in evaluating patients with Tay-Sachs disease.

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