Bücher der Reihe Comparative Pathobiology

Invertebrate pathology, like medical and veterinary pathology, for many years has been spearheaded by practical applications al though in more recent times many investigators have elected to focus their attention on basic mechanisms and the elucidation of basic phenomena.

Ever since Metchnikoff's pioneering studies during the late l800s on the role of phagocytes of invertebrates, which led to his theory of cellular immunity, invertebrates have been employed with increasing fre quency for studying cellular defense.

At a recent meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, Dr. K. As the Editor of the Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, I am intimately aware of the current popularity of research pertaining to invertebrate immune mechanisms of which hemocytes and associated molecules play a central role.

In other words, pathobiology is inter disciplinary and incorporates all of those aspects of biology, chemistry, and physics which directly or indirectly permit greater understanding of the nature of infectious and noninfectious diseases and the possible implications of such in biomedicine, agriculture, and environmental science.

Therefore, the publi cation of Volumes one and two sets a milestone for microspori diology and it is our hope that the readers of these two volumes will share the enthusiasm of the authors and contributors and will reap rich reward from their unique and profound insight.

The availability of new techniques and instrumentation, coupled with the development of daring new hypotheses and concepts, has paved the way for the dramatic evolution of parasitology from a static descriptive endeavor to a dynamic one based on biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology, and modern cell biology.

On August 21-26, 1977, two symposia were included in the program of the 10th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology held at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.