298 LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC. 



name. Whilst the proud city of the Pharoahs, of which this pile once formed the 

 greatest wonder, has melted away, leaving not a wreck behind; this pyramid, 

 renowned for its antiquity, as its name implies, surpassing in magnitude all other 

 buildings, became consecrated to the worship of the Gods, and adapted by its form, 

 dedicated to the cultivation of their most cherished study, astronomy, and hallowed 

 by these sacred purposes, became in after times used as the depository of the 

 illustrious dead. 



" Leaving to others the more noble office of instructing you on these points, I 

 take my leave, in the hope that my observations have neither been unseasonable 

 nor uninteresting." 



We have thus given as much of this highly attractive lecture as time 

 and space will permit. It will be seen that the most ingenious argument, 

 and the most subtle research, pervaded this dissertation. There was no 

 hearsay information, no second-hand instruction — all was extracted from 

 the fountain-head of knowledge. The eloquent lecturer had visited and 

 minutely explored the fabrics which he so powerfully described, and was, 

 therefore, enabled to enrich his subject with a more ^circumstantial and 

 accurate delineation than could possibly be furnished by mere specu- 

 lative opinions woven into written documents. Yet where classical re- 

 ferences were necessary for the purposes of elucidation and conviction, 

 the learned lecturer was armed at all points, and he quoted authorities from 

 sources which are rarely attainable even in our celebrated seats of learning. 

 We scarcely need add that Mr. Davidson concluded his lecture amidst 

 the warm greetings of his auditors, and that a vote of thanks, moved by 

 the Rev. Christopher Benson, and seconded by the Hon. and Rev. J. 

 Fortescue, was carried by acclamation. 



WORCESTER LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION. 



ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. 



A Lecture on this subject was delivered at the Athenaeum, Worcester, 

 Sept. 29th, 1834, by George Sheward, Member of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons, &c. &c. 



For a member of the profession of Surgery this was doubtless a 

 characteristic subject, and the lecturer candidly acknowledged in his 

 exposition, that he designedly fixed upon it as one in which he had 

 reaped most experience, and was, therefore, more competent to the in- 

 vestigation than he might have been on other topics. We all prefer to 

 talk and write on what we best understand, and as every lecturer has by 

 courtesy the choice of his subject, Mr. Sheward evinced his judgment 

 by fixing on that to which he had devoted more than usual time and 

 attention. Besides, the pith of this lecture he had unfolded three 

 months before in the Town-hall of Upton, and therefore he might fairly 

 suppose himself more au fait in that particular branch of knowledge 

 than he might possibly have been on many others. Be that as it may, 

 Mr. Sheward made choice of *' Animal Physiology" as the ground- work 

 of his lecture, and it becomes our duty to speak of it as a composition 

 written for oral delivery. We wish it to be clearly understood that we 

 do not entirely object to the peculiar matter chosen for this lecture, for, 

 as the lecturer justly observes, "independent of the charms it has for a 

 professional inquirer, it must, as the explanation of the means by which 

 * we live, and breathe, and have our being,' prove interesting to every 



