LITERARY NOTICES. 



707 



nethy. Soon after he had begun to practice 

 his profession Abernethy, who had noticed 

 the peculiar ability of his pupil as a dissector, 

 obtained for him an appointment to arrange 

 and catalogue the collections formed by John 

 Hunter. Two years later he was appointed 

 a lecturer at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and 

 after six years became Professor of Compara- 

 tive Anatomy at the same institution. This 

 was in 1834. In 1836 he was appointed 

 Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of 

 Surgeons, and the next year the professor- 

 ship of anatomy and physiology was also 

 assigned to him. As Hunterian Professor 

 Owen delivered twenty-four lectures annually 

 until 1855, making them illustrate Hunter's 

 collections, and without ever repeating a sub- 

 ject. His time was now fully occupied with 

 lecturing and scientific research. In the 

 year 1831 he had published eight papers on 

 the anatomy of various creatures that had 

 died in the Zoological Gardens. His memoir 

 on the Pearly Nautilus, published in 1832, 

 "placed its author, at a bound, in the front 

 rank of anatomical monographers." In his 

 memoirs on the anthropoid apes, the mono- 

 tremes, and the marsupials Owen gave the 

 most complete accounts of the structure of 

 these animals then extant. Memoirs of simi- 

 lar character on the apteryx, great auk, and 

 dodo were produced by him. He discovered 

 that terrible parasite the Trichina. His re- 

 searches on fossil forms were also important. 

 Says Huxley, " Unless it be in the Ossemenes 

 Fossiles, I do not know where one is to look 

 for contributions to paleontology more varied, 

 more numerous, and on the whole more accu- 

 rate than those which Owen poured forth in 

 rapid succession between 1837 and 1888." 

 His studies in philosophical anatomy were 

 directed chiefly toward the " archetype " of 

 the vertebrate skeleton and the problem of 

 parthenogenesis. 



The story of such a life, with its accom- 

 paniment of struggles, labor, recreation, do- 

 mestic affairs, and honors, is told in the two 

 volumes before us. The material for this 

 biography was plentiful and highly satisfac- 

 tory, consisting of twelve hundred letters 

 from Owen to his wife and sisters, besides 

 many to other persons, and fifteen thousand 

 received by him in the course of his long 

 life, also the diaries kept by him. and his 

 wife. The journal of his wife is a full rec- 



ord not only of the important facts but also 

 of the trivial details of their joint lives, and 

 large use has been made of it. By its aid 

 we see Owen attending meetings of scientific 

 societies and committees, with an occasional 

 dinner, public or private, writing late into 

 the night on his lectures or monographs, re- 

 ceiving leading naturalists at his house for 

 consultation or study with the microscope, 

 and now and then going with his wife to the 

 zoological garden, or for an evening's recrea- 

 tion at the theater. Music and novels were 

 other recreations that he greatly enjoyed. 

 His visits to various parts of Great Britain 

 and the Continent are described in very read- 

 able letters to some member of his family 

 who did not accompany him. Many comical 

 incidents and characteristic anecdotes of cele- 

 brated persons give a genial warmth to the 

 recital. 



Pi-of. Huxley's essay traces the progress 

 of comparative anatomy before 1830, sets 

 forth Owen's contributions to the science, 

 and discusses his views on the " archetype " 

 and "parthenogenesis." His conclusion in 

 regard to Owen is that " his claims to a high 

 place among those who have made great and 

 permanently valuable contributions to knowl- 

 edge remain unassailable." A bibliography 

 of Owen's publications and a list of his 

 honors close the record, 



A History of Amherst Collegk. By Wil- 

 liam S. Tyler, D. D., LL. D. With an 

 Introductory Note by Richard Salter 

 Storrs, D. D., LL. D. Published by sub- 

 scription. Frederick H. Hitchcock, 55 

 West Forty-fifth Street, New York. Pp. 

 312. Price, $1.50. 



A HISTORY of Amherst College, forming 

 a substantial octavo volume, was written by 

 Dr. Tyler soon after the fiftieth anniversary 

 of the institution, in 1871. He has now told 

 the story of the college in smaller compass 

 and brought it down to the close of President 

 Seelye's administration, in 1890. The labors 

 of the founders of the college, the financial 

 struggles of its early years, its period of de- 

 pression and triumphant recovery, and its 

 later years of increased usefulness through 

 enlarged resources are set forth in a way to 

 compel the respect of all friends of educa- 

 tion. Although Amherst was founded for 

 the education of preachers and missionaries, 

 and " the gift of tongues " was deemed a 



