194 Notices and Analyses. 



doctrines, relative to the philosophical resemblance of animals, by the 

 editors of the two daily journals, le National and le Temps ; which 

 are acute and interesting. 



Anatomie Transcendante, &c. Transcendental Anatomy, Me- 

 moir IV. Law of Sjmmetrj^, and Conjunction of the Vascular 

 System. By M. Serres. A7in. des Set. Nat. Sept. 1830. 



M. Serres concludes, from his observations, that the aorta, and all 

 single arteries in the middle plane of the body, are at first double ; and 

 that the two vessels tend to unite from without inwards, by the 

 law of centripetal formation, or of symmetry and conjunction. 



On the Development of the Vascular System in the Foetus of 

 Vertebrated Animals. Part IT. By Allen Thomson, M.D. &c. 

 Edin, New Phil. Journal^ Jan. 1831. 



"We have already noticed the former part of this Essay, and have again 

 to speak favourably of the author's labours. The extent of reading 

 exhibited in this memoir, is in the highest degree praiseworthy, and 

 leads us to expect great acquisitions to our knowledge, from one 

 who is so fully acquainted with what is already known. 



But our principal object in noticing Dr Thomson's investigations, is to 

 draw attention to what we consider to be of the first moment in the 

 advancement of anatomical science. The study of the development 

 of individual organs, though it cannot be said to be new to the 

 anatomist, is certainly assuming an importance in the present day 

 which has never been previously attached to it; and we have a 

 fervent expectation that this school will one day be eminent in this 

 kind of research. We have now in our eye several talented young 

 men, to whose studies this fortunate direction has been given, and 

 who will, we doubt not, at some future time, add much to the repu- 

 tation of Edinburgh, by the cultivation of the philosophy of anatomy. 

 The great mass of that profession, whose education necessarily leads 

 to the prosecution of anatomical observation, have scarcely an idea 

 beyond the mere forms and relations of organs, and if spoken to of the 

 transcendental anatomy, which is based on a knowledge of develop- 

 ment, they hear only a foreign tongue. But there is also another 

 class of anatomical observers forming in this country, and we think 

 that it is not saying too much to place Dr Thomson amongst the 

 foremost rank. 



This second part of the author's essay, (a portion of which is only in 

 private circulation, but will be published next month,) consists of an 

 account of the development of the blood-vessels connected with the 

 respiratory organs, concluding with a recapitulation of the general 

 principles deducible from the preceding observations. We shall 

 return to this subject, of which we can at present only speak hastily j 

 but, in the mean time, we strongly recommend Dr Thomson's essay 

 to attentive examination. 



Notice sur quelques Animaux, &c. Observations on the Breeding 

 and Training of Animals. By M. Chassay. Bayeux. 1830. 

 Groull. 8vo. pp. 25. 



M. Chassay concludes, from experiment, that it is in the power of 

 man to change the nature and habits of animals. 



