May 9, 191 8] 



NATURE 



18 



surgical craft, which continued for a long- period 

 outside the University walls, until in 1726 the 

 University itself established a chair of anatomy, 

 which was first occupied by the race of the 

 Monros, father, son, and grandson. The historv 

 of the connection of the Bell family, Benjamin, 

 John, and Sir Charles, is well described, and their 

 creation of a great following, numbering among 

 the flock the representative names of Sir William 

 Fergusson, Robert Liston, and James Syme, a 

 galaxy of practical surgeons of which any medical 

 school might be proud. Lister migrated in early 

 life from University College, London, to become 

 a pupil of Syme, with whom he became intimately 

 associated before returning to London, 



It is clearly to be made out in Mr. Miles's book 

 that the path to surgical fame and fortune in 

 Edinburgh was by way of the dissecting-room, 

 and in the pre-anaesthetic times, when rapidity of 

 operation was the order of the day, a very exact 

 knowledge of anatomy was essential. The intro- 

 duction of anaesthetics altered this, however, 

 although for many years to come surgeons all 

 over the country learned their art as dis- 

 sectors, and the eminence of our surgeons as 

 practical craftsmen may be referred to this early 

 training in manipulative skill. At the same time, 

 however, English surgery as a science was in a 

 backward state, and there is considerable ground 

 for the belief that part of Lister's great work was 

 due to his training as a pathologist rather than 

 as an anatomist. He became familiar with patho- 

 logical doctrines and the bacteriology which was 

 then rapidly coming to the front, and most suc- 

 cessfully applied the knowledge to the problems 

 of disease which confronted him. In this way 

 he laid the foundations for enormous advances, 

 although he departed from the Edinburgh ana- 

 tomical traditions. 



In comparison with expert craftsmen like 

 Liston, Fergusson, and Syme, Lister was not a 

 brilliant and dashing operator, although his final 

 results have possibly never been surpassed. Under 

 his magic hand the terrors of sepsis disappeared 

 and a new era in medicine was revealed. The 

 preparatory training which Lister went through 

 was not imitated by others to any great extent 

 for a long time, and the great discoveries of 

 bacteriology passed into the hands of pathologists. 

 This must seem strange when it is remembered 

 that the great majority of cases which a surgeon 

 is called upon to treat are the direct or indirect 

 results of infection. The technical developments 

 of operative surgery have tended more and more 

 to make the surgeon an operative craftsman 

 rather than an original investigator. The relative 

 failure of pure surgery apart from science in the 

 present war is a confirmation of this. 



As a study of the evolution of operative surgery 

 in Edinburgh Mr. Miles's book is a welcome addi- 

 tion to our knowledge, however. There still is a 

 necessity for a work on the evolution of ideas on 

 surgical diseases as opposed to manipulative skill 

 in their treatment. 



NO. 2532, VOL. lOl] 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Frontiers: a Study in Political Geography. By 

 C. B. Fawcett. Pp. 107. (Oxford : At the 

 Clarendon Press, 1918.) Price 3^. net. 

 It would not be easy to say much that is new in 

 a general discussion on frontiers after the works 

 of Sir Thomas Holdich and Prof. L. W. Lyde, 

 I one arguing that frontiers should secure protec- 

 I tion to the State, the other that they should be 

 chosen rather to facilitate intercourse in the hope 

 of securing peace between adjacent States. Mr. 

 Fawcett has, however, written a very readable 

 : essay treating the subject from the viewpoint of 

 ' geographical evolution. He begins by discussing 

 i the value that various features have as frontier 

 zones, and leads on to a consideration of the com- 

 plexities of the frontiers of modern States. He 

 notes that the strongest force at present working 

 , towards the modification of frontiers is a tendency 

 towards the coalescence of national and political 

 boundaries. This implies a subordinate place to 

 economic and strategic considerations, though in 

 the main such frontiers will conform with the 

 latter. The real difficulties arise in the determina- 

 tion of nationality in frontier lands which are well 

 . peopled. We are glad to notice that Mr. Fawcett 

 I defines his use of the terms "frontier " and "boun- 

 I dary," employing the former for an area and the 

 I latter for a line. Loose usage of these terms is 

 I not conducive to clear thinking. His suggestion 

 j to speak of zones of separation and zones of inter- 

 i course (or of pressure), instead of natural and arti- 

 i ficial frontiers, has much in its favour. Among 

 ! his wealth of instances we find no mention of the 

 I neutral zone established in the south between Nor- 

 1 way and Sweden in 1905. Here is an instance of 

 ; a frontier of intercourse (short compared with the 

 I long zone of separation) which both nations agree 

 to prevent so far as possible developing into a 

 menace to one another, by prohibiting the erection 

 of militarv works or the establishment of garri- 

 sons. ' R. N. R. B. 



Story-lives of Men of Science. By F. J. Row- 

 botham. With portraits and other illustrations. 

 Pp. 266. (London : Wells Gardner, Darton, and 

 Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 35. 6d. 

 These attractively written biographies of some 

 i seventeen workers in science will interest young 

 readers, and probably indirectly foster a love of 

 natural knowledge among them. .Among the 

 heroes of science chosen by the biographer 

 may be mentioned Galileo, Newton, Davy, 

 Faraday, Darwin, Pasteur, .Kelvin, Lister, and 

 Crookes. The chapters are full of incident, and 

 deal with the domestic lives as well as with the 

 researches of the great men chosen for in- 

 clusion in the volume. Mr. Rowbotham shows 

 a wide acquaintance with the literature of his 

 subject, and possesses a happy style. It. is unfor- 

 tunate that throughout the chapter on Lord Kelvin 

 "Thompson" is printed instead of "Thomson," 

 and that Francis Bacon appears in the table of 

 contents as Lord Bacon, instead of Lord Verulam. 



