ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses mainly the responses of the adult organism which are typical of the developmental period. The effects of toxic agents during prenatal life vary according to the stage at which they are administered. In this respect we might divide prenatal life into three periods: insensitivity period, period of embryonic teratogenicity, and period of fetal toxicity. The lesions produced by cisplatin in the brain of the chick embryo will be described in detail and used as an example of a malformation induced at an age in which malformations of most other organs are not usually produced. In our experiments with cisplatin in the chick embryo, microphthalmia was in all probability due to decreased internal pressure and not to reduced growth rate of the optic cup as indicated by the folding of the retina. The chapter also discusses the changes observed in the eye and the nervous system.
