Litemry Notices. cxxxv 



ism much more reasonable than the lurid procedure which blackens 

 the records of the Roman Church. 



The Origin and Distribution of tlie Nerves of the Lower Limb. 



Under the above title, Dr. A. M. Paterson begins an exhaustive 

 study of the sacral plexus and the peripheral distribution, in the Jour- 

 nal of Anatomy and Physiology, XXVIII [N. S. VII] i, Oct. 1893. 

 Although notice of the paper is deferred until it is completed, we ob- 

 serve that the author found much assistance in dissecting the nerves 

 from the use of 5-10 per cent, of nitric acid solutions, which dissolve 

 the connective tissue and harden the nerves. He regards it as doubt- 

 ful whether any spot of the skin or muscle in the limb is supplied by 

 but a single nerve. 



Glass Models of Brains. 



Professor His exhibited^ at the meeting of the Anatomical Society 

 at Gottingen, May, 1893, a model of the brain of a human embryo, 

 made up of about 50 separable glass plates. The sections were pho- 

 tographed and drawn upon rectangular glass plates of equal size, with 

 an amplification corresponding to the thickness of the plates (1.2 mm). 

 If all of the plates are put together it produces a solid model of the 

 object, which renders all the inner details visible at once. To inves- 

 tigate separate parts, the corresponding part of the system of plates 

 can be detached ; thus, for instance, the passage of the Nervus In- 

 termedins from the Ganglion Geniculi to the Medulla and its annexa- 

 tion to the tractus solitarius can be very plainly demonstrated. 



Metliods of Brain Preservation.^ 



This useful paper contains a full compendium of methods for 

 preparing dried or wet preparation and impregnation models. All of 

 the methods result in considerable shrinkage but have their place in 

 the technology of neurology. 



Any one who has seen Dr. Blackburn's preparations must admit 

 that with the exception of shrinkage they leave little to be desired. 

 Our own experience proves that great pains must be taken to dehyd- 

 rate carefully in absolute alcohol before using the Japan wax as a 

 *' filler " and a rather long time in the wax at a temperature of 50° C. 



^Atiat. Anz. Erganzungsheft. VIII, 1893. 



^FiSH, P. A Brain Preservation, with a resume of some old and new 

 methods. The Wilder Quarter-Century Book. 



