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of no experiments which have demonstrated that be-havioural differences observable between free-livingand associated populations of single species are genetic-ally determined. However, such experiments are difficultto carry out under controlled conditions and much moreexperimenal work is required before a definite conclusioncan be arrived at . Only by successful experiments of thiskind shall we be able to understand the role of geneticdetermination of settlement in associated forms and toseparate from them phenomena which are dependentupon associative learning . Clearly much more attentionmust be directed to the problem of the role of learningin the maintenance of symbioses, particularly of sym-bioses involving members of the phyla, the learningabilities of which have previously been unsuspected .Davenport himself is well known for his studies on thephysiology of commensalism in marine Annelids, seaanemonies and fishes. Much stronger evidence than haspreviously been available for the learning ability of someof 'the lower invertebrate groups may yet emerge fromthis field of study .

W. H . THORPE

Macromolecules and Behavior. Edited by J. GArrO.Amsterdam : North-Holland Publishing Company(1966) . Price 58s .Most of the great biological systems of the past have

been . . of the holistic rather than component type, forexample the systems devised by Darwin, Freud andPavlov. With the expanding scope of biophysics and bio-chemistry a new field of `molecular biology' has emergedwhich has promise of ranking with the earlier holisticsystems . Molecular biology is basically concerned withthe fact that information vital to life may be stored,transferred and retrieved in systems containing largepolymeric molecules. The enormous range of structuralvariants available in the tertiary conformation of proteinmolecules provides a means for the expression of theinformation stored in DNA and RNA. The problemconsidered in this volume is whether or not this conceptapplies also in the psychological field. Do moleculesstore, transfer and retrieve psychological informationin cognitive processes or participate integrally in suchprocesses?The process whereby information is stored in the

sequence of four monomer types in DNA and `readout'by the formation of a complimentary strand of messengerRNA is fundamental not only to genetics and epigeneticsbut also to the coding of innate behaviour with its

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 15, 2-3

specificity of temporal sequencing and spatial patterning .The mechanism whereby this is achieved is beyond ourcomprehension at the moment as is the staggeringprocess which over the years stores an almost infinitenumber of memories and permits their retrieval mostefficiently. This volume marks the beginning of an attackof some of these problems .

The book is divided into five sections : an introductionby the editor where he lays out some of the problems anddescribes Hyd6n's earlier work, and the remaining foursections which comprise ten papers covering a variety ofproblems. Section two is made up of two papers by Aginand Ochs respectively on the question of how macro-molecules relate to the electrical events in the brain .The third section deals with molecular changes duringbehavioural events. Three of its four studies employneurochemical extraction processes . It is questionablehowever whether biochemical methods of analysis areadequate to cope with the extremely rapid changes offunctional state which characterize nerve cells . The usemade by Altman of autoradiographic techniques seemsto hold some promise. In general these studies indicatethat macromolecular content and activity increase withfunctional activity and decrease when the animals' be-havioural activity is reduced . Cameron and his collabor-ators report a study concerned with the administrationof yeast RNA to ageing subjects . The data which theyobtained from these experiments indicate that `RNAtherapy' might well lead to memory improvement.

The final section of the book may well be the mostinteresting to the behavioural scientist since it deals withmodels of cellular and organismic learning. One model oflearning put forward is based on the antigen-antibodyreactions. When a subject is exposed to an antigen andantibodies have developed, they will be manufacturedmore quickly and more abundantly on subsequent occa-sions. The final chapter by Pribram is probably the best .He asks a number of searching questions regarding theway in which the problem of memory is conceptualizedand this should certainly be read by experimentalpsychologists.

The progress made in relating behaviour to macro-molecules is impressive considering the magnitude of theproblem and as long as this method of approaching thestudy of behaviour does not become as rigid as some ofthe models developed by the Gestalt psychologists itholds promise for the future. The book deserves to bewidely read and discussed .

KEVIN CONNOLLY