26 



NATURE 



[May 1 1, 1893 



^dence about the time of rotation of Mercury and tlie 

 inclination of the axis of Venus and of the prodigious 

 height of the mountains on these two planets ; they 

 certainly ought not to have been put down as well- 

 ascertained matters of fact. Figs. 67 and 68 I confess 

 are beyond me. 



These samples, culled from different parts of the book, 

 are enough to give a fair idea of its general character, 

 and the impression made on my mind by a general 

 perusal is that it is by no means an ideal performance. 

 But there is much that is attractive about it. It is 

 crowded with illustrations, many of them artistic and 

 apposite, though in the case of some it is hard to see 

 upon what they are intended to throw light. With 

 children it will be deservedly a favourite. I think I know 

 a boy, of some eight or nine years, not much addicted 

 to reading, who will devour the " pictures " and render 

 the life of his elders a burden by the countless questions 

 they suggest. And the elders will, many of them, find in 

 it much interesting matter ; and if what they read is not 

 always quite sound and here and there a little dismal, 

 there is much that is lively and stirring and to which no 

 • exception can be taken on the score of accuracy. We 

 may wish the book good speed till something better of its 

 kind displaces it. A. H. Green. 



SIR W. BOWMAN'S COLLECTED PAPERS. 



The Collected Papers of Sir William Bowman, Bart., 

 F.R.S. Edited for the Committee of the " Bowman 

 Testimonial Fund," by J. Burdon Sanderson, M.D., 

 F.R.S., and J. W. Hulke, F.R.S. In two volumes. 

 (London : Harrison and Sons, 1892.) 



NO more fitting record of a well-spent life could have 

 been given to the world than these two volumes, 

 .•containing "The Collected Papers" of the late Sir 

 William Bowman. 



In July, 1888, the "Bowman Testimonial Fund" was 

 inaugurated. Its design was to make to Sir William 

 Bowman some acknowledgment of the appreciation in 

 which he was held on account of his high personal 

 character and of his professional and scientific attain- 

 ments. This took first the form of a portrait of himself 

 by Mr. Ouless, R. A., and further of a republication at least 

 •in great measure of his various scientific memoirs. These 

 memoirs have been edited, with the assistance of the 

 author, by Prof. Burdon Sanderson and Mr. Hulke. 



The first volume contains the whole " of the epoch- 

 making researches which were accomplished by Sir 

 William Bowman between forty and fifty years ago in the 

 field which he himself designated as that of ' Physiolo- 

 gical Anatomy,' " for he regarded the discovery and uses 

 ■parts as the main purpose of anatomical investigation. 

 This volume has been edited by Prof. J. Burdon Sand- 

 erson, and contains three memoirs from the " Philoso- 

 phical Transactions " on the minute structure and move- 

 ments of voluntary muscle ; on the contraction of voluntary 

 muscle in the living body ; and on the structure and use 

 of the Malphigian bodies of the kidney, with observations 

 •on the circulation through that gland ; also the author's 

 contributions to " The Physiological Anatomy and Physi- 

 ■ology of Man." This work was published between 1839 

 NO. 1228, VOL. 48] 



and 1856, by Drs. Todd and Bowman, and we learn the 

 interesting details that out of a total of 298 illustrations 

 to the two volumes, 120 of these were from the drawings 

 of Bowman. This volume concludes with four contribu- 

 tions to the " Cyclopaadia of .A.natomy and Physiology " 

 on Mucous Membrane ; on Muscle ; on Muscular Motion ; 

 and on the Pacinian Bodies. 



The second volume comprises a selection of" reprints," 

 together with some papers, now first printed, under the 

 headings miscellaneous, surgical, and ophthalmological. 

 These have been selected from a large amount of material, 

 and arranged with the assistan ce of the author. This 

 volume has been edited by Mr. J. W. Hulke, who writes 

 that, " read from the standpoint of the time when each was 

 written, these memoirs, in addition to their intrinsic 

 merits, have, as marking the views and opinions then 

 prevalent, a distinct value for the student interested in the 

 history of modern medicine." 



The work is prefaced by a brief memoir by Henry 

 Power, in which he reminds us that this man of many 

 parts and much learning " had a clear idea of the relative 

 value of the different branches of knowledge associated 

 with medicine, and that he recognised the futility of any 

 endeavour on the part of the student to make him self a 

 profound chemist, botanist, or physiologist, believing that 

 such an attempt necessarily leads to the neglect of the 

 practical subjects which are the occasion for which these 

 foundation sciences are studied. No one knew better 

 than he that ' ex libris nemo evasit artifex,' the scene of 

 the labours of the student, was, in his opinion, at the bed- 

 side of the patient." These ideas of Bowman are of 

 especial importance in these days, when the tendency of 

 the teaching in our medical schools is for each teacher to 

 try to make his subject the one alone necessary, instead 

 of its being but a small part of an important whole. The 

 sketch, which is all too short, is appreciative and sym- 

 pathetic. One little trait we miss; while the great 

 physiologist's love of country life is hinted at, his love for 

 and knowledge of flowers is passed over, and yet those 

 who were privileged to know him in his days of well- 

 earned rest and leisure will remember what a delight his 

 garden was to him. Two portraits are given ; both are 

 photographs. One is of the painting by G. F. Watts, R..A.., 

 of Bowman when forty-eight years of age. This hardly 

 does justice to the original painting, and one is of the 

 painting by W. W. Ouless, R.A., which was done for 

 the " Testimonial Committee Fund," in 1889, when 

 Bowman was in his seventy-third year. This is an 

 excellent and pleasing likeness. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Aids to Biology. By Joseph W. Williams. (London : 



Baillifere, Tindall and Cox.) (Students' Aids Series.) 

 This little volume of 142 pages, small octavo, is the 

 second work which has reached us written up to the 

 standard of the first examination of the Conjoint Board 

 of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons. The 

 information which it contains is transcribed from the best 

 sources available, and the author has woven the excerpts 

 into a very presentable whole, written in good, clear style, 

 and exceptionally free of gross errors. The pages of 

 the volume are enlivened by thirty-nine small woodcuts 

 and a well-chosen epilogue from Broca, and there are 



