HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION xxv 



same condition prevails in all other members of the group. In the 

 full paper, published two years later, but dated 2 July, 1825, he 

 states that the auricular septum 'appears' to have muscular fibres, 

 and that there are three semi-lunar valves between the auricles and 

 the ventricle. There is no direct communication between the two 

 auricles. The smaller auricle is associated with the pulmonary veins 

 and the larger one with the venae cavae. The two auricles contract 

 first, then the ventricle, and finally the conical part of the ventricle 

 ( = truncus arteriosus), which latter he regards as a second ventricle. 

 It is separated from the rest of the ventricle by three semi-lunar 

 valves, and its cavity contains a fleshy projection or movable septum 

 ( = spiral valve). There are further semi-lunar valves between it 

 and the aortic vessels. He asserts definitely that the pulmonary 

 arteries only accompany the aortic trunks and are not branches of 

 them. It is not often that observations of such relative accuracy and 

 importance are included in so unpretentious a paper. 



The monograph on the Salamander by Funk published in 1827 

 becomes less impressive the closer it is compared with the work 

 which preceded it. Funk is at his best on the muscles, which had 

 previously not been systematically examined, but the remaining sec- 

 tions of the work, which cover more or less the entire anatomy of the 

 type, are much less satisfactory, even for the time they were written. 

 The historical chapter, however, bears evidence that much labour 

 and knowledge were concentrated on its production — indeed Funk 

 is a better historian than anatomist. He does not touch the cranial 

 nerves, and there are only brief notes on the sense organs, nor did he 

 succeed in finding the sympathetic. The otolith is identified as a 

 rudimentary auditory ossicle, and he has no observations to off'er on 

 the lymphatic system, the investigation of which he admits is beyond 

 him. There is a physiological section dealing with the effects of 

 various gases and vapours on respiration. The most inaccurate parts 

 of Funk's monograph are those which deal with the vascular system 

 and the brain. He only distinguishes two chambers in the heart — 

 an atrium and a ventricle — an error which induced him to make the 

 pulmonary veins discharge into the vena cava. He found no valves 

 in the heart, and his account of the distribution of the vessels is de- 

 fective both as regards observation and interpretation. He appears 

 to have missed completely the carotid arch — h\s first pair uniting to 

 constitute the dorsal aorta, and the veins are only partly, and not 

 accurately, figured. He even seems to have confused arteries and 

 veins. Rusconi later revised this part of Funk's work, and corrected 

 his mistakes. As regards the brain, the figures are imaginative and 



