foundation. If we follow the limb downwards from its most complex to its most simple forms, we shall find it reduced in the proteus to a mere trifid ray; in the amphiuma, this ray is bifid; while in the lepidosiren it is unbranched, though consisting of numerous segments. This ray holds precisely the same relation to the rib-like scapulo-coracoid arch of the lepidosiren, that the diverging appendages of the true ribs do to the costal arches in birds; a position which is further evidenced by the fact, that even in the apteryx, the rudimentary wing-bones, which are monodactyle, are reduced nearly to the dimensions of the appendages of the costo-thoracic arches.-Thus, then, concludes Professor Owen,—

"Until the alleged facts are disproved, demonstrating change of position to be one of the modifications by which parts of a natural and recognisable endoskeletal segment are adapted to special offices, and until the conclusions deduced from those facts are shown to be fallacious, I must retain the conviction that, in their relation to the vertebrate archetype, the human hands and arms are parts of the head,— diverging appendages of the costal or hæmal arch of the occipital segment of the skull." (p. 70.)

It is not difficult to show that the pelvic arch is composed of the same elements with the scapular; indeed the "serial homology" or "repetition" of their essential parts has been recognised by all comparative anatomists. It is, therefore, a valuable confirmation of the doctrine which has been advanced in regard to the anterior extremities, to find that it is fully borne out by the phenomena which are presented to us in the study of the posterior; the pelvic arch in its most degraded form being obviously a repetition of the costal; and the hind-limbs, like the fore, being nothing else than "diverging appendages" of that arch. The requirements of the higher animals, however, frequently necessitate its excessive development, so that it is applied to many segments besides the one to which it properly belongs.It is remarkable that, among fishes, in which it might be difficult to assign the true place to the pelvis and its limbs, the scapular arch should present its normal position; whilst it is in the higher vertebrata, in which the pelvis is fixed, that we meet with the great deviation in the position of the scapular arch, which masks its true relation to the occipital vertebra. But, as Professor Owen justly remarks,—

"Wherever either arch with its appendages may be situated, it is in its best possible place in relation to the exigencies and sphere of life of the species. It is only when we consider its relations to the ideal exemplar, that we are compelled to use the terms expressive of rule and deviation." (p. 81.)

Although we have on former occasions pointed out how completely the mere notion of "adaptation" fails to satisfy the wants of the philosophical anatomist, yet we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of quoting the following from Professor Owen's concluding remarks:

"Those physiologists who admit no other principle to have governed the construction of living beings, than the exclusive and absolute adaptation of every part to its function, are apt to object to such remarks as have been offered respecting the composition of the skeleton of the whale's fin and of the chick's head, that nothing is made in vain :' and they deem that adage a sufficient refutation of the idea that so many apparently superfluous bones and joints should exist in their particular order and collocation in subordination to another principle; conceiving, quite gratuitously, in my opinion, the idea of conformity to type to be opposed to the idea of design.-But let us consider the meaning which, in such discussions, is

commonly attached to the phrase 'made in vain.' Were the teleologist to analyse his belief in the principle governing organization, he would, perhaps, find it to mean, that so far as he could conceive of mechanism directly adapted to a special end, he deems every organic mechanism to have been so conceived and adapted. In a majority of instances he finds the adaptation of the organ to its function square with his notions of the perfection of a machine constructed for such an end; and in the exceptional cases, where the relation of the ascertained structure of an organ is not so to be understood, he is disposed to believe that that structure may be, nevertheless, as directly needed to perform the function, although he perceives that function to be a simple mechanical action, and might conceive a more simple mechanism for performing it. The fallacy perhaps lies in judging of created organs by the analogy of made machines; but it is certain that, in the instances where that analogy fails to explain the structure of an organ, such structure does not exist in vain,' if its truer comprehension lead rational and responsible beings to a better conception of their own origin and Creator. Our philosophic poet felt "Tis the sublime of man,

that

Our noontide majesty, to know ourselves

Parts and proportions of a wondrous whole.'-Coleridge.

Nor could the ignorance of this truth be without its benumbing and bewildering influence on the human mind." (p. 85.)

In concluding our notice of Professor Owen's Discourse,' we have only to express our thanks to him for this very acceptable contribution to the science of philosophical anatomy; and for the lucid and masterly demonstration with which he has favoured us, of the propositions which his profound researches had previously led him to put forth in a form less adapted for the average of readers. Those who desire to know something of the nature of the investigations on which he has been engaged, and who yet shrink from the attempt at mastering the intricacies of the "vertebral theory of the skull," cannot do better than apply themselves to the attentive perusal of this Discourse; from which, we venture to say, they cannot rise without being satisfied with the line of argument adopted, and with the conclusions arrived at, unless their minds have been previously closed against conviction.

