A study of a group of highly fertile women indicated that the majority tended to adopt a fatalistic approach to having children.

An exploratory attempt to isolate those conditions which might be associated with this type of behaviour included consideration of the women's general attitudes towards planning or not planning their future, in relation to their socio-demographic background. The work represents a first step in developing more useful methods of investigating fatalistic approaches to pregnancy and childbirth.

A population–biological study of the Kota of the Nilgiri Hills was undertaken between May 1966 and January 1968. This paper discusses the demographic structure of the tribe and its genetic implications.

The Kota is a small tribe of 1203 individuals distributed in only seven villages; it is an isolated population with a low rate of fertility and a high rate of infant mortality. The Kota is not a random mating population. The rate of consanguineous marriages is high and the coefficient of inbreeding is almost equal to the highest recorded value. Besides cousin marriages, marriage within the village is very much preferred. The admixture rate (0·29%) among the Kota is very low. The effective population size is only 28·87% of the total population. The coefficient of breeding isolation is 1·01, which indicates that genetic drift may produce important differentiation in this population. The data show that selection is acting with moderate intensity in this population.

The hypothesis that among attempted suicides, severity of intent to die is unrelated to the menstrual cycle was investigated in a sample of regularly menstruating women, using a validated intent scale. Women making their suicide attempts in the premenstrual week demonstrated a significantly higher suicidal intent but no differences in respect of other variables were observed.

Using data obtained from the Censuses of 1963 and 1971, the Socio-Economic Survey conducted from November 1969 to October 1970 and the Registrar General's Department, this paper analyses fertility trends in Sri Lanka during the period 1960–72 with special reference to the sub periods 1963–70 and 1963–71. The analysis indicates that changes in the proportion of women marrying was the most significant factor in the decline in the crude birth rate during 1963–70 and 1963–71. In the discussion on future prospects, attention is focused on the increase in contraceptive use from 1973 onwards together with other factors such as further postponement of marriage for women, a higher level of spinsterhood and emigration. The adverse effects on future fertility reduction of progressively larger female cohorts entering the main child-bearing years (20–34) are also discussed.

The effect of four progestational drugs on the amount of milk yield in a group of lactating Egyptian women was estimated during the first year of lactation. The milk yield was highest in the women given Depo-Provera, followed by those receiving Deladroxone and quingestanol acetate. Only in those women given chlormadinone acetate was the milk yield, on average, lower than in the control group of non-medicated women.

The effects of four progestational drugs on the composition of human milk during the first year of lactation were studied in Egyptian women. In comparison with a group of non-medicated women, chlormadinone acetate, Depo-Provera and Deladroxone all caused a marked increase in protein content in the early stages of lactation; quingestanol acetate had little overall effect. The lipid and lactose content showed irregular changes in the medicated groups as compared with the controls.

Based on survey data from rural Egypt, the effects of the wife's education on fertility and family planning were investigated and shown to be very important. In accordance with the results of most other studies, there is an inverse relationship with the number of live births. The wife's education is also shown to influence attitudes towards family size, spacing, and knowledge and approval of contraceptives, all of which lead to a high proportion of contraceptive use and help to achieve the desired family size. There was also a clear inverse association between the wife's education and pregnancy loss and infant mortality; these latter two variables showed positive correlations with the number of live births.

(Summary in Arabic on p. 60)

The physique of 1888 girls, all born in 1939 or later, who entered University College Swansea in the period 1959–70, was investigated to see whether variations in height, weight and ponderal index were correlated with various factors in their family environment. Analysis of variance, multiple regression, and covariance analysis showed that stature and ponderal index varied according to social class and year of birth. However, analysis of a local subsample of the data indicates that these effects are primarily due to the changing composition of the student intake over the years, and the regional heterogeneity of the sample.

The publication of a history* of that remarkable organisation, the Ciba Foundation, by an author working on the inside and having access to all relevant material, is something of an event and gives a welcome opportunity for a personal appreciation by one who was at the birth if not at the conception.