THE RISE OF EMBRYOLOGY 



227 



monographs, etc., and there was no compact science of em- 

 bryology with definite outlines. Balfour reviewed all this 

 mass of information, digested it, and molded it into an organ- 

 ized v/hole. The results were published in the form of two 

 volumes with the title of Comparative Embryology. This 

 book of "almost priceless value" was given to the world in 

 1880-1881. It was a colossal undertaking, but Balfour was 



Fig. 69. — Francis M. Balfour, 1851-1882. 



a phenomenal worker. Before his untimely death at the age 

 of thirty-one, he had been able to complete this work and to 

 produce, besides, a large number of technical researches. 

 The period of Balfour is taken arbitrarily in this volume as 

 beginning about 1874, when he published, with T^Iichael 

 Foster, The Elements of Embryology. 



His University Career. — Balfour (Fig. 69) was born in 



