56 SIR WILLIAM FLOWER CHAP. 



the mechanical difficulties of supplementing it had 

 not yet been overcome. To give an instance ; his 

 interest in the anatomy of the horse was well known, 

 and he was appointed examiner to the Veterinary 

 College. He asked one of the candidates in a 

 viva voce examination the places of certain principal 

 nerves, questions which were all answered correctly. 

 So were the subsequent queries as to the termina- 

 tions of the nerves. He then asked through what 

 route a certain nerve passed from one point to the 

 other. This also was correctly answered, the reply 

 being that it went through a certain " foramen " or 

 hole in a bone. All this was known from a careful 

 and conscientious study of books ; but Flower, 

 anxious to feel certain as to the state of knowledge 

 of the examinee, asked him kindly to point out the 

 place on the skeleton. This he was quite unable to 

 do. From that time Flower was more than ever 

 convinced that his theory of the work that lay 

 before him was the right one. 



He developed it on principles which are now 

 almost universal and recognised, but which were 

 then new and original, and as unexpected as they 

 were welcome. Instead of sending the learners 

 round to compare parts of whole structures, he 

 resolved to illustrate particular parts by separating 

 them from the whole, and making a complete series 

 devoted to each part in turn, showing the modifica- 

 tions to meet particular needs, and the adaptations 

 and changes in the same member or organ, by 



