Contributions to Embryology¹

Abstract

NO money given by Mr. Carnegie for the furtherance of scientific research is likely to yield better interest than that invested in the Department of Embryology in the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C. The nucleus of the department was formed by the collection of human embryos assembled by Prof. Mall when he held the chair of anatomy in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. It took Prof. Mall ten years to collect his first hundred specimens; five years to collect the second hundred; three years for the third; and two years for the fourth hundred. Since his collection was taken over by the Carnegie Institution four hundred specimens have been gathered each year. The collection of material is now the most extensive and the equipment the best of any em-bryological department in the world. Specimens are being gathered from all parts for the study of “racial embryology “-an untouched field of research. New technical procedures are being introduced to enable workers to reconstruct the different parts of the embryo with much greater accuracy than had been previously possible.