Information on the diseases of monkeys is scattered and difficult to locate, both as regards pathology in their natural environment and that originating during shipment and captivity. This comprehensive review of the subject is based on the records of the Sukhumi Monkey House of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, one of the world's great primate centers, and includes information based on 1274 autopsies performed over a 7-year period. Copious references to both Russian and Western bibliographical sources are supplied.

Most of the text is devoted to morphological description of diseases, but epidemiological and statistical data are recorded for the main groups of monkeys: Macacas, Baboons and Marmosets, and environmental factors are briefly discussed. Readers should be advised that the emphasis is on histopathological detail, and that the style is closer to the classical European texts than to the more loosely textured and multidisciplinary type of medical writing current in the United States.