LITERARY NOTICES. 



853 



progressive agriculture which is really to 

 educate a community is not accompanied by 

 monthly displays of sky-rockets. A " fast " 

 director of experiments may astonish the 

 natives with his performances, but cautious 

 deliberation is one of the first conditions of 

 scientific success. Quickstep, hurrah-boys 

 scientific agriculture, which demands that 

 there must be something to show by a week 

 from next Saturday that will make a rattle 

 in the newspapers is quite too-too to be of 

 much value to anybody. No doubt your 

 enterprising American is not going to daw- 

 dle forever over miserable trifles, but for 

 that simple reason not much is to be ex- 

 pected of him in the way of the substantial 

 advancement of science. 



Anatomical Technology, as applied to 

 the Domestic Cat : An Introduction to 

 Human, Veterinary, and Comparative 

 Anatomy. With Illustrations. By Burt 

 G. Wilder, B. S., M. D., and Simon II. 

 Gage, B. S. New York and Chicago : 

 A. S. Barnes & Co. Pp. 575. Price, 

 $4.50. 



This book is intended as a guide to stu- 

 dents in their early dissection- work. The 

 experience of the authors has led them to 

 choose the cat for the subject to be treated, 

 as being the mammal most nearly resem- 

 bling the human species, which is readily 

 obtainable, and of convenient size to dis- 

 sect and preserve. They begin at the be- 

 ginning, and give full directions in regard 

 to weights and measures, terminology, note- 

 taking, instruments and their care, killing 

 the animal, etc., and throughout the book 

 the methods of dissecting and preserving 

 the several parts are fully detailed. The 

 book does not aim to describe all the mus- 

 cles, veins, nerves, etc., of the animal, and 

 it gives a large proportion of space to the 

 viscera. The illustrations are numerous, 

 and where possible the technical names are 

 printed upon the several parts. There are 

 numerous lists and tables, and many refer- 

 ences to other publications, which afford 

 collateral reading. While this is a work 

 adapted to a physiological laboratory, where, 

 no doubt, it has been prepared, yet it will 

 be of service to many who are denied the 

 opportunities of such an institution. It 

 will be a very useful book for young stu- 

 dents at home, who propose to pursue the 



medical profession. Like all other manip- 

 ulation, the earlier dissection is practiced 

 the better, and certainly the earlier the 

 student gets an outline knowledge of prac- 

 tical anatomy by his own examination of 

 anatomical structures, the greater will be his 

 advantage when he comes to the crowded 

 and multifarious studies of the medical 

 college. 



Experimental Physiology, with an Address 

 on Unveiling the Statue of William Har- 

 vey. By Richard Owen, C. B., M. D., 

 F. R. S., etc. London : Longmans, Green 

 & Co. Pp. 216. Price, 5 shillings. 



The advancement of the healing art by 

 means of experimental research is the sub- 

 ject of which this little volume treats, and 

 which also forms the theme of the address 

 that is prefixed to it. In England vivisec- 

 tion has been closely restricted by act of 

 Parliament, and a society exists whose aim 

 is to entirely suppress the practice. Dr. 

 Owen demonstrates the unreasonableness 

 of the supersensitive members of this so- 

 ciety, by showing how immensely the physi- 

 cian's power of relieving human suffering 

 has been extended by the knowledge gained 

 by Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation 

 of the blood, by Hunter, and by later ex- 

 perimenters, through vivisection. He men- 

 tions aneurismal and intra-abdominal tu- 

 mors, fevers, and nervous diseases as among 

 the disorders for rchich vivisection has 

 suggested means of successful treatment. 

 Among the lesser ills he mentions the pain 

 in teeth that have been filled, and states 

 that a method of devitalizing the tooth-pulp 

 was discovered through experiments on three 

 dogs. " As many millions of human beings 

 have been and will be, in the present gen- 

 eration, relieved through Dr. Arkovy's vivi- 

 sections from sufferings equal to, perhaps 

 greater and much more prolonged than, 

 those which were endured in behoof of 

 those millions by three dogs. Add to these 

 millions the generations of the so-relieved 

 in time to come." 



Physics, and Occult Qualities. By Will- 

 iam B. Taylor. Washington : Judd & 

 Detweiler, Printers. Pp. 50. 



This is the retiring president's address, 

 delivered before the Philosophical Society 

 of Washington on the 2d of December last. 