It is not requisite that we should notice at any length the treatise of Mr. Holmes Coote; since it does not profess to contain anything original, its aim being "to give a brief account of the signification of the different bones composing the human skeleton, and to familiarize the mind of the student in anatomy with the idea that the whole body is formed of a succession of vertebral segments;" and the system of Professor Owen being followed throughout. The design is a most excellent one; and great praise is due to Mr. Coote, for being the first to endeavour to improve the teaching of anatomy, by thus bringing down some of its most important principles to the comprehension of the learner. We are always inclined to deal kindly with a first attempt at authorship, where the aim is good and the capacity of the writer manifest; and we shall therefore satisfy our critical conscience by the remark, that the manner of Mr. Coote's production is not so good as its matter. The selection of materials is on the whole judicious; but their arrangement is by no means so clear as it might be made with a little attention to the subdivision of sections, running titles, &c.; and the entire want of illustrations will, we fear, greatly impair the

value of the production to those who have not the means of referring to the actual objects adverted to. We must remark, moreover, that we are by no means convinced that, in the present state of medical education, it is by any means desirable that the student should be expected, or even encouraged, to pursue the study of philosophical anatomy, under the guidance of this or any other special treatise on the subject, if in so doing he be led to occupy any portion of the time which may be more profitably devoted to the study of more directly practical subjects. That which we desire is, to see anatomy taught, whether by lectures or by books, on the basis of these principles, and with continual reference to them; just as chemistry is taught on the basis of the laws of affinity, and physiology upon those of cell-life. We are persuaded that it may thus be rendered far more interesting to the student than it is made at present, and that he may be led to derive a far greater amount of intellectual benefit from the study, without any increase, but rather with a diminution, of the time and attention required from him. We know that this idea has been realized in his oral instructions by one of the most distinguished of the anatomical teachers of this metropolis; and we shall hope, ere long, to possess a treatise on Osteology constructed upon this plan. As a supplement to the treatises already existing, Mr. Coote's work will afford to the present generation of students their most accessible means of gaining the desiderated acquaintance with "the homologies of the human skeleton."

ART. XI.

1. The Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology. Parts XXX-I, Article Products, Adventitious." By W. H. WALSHE, M.D., Prof. Clin. Med. Univ. Coll. Lond.

2. On Cancerous and Cancroid Growths. By JOHN HUGHES BENNETT, M.D., F.R.S.E., &c.-Edinburgh, 1849. pp. 260.

THESE two works have been written to answer different purposes, and have therefore assumed very different forms. That of Dr. Walshe is intended to include a number of details in an extensive generalization, and to arrange under a common heading an immense mass of facts. That of Dr. Bennett commenced in an endeavour to penetrate into a single point, and from thence expanded into a wide inquiry. In the one case, the general idea preceded the assemblage and colligation of the facts; in the other, the record of the facts gradually widened into the generalization. Both works, however, agree in this, that they are of singular merit, and reflect no little credit on the British school of Pathology.

We deem it but just to call Dr. Walshe's article a Work, if this term is to be given to what is, as far as it can be, complete in itself, and independent of the other sections of the publication in which it appears. In point of length merely, this article would form a volume of no inconsiderable size, as it occupies no less than seventy-seven of the closely printed pages of the Cyclopædia. Even this space has been found too narrow for the subject. The writer has been compelled to compress his details to the utmost, to communicate his facts in the tersest way consistent with clearness, and to exclude as much as possible physiological speculation. This condensation was in fact necessitated, by the design of the Article ;

for this is intended to include a description of every substance, which, being a product of, or developed in connexion with, the animal frame, is yet foreign to that frame, or to the part of it in which that substance is found. The extent of the subject will be at once apparent. There is hardly any department of medicine which must not be laid under contribution; and so constantly does adventitiousness, either as to nature, form, or locality, occur in disease, that a sketch of foreign products is almost an outline of pathology itself.

