June 3, 1897] 



NATURE 



105 



party will proceed to Rostow, at the head of the Sea of 

 Azov, examining a mercury-mine and certain mineral 

 springs, and ultimately reachmg Wladikavkaz, on the 

 northern side of the Caucasus mountains. Section 

 B will start, under the guidance of Messrs. Pavlow 

 and Amalitzky, from Moscow to Nijni-Novgorod, 

 across Jurassic and Triassic formations to the 

 Cretaceous rocks of Simbirsk on the Volga. Journey- 

 ing southwards they will visit asphalt quarries, and 

 by means of steamer and railway they will proceed 

 along the plains of the Volga and the borders of the 

 Kirghiz Steppes to Astrakhan andjWladikavkaz. Section 

 C will be under the direction of M. Sokolow, and will 

 journey to Kiew on the Dnieper, paying especial atten- 

 tion to the Tertiary and Post-Tertiary deposits. Fol- 

 lowing the river to Alexandrovsk, the party will ultimately 

 join the two other sections at Wladikavkaz by way of 

 Rostow. 



Thus united the whole party will proceed across the 

 mountainous country to Titiis, under the direction of M. 

 Loewinson-Lessing, some few members separating for 

 a while to examine a glacier under the guidance of M. 

 Kolenko. Tertiary, Cretaceous, Jurassic, and meta- 

 morphic rocks will be seen. From Tiflis all will proceed 

 to Bakou, on the borders of the Caspian, and thence 

 separating into two portions, they will traverse the 

 mountainous region from east to west, and unite again 

 at Rion. Some may spend a week in the Caucasus, ex- 

 amining the Mamisson glacier ; others will have an 

 opportunity of visiting Mount Ararat. 



Those who desire to still further continue their field- 

 studies among Cretaceous and Jurassic rocks, may take 

 part in a general excursion into the Crimea. They will 

 proceed by steamer from Batoum to Kertch, and event- 

 ually, on October 5, there will be a reunion of all the 

 remaining excursionists at Sebastopol. Thus will 

 terminate the great programme of expeditions planned 

 by the geologists of Russia. H. B. W. 



THE NEW LABORATORIES AT GUTS 

 HOSPITAL. 



'X'HE new laboratories which have been erected at 

 J- Guy's Hospital at the expense of the staff of the 

 medical school, and have entailed an expenditure of 

 about 12,000/., were opened by the Prince of Wales on 

 Wednesday in last week. The buildings occupy about 

 one-third of the whole structure which is contemplated, 

 and a further sum of 35,000/. will be required to complete 

 the scheme. The entire building is designed to provide 

 under one roof all the accommodation required by the 

 school in all branches of the medical curriculum. The 

 part of the building now opened contains a well-arranged 

 lecture theatre capable of seating four hundred persons, 

 and beneath it are three dark rooms. The first of these 

 is designed for the reception of the spectrophotometer, 

 polarimeter, and spectroscope, for the use of those 

 engaged in work with them. The other two rooms are 

 intended for galvanometric and photographic work. 

 Other parts of the building are occupied by the labora- 

 tories and preparation room for physiological and patho- 

 logical chemistry, a balance room, a calorimeter room, 

 and a gas room. On the top floor the whole of the front 

 of the building is devoted to the laboratory and prepara- 

 tion room for normal and morbid histology. Large 

 classes can be accommodated, and the claims of investi- 

 gation have received ample consideration. 



An address of welcome was read to the Prince of 

 Wales by Mr. Howse, the senior surgeon, and Dr. Pye- 

 Smith, senior physician, described the objects of the new 

 building in the following words : — 



Your Royal Highnesses, my Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen, — 

 I have been asked by my colleagues, the lecturers, demonstrators, 



NO. 1440, VOL. 56] 



and tutors of this school of medicine to state very shortly the 

 use and object of the building in which we stand. 



While in every civilised country, except England and the 

 United States, the training of physicians and surgeons is provided 

 for by the Government as part of its duties, here the profession 

 provides for itself and for the public. The schools of medicine 

 in London have formed themselves around the great hospitals, 

 and have only gradually acquired their present importance and 

 repute. 



Apart from practical instruction in the wards of the hospital, 

 some knowledge of natural science has always been included in 

 the preparation for this liberal profession. Physicians have 

 always been botanists and chemists, surgeons have always been 

 anatomists ; nor need we look far for proofs that the highest 

 attainments in scholarship and mathematics are admirable train- 

 ing for pathology. 



During the last sixty years, great has been the development of 

 these preliminary scientific studies, the indispensable foundation 

 of rational, honourable and helpful medicine. We have now 

 not only able lecturers on physics, on chemistry, and on biology, 

 but well-equipped laboratories for each of these subjects, in 

 which our students become practically familiar with scientific 

 facts. We have twice rebuilt or greatly enlarged our museums 

 and laboratories for physiology, for clinical chemistry, for 

 histology, and for the new science of bacteriology. But, again, 

 as our numbers increase and the progress of science goes on, we 

 must pull down our barns and build greater. In medical science, 

 as in a still more important discipline, the Augustinian saying is 

 true, Qui satis dixrit, perditus est. We must go on, if we are 

 not to fall back. 



Accordingly, after repeatedly considering various plans for 

 enlarging and remodelling the old museum and laboratories, we 

 determined that none of them were satisfactory ; and that we 

 must erect a new building for the important department of 

 physiology ; one not comparable to the magnificent palaces 

 which are called " Institutes " at Berlin and Strassburg, but such 

 as may rank with the laboratories of our friendly rivals, St. 

 Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, and the other schools of London, 

 of Cambridge, and of Edinburgh, fitted for the best possible 

 teaching and the most advanced researches. 



This part of the future range of museums and class-rooms is 

 now completed. Immense labour has been bestowed upon it. 

 Similar laboratories in this kingdom, and on the continent, 

 have been visited and studied by our lecturers, and the result is 

 what we have every reason to believe will be sufficient for 

 another fifty years. Two names among many to whom we are 

 deeply indebted demand particular mention— those of the 

 architect, Mr. Woodd, and of Dr. Shaw, the Dean of the 

 Medical School. 



It is only right to explain how the necessary funds were 

 raised. 



We all know the grievous deficiency of rents which have 

 compelled the Governors of Guy's Hospital to close some of 

 their wards. 



We know too, and shall never forget, how you. Sir, came 

 to their help, and how, by your generous and practical aid, the 

 prospects of further crippling of the charity were banished, and 

 replaced by a hope that some day its closed wards might be 

 reopened to the public. 



The treasurer of the hospital could not give, and the medical 

 school could never ask for, help from the hospital funds. 

 Every pound given to Guy's Hospital is devoted to the direct 

 relief of the patients. The school does not receive from, but 

 gives to the hospital, with which its prosperity and almost its 

 existence are united. 



It is needless to say that the Government does not help 

 medical science as it does on the continent, and our rich men 

 are only beginning to learn to devote their wealth to founding 

 colleges and laboratories and observatories, like those which 

 do honour to our kinsmen across the Atlantic. 



Only one resource remained open : we determined to appeal 

 — to ourselves. We made a collection ; all giving something as 

 he was able, and with the money thus subscribed this physio- 

 logical institute was built. 



Here physiology will be zealously and efficiently taught, and 

 fresh knowledge will be acquired. The old laboratories, where 

 Sir Wm. Gull, Dr. Pavy, Mr. Golding Bird, and the late Dr. 

 Wooldridge worked, will hand over a good tradition of industry, 

 intelligence, and zeal to their successors, and the benefit will 

 not be only for our students, but for the whole community. 



