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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, ii 



A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. 



A Text-book of Physiology. By J. G. McKendrick, M. D. 

 LL.D., F.R.S. Including "Histology," by Philipp 

 Stohr, M.D. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. General 

 Physiology. (Glasgow : MacLehose and Sons. 

 London: Macmillan and Co. 1888.) 



THE present volume deals with the general principles 

 of biology, the chemistry of the body, the early 

 stages of development, the microscope, and the methods 

 of microscopical research, the histology of the tissues and 

 the physiology of muscle. It is no doubt very difficult to say 

 what should and what should not be included in a text-book 

 of physiology. The primary object is to explain as much 

 as we can of the phenomena of the animal organism by 

 physical and chemical laws. To understand such an 

 explanation, a knowledge of chemistry, physics, and of 

 the structure of the organism is essential. These sub- 

 jects are treated of in special text-books which do not 

 contain any physiology, and their introduction into a 

 work devoted to this subject cannot fail to exert an 

 injurious influence on the full exposition of the actual 

 state of the science. 



The present work is noticeable for the large amount of 

 subsidiary matter which has been introduced, rather than 

 as being a very complete account of modern physiology. 

 The book is, however, intended by its author to aid the 

 student to an intelligent knowledge of physiology, or 

 rather, of all the subjects which are commonly dealt 

 with by lecturers on physiology. It supplies the physical 

 and chemical information more immediately required in 

 physiological problems ; it explains the methods by 

 which the more important results have been obtained ; 

 and it gives a general insight into important biological 

 facts. 



Considering the very wide range of subjects, the choice 

 of matter has been very well adapted to the object in 

 view, and the book will doubtless find a larger circle of 

 readers than the Professor's own class, for which it is 

 especially intended. However, the degree to which the 

 various sections have been brought up to date is very 

 unequal. Some of the subjects have evidently been 

 thoroughly worked up, whilst others appear to have been 

 chiefly compiled from existing and not wholly modern 

 text-books. In a work of this character, unless the 

 author be endowed with almost superhuman industry, 

 such a result is inevitable, and is fully foreseen by the 

 author himself. 



The section devoted to the general structure and 

 physiology of the cell, the phenomena of fertilization, 

 and the modern views on heredity, will certainly be much 

 appreciated. General biological knowledge of this kind 

 is often eagerly sought for by the student, and not always 

 readily obtainable. 



The microscope and the methods of microscopical 

 research are very good and modern, but this is a sub- 

 ject which is hardly expected in a text-book of physiology. 

 The histology of the tissues calls for no special comment. 



In connection with the physiology of muscle, the 

 object and use of the graphic method is explained with 

 Vol. xxxviii.— No. 986. 



great care, very clear and good illustrations being given 

 of the apparatus used. Muscle physiology itself is treated 

 in considerable detail, to which is added the physiology 

 of the electrical organ in fishes, containing the recent 

 researches of Prof. Sanderson and Mr. Gotch. The 

 physiology of smooth muscle is very scantily touched on, 

 and the figures in connection with the heat produced by 

 muscle are not correct ; nor is any reference made to the 

 observations of Ludwig and Meade Smith, on the heat 

 produced in the mammalian muscle when tetanized 

 under different conditions of blood-supply. Surely they 

 are much more to the point than the observations of 

 Billroth and Fick, which are only applicable to the 

 organism as a whole. 



The best feature in the chemical part of the work is 

 the introduction of sections on the general chemical pro- 

 cesses of the organism and on fermentation. With regard 

 to the former, the paragraph devoted to reduction — as an 

 important chemical process of the organism — is too short : 

 the interesting observations of Ehrlich on the reducing 

 powers of the tissues (as shown by the injection of 

 alizarin-blue, endophenol-white) are surely worthy of 

 mention. The undoubted fact that the blood of asphyxi- 

 ated animals contains reducing substances is not alluded 

 to, nor is the role which modern physiological chemists 

 ascribe to these reducing substances in producing nascent 

 oxygen, and so bringing about the oxidations of the 

 tissues, pointed out with sufficient clearness. Fermenta- 

 tion is considered in its historic aspect, and from its 

 chemical and biological sides. The history of organized 

 ferments is adequately treated, as are also the early and 

 important observations of Pasteur. What we actually 

 know about the relationship of enzymes and organized 

 ferments is not clearly expressed, no account being given 

 of the researches of Musculus, Lea, and others, which 

 have shown that enzymes can be obtained from organized 

 ferments. Nor is the question of the chemical nature of 

 enzymes sufficiently discussed. 



The remainder of the section of chemistry contains 

 numerous defects. Thus a long chapter is devoted to the 

 signification of chemical formulae, but we are later told of 

 the albumins that their " chemical constitution oscillates 

 round the following : Cs^yN^O^S.'' No mention is 

 made of the observations of Schmiedeberg, Drechsel, or 

 Grubler, on artificial albumin crystals— observations of 

 the highest importance for all future work on proteids. 

 The accounts given of casein, mucin, and nuclein 

 are not in accordance with our present knowledge. 

 The chemical relations of indigo are given in detail, 

 but the indican of the urine is said to have the 

 formula C 2a H 31 N0 17 , and no mention is made of indoxyl 

 potassium sulphate. So with uric acid, nothing is said 

 about the most important facts of Horbaczewski and E. 

 Ludwig on the formation of uric acid from glycocoll 

 and urea, which correspond so well with Strecker's view 

 of uric acid as a body analogous with hippuric acid (the 

 benzoic acid being replaced by cyanic), and with the 

 remarkable physiological fact observed by Wohler, that 

 calves, as long as they feed on milk, excrete only uric 

 acid, and no hippuric, whilst the reverse is the case when 

 they take to a vegetable diet. Again, in regard to the 

 formation of uric acid, two extremely important researches, 

 have been made — that of Schroeder on the influence of 



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