Dr. Walshe divides "adventitious products" into solid, liquid, and gaseous. The most important class, the solid adventitious products, are then divided as follows:-First, a grand distinction is drawn between such as are nonplastic, that is, destitute of structure, or of the power of ever exhibiting it; and such as are plastic, that is, possessed of definite structure, or of the power of assuming it. The first class comprises, of course, not only all mineral substances which may form in, or be separated from, any of the animal fluids; but also those organic substances which, in respect of physiological attributes, take rank with minerals, such as sugar, certain protein compounds, as albumen in particular cases, fat, &c. Under the first division of this class, therefore, are arranged all crystals forming in urine, fæces, in the products of inflammation, in specific fluids, &c.; all masses and agglomerations of mineral substances, such as calculi of all kind, urinary, renal, prostatic, salivary, lachrymal, nasal, preputial, gastrointestinal, biliary, pancreatic, mammary, &c., and all pseudo-calculi, made up of saline matters, deposited in a pre-existing morbid stromal or nonstromal, or in a natural organic basis, as advanced atheroma, arteroliths, phleboliths, arthritic tophaceous deposits, &c. Under the second division of the class are placed such organic foreign substances as are incapable of further organization: albumen in the secretions, fibrin in the secretions; fat in various parts, such as the liver, the kidney, lungs, &c.; sugar in the secretions, &c. The number of subjects passed in review is really surprising; and the short notices of the most important diseases connected with the foreign bodies, such as diabetes, albuminuria, fatty liver and kidney, urinary derangements, &c., are done in a comprehensive and masterly style.

But this class, extensive as it is, and important as are the items which compose it, is, after all, a trifling undertaking compared to the discussion of the "plastic adventitious products." Under this heading comes every organic foreign product, the blastema of which gives rise to cells; whether these are deficient in vegetative or reproductive power; or, being possessed of this, are deficient in permanency, that is, possess no power of assuming a similarity in structure to the natural tissues, and of playing the same parts as these; or whether the cells are possessed both of vegetative power and of permanency, that is, of a power of taking on the character and the stability of natural tissues. These differences in power of propagation and in permanency form, therefore, three orders. The first order, composed of formations constituted by non-vegetative cells, comprises the products termed by the author "deposits," viz. the typhous, tuberculous, purulent, melanic, and diphtheritic. The account of these deposits is very complete, and is admirably written, although, as usual, compressed to the utmost. The second order, viz. of "growths," formed by vegetative non-permanent cells, is divided into two sub-orders, according as the growths have the

power of infiltrating or not the surrounding parts. The non-infiltrating growths, of protein, fat, or gelatine-basis, comprehend hæmatoma, sarcoma, cystoma, angiectoma, lipoma, steatoma, cholesteatoma, fibroma, enchondroma, osteoma, and colloma. The infiltrating growths make up the great class of carcinoma. Into the validity of this distinction between infiltrating and non-infiltrating growths, we shall have presently to inquire. The third order of structures, composed of vegetative permanent cells, comprises the "pseudo-tissues."

Under the heading of plastic formations are also placed the products which are not derived from a blastema but from germs, such as animal and vegetable parasites.

The arrangement by which so many distinct and various products of the body are brought together is, no doubt, artificial. The fact of these products being "adventitious," does not at first sight appear to constitute any valid link between them, or to imply any connexion so obvious as to warrant their being treated of together. What should induce us to treat of urinary calculi, lipoma, colloid cancer, and mycodermatous vegetations in the same article? In answer to this it may be said, that there is a real and great advantage gained by bringing into a point of view which may admit of comparison all these various products, which in systematic works are so widely separated. By this comparison we are often enabled to perceive unexpected alliances or antagonisms, which may equally throw light on the nature of the compared substances. And also this character of adventitiousness, though it may be an artificial bond of union between the great divisions, is yet a natural one between the different items of the sub-orders. The several deposits occurring in the course of acute or chronic diseases, as the typhous, the tubercular, and the diphtheritic, have a natural relation to each other, which demands that their mutual alliances and connexions shall be elicited. So also the several growths which are formed of vegetative cells have certain characters in common, which claim comparison; and yet in works on the practice of medicine these growths are so widely separated, that comparison is almost impossible.

It must, however, be conceded that this link, although convenient, is in some respects artificial, and that consequently it is not easy to give an exact definition of what constitutes an adventitious product. In addition to the idea of unlikeness to the body or to its parts, does adventitiousness include the idea of excess? In fatty liver, the fat is foreign to the interlobular passages; it is only in great excess in the hepatic cells. Is this excess of fat sufficient ground for terming the fat in the cells "adventitious," as it is not here in quantity in the healthy state?

Again, are we to include in the description of adventitious products those subtle agents of contagious diseases, which, composed possibly of evanescent cells, are in some cases formed by the living body? They are developed in connexion with the body, and are adventitious; but would it be right to include the diseases resulting from them with diabetes, Bright's disease, or cancer, because in all, there is a product formed which is abnormal to the living system?

These few remarks may serve to illustrate the magnitude of the task which has been executed by Dr. Walshe. We can safely say that we know few men who would have treated it so ably. Among the vast range of