The techniques of plant organ, tissue, and cell culture concentrated on reproducibility, simplicity and accu­ are now established in many research laboratories racy with sufficient illustration to make all mani­ throughout the world and are being used in numerous pulations clear. areas of plant science. Methods have been developed The drawings of items used in the bench layout to propagate plants and free them from viruses using diagrams are symbolic and are 'keyed in' by number to shoot tip culture. The regeneration of plants from callus the list of materials and equipment. A line around an culture has also proved useful commercially. Elegant item indicates that is sterile. techniques have been used to synthesise somatic The adoption of an integrated text in which diagrams hybrids by the fusion of protoplasts and to transform are related spatially to the methods will, we hope, help cells. These and many other techniques have been the student to grasp the techniques quickly and effec­ and can be used to investigate a variety of botanical tively. This is first and foremost a manual which has its phenomena as well as to improve crop plants and now place on the laboratory bench open in front of the provide an important part of the basic experimental student, a book to be used! skills required by a majority of experimental botanists.