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This is a disagreeable time for those who object to transplantations. They are branded as reactionaries who impede the progress of science, and other less flattering names are often mumbled behind their backs. Nevertheless, they are the very persons who are often asked to shoulder the responsibility of declaring potential donors dead. A useful "preowned" organ is fresh and still beating but once removed from its original site, there is no doubt about the fate of the donor. The difficulty of providing material for spare part surgery has led to cautious statements about signs of death by international organizations and to a number of symposia. The present volume reports the proceedings of a conference on cerebral death held in Bonn, West Germany, December 1968. It includes the usual basic science contributions on energy requirements of the brain and reviews ancillary methods now extensively used to help decide the presence of