82 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



into fleshy sockets in the upper. The weight of the largest about 

 two pounds ; no gristly substance in the mouth, commonly called 

 whalebones ; only two short fins ... on the back ; the eyes but 

 small." This is a very good note, we think, and written in a 

 scientific spirit. 



He studied animal mechanism, especially the gaits of quadru- 

 peds and the acts of swimming and floating ; the problems of 

 right and left handedness ; and the erect figure of man. He tells 

 us that " tempermental dignotions " can be detected by studying 

 spots on the finger nails. Physicians even in our own day have 

 not formulated knowledge on this curious subject. He discovered 

 the animal soap now called adipocere. " He would have made a 

 very extraordinary man for the Privy Council," we are told by 

 his biographer. 



A letter of advice to a young physician from Browne gives an 

 estimate of the reading held to be essential to a medical course 

 in his day. " Lay your foundation in anatomy." Among authors 

 he recommends Vesalius, Spigelius, Bartholinus ; and enjoins his 

 friend to "master Dr. Harvey's piece, the Circulation of the 

 Blood ; also, to read with care and diligence Sennertus's Insti- 

 tutes. This done, to see how Institutes are applicable to practice." 

 It must be remembered that in Browne's day " institutes " in- 

 cluded physiology. This is all very modern in spirit. 



What were the contents of a scientist's mind of the seventeenth 

 century ? The queries are taken from Sir Thomas's commonplace 

 book. " Why little lap-dogs have a hole in their heads and often 

 other little holes out of the place of the sutures ? " " Why a pig's 

 eyes drop out in roasting rather than other animals ? " " Why a 

 pig held up by the tail leaves squeaking ? " * " What is the use of 

 dew claws in dogs ? " " To make trial of this, whether live craw- 

 fish put into spirits of wine will presently turn red, as though 

 they had been boiled, and taken out walk about in that color." 

 Such an experiment reminds us of the famous distich of Peter 

 Pindar. 



Here is another modern touch ! Browne remarks of one of his 

 writings : " It is done by snatches of time, as medical vacations, 

 and the fruitless importunity of uroscopy would permit us. And 

 therefore also, perhaps it hath not found that regular and con- 

 stant style, those infallible experiments, and those assured deter- 

 minations, which the subject some time requireth, and might be 

 expected of others, whose quiet doors and unmolested hours afford 

 no such distractions." The "importunity of uroscopy" is per- 



* Charles Waterton asks, " What is the use of classification, when no one can tell us 

 why most birds drink, by alteinately sipping and raising the head between the sips, and 

 others like the pigeon by prolonged immersion of the bill ? " 



