Writings of the late Professor Blumenbach. 237 



on the structure of the ornithorynchus, * on the hills of ducks 

 and the Toucan, t and on the sack in the neck of the rein- 

 deer. % 



In so far as Blumenbach considered physiology as the foun- 

 dation of the science of medicine, it is easy to see in what 

 point of view his contributions to practical medicine are to be 

 regarded ; he omitted no opportunity of proving his interest 

 in this particular direction. He published his ideas on the 

 frequency of hernia || in the Alps ; on home sickness ; § on 

 melancholy H and suicide in Switzerland ; on the expulsion 

 of a Scolopendra electrica from the nose ;** and on a case of 

 water in the head of seventeen years' standing.tt He contri- 

 buted also to materia medica, by his experiments with gases 

 on living animals ;XX his communication of a new species of 

 dragon's-blood from Botany Bay ; || || and his description of the 

 true Winter' s-bark. 



Blumenbach's scientific reputation stood so high, that every 

 hint from him was regarded and followed, such as his remarks 

 on the best methods of collecting extracts, notes, &c.;§§ and his 

 works, such as his handbooks, enjoyed such celebrity, that au- 

 thors and booksellerslIU considered a preface from him as the 

 best recommendation for their works. In this manner were 



double heart ; and, on the period at which the ribs are produced in the 

 embryo. 



* De Ornithorynchi paradox! fabrica observationes quxdam anatomica?. 

 In thcMAnoires de la Soc. Med. d'Emulation, vol. iv. Paris, 1799, p. 320-323. 

 And Gott. gel. Anz. 1800, p. 609-C12. 



t In Ins " Specimen Physiologioe Comparatae inter Animantia Calidi San- 

 guinis vivipara et ovipara," 1789. 



J Gott. gel. Anz. 1783. No. vii. p. 68. 



|| In his " Medical Library," vol. i. p. 725. 



§ Ibid. p. 732; and compare Schlozer's Correspondence. Part iii., 1778, 

 p. 231. 



% Med. Bibliothek, vol. ii. p. 163-173. 



** Compare J. L. Wclgc Diss, do morbis sinuum frontalium. Gotting. 

 1786, iv. § 4. p. 10. 



tt Med. Biblioth. vol. iii. p. 616-639. 



tt Ibid. vol. i. p. 173. 



Illl Contributions to Materia Medica in Med. Bibl. vol. i. p. 166-171. 



§§ Ibid. vol. iii. p. 547. 



%<ft He added a preface to Gmclin's History of Animal and Vegetable 

 Poisons. Erfurth, 1805. 



VOL. XXX. NO. IX. APHIL 1841. Q 



