Myotatic, Kinesthetic and Vestibular Mechanisms.

The quality of the published Ciba Foundation Symposia has always been high, and the present volume is no exception.Its title is perhaps a rather % daunting one and the reviewer would have a slight prejudice in favour of something simpler, such as 'Muscle control and balance'.The subjects which were, in fact, discussed in the first section of the symposium, included * the innervation of skeletal muscle, stretch receptors, stretch reflexes, and afferent systems involved in proprioception.The second section was con- cerned with the fine structure of the vestibular system, and the third with the nervous pathways involved in vestibular influences.A final section was devoted to clinical aspects of vestibular disorders.All of these subjects are ones in which there have been striking advances in recent years; they illustrate the fact that this is a rapidly growing field for both clinical and basic research.No one who studies this book can fail to be impressed by the contribution that neuro-otology is making to the care and treatment of patients.r. w.G.