Blood

xii, 178 pp. "The only thriving wildlife still barely touched by man is the hot, confusing, and poorly lit world within himself. The strangely shaped glands and bones, the transparent lungs, the dense tangle of cells in the brain hold worlds within worlds; and through it all, streams of blood. Leo Vroman drew his first sample of blood shortly after World War II and, during the past twenty years, he has made the study of blood his vocation and avocation. The mechanisms of coagulation, have been of particular fascination to Dr. Vroman, and it is the story of his research on the prothrombin complex that introduced the reader of this volume to all aspects of human blood - its development, structure, and function. Based on up-to-date biochemical research, this is a thorough and entertaining account of one of man's most alarming treasures."