6i6 



NA TURE 



[October 26, 189^ 



I 



The method enables us to fit a binomial to any asymmetrical 

 curve, the results being based on no single ordi:iates, but on 

 the moments of the whole system throughout. 



The importance of this solution is that it enables us to'deter- 

 mine p and q very approximately for any system of physical, 

 biological, or sociological measurements ; i.e. it tells us how 

 much greater is the tendency for a deviation to occur on one 

 side of the mean rather than on the other. A scieniilic measure 

 of this is clearly given by 



^' = (/ - q^c, 



which measures the asymmetry of the frequency curve, and tells 

 us at the same time the difference of/ and q. 

 University College, October 17. Karl Pearson. 



British Association Report on Thermodynamics. 



As I am now drawing up a second report for ihe British 

 Association, on certain researches connected with thermo- 

 dynamics, may I be permitted to invite the assistance and co- 

 operation of all specialists in that subject ? 



It is proposed to deal with (l) the " Boltzmann-Maxwell" 

 law of distribution of energy in systems of colliding and non- 

 colliding bodies ; (2) the virial equation when intermolecular 

 force is taken into account, and its application to liquids and 

 gases. It is desirable that the report shall be completed in 

 time for the 1894 meeting of the Association. 



The compilation of reports on different branches of science is 

 one of the most important functions carried out by the British 

 Association, but it is essential that every paper bearing on the 

 subject of a report should be consulted in its preparation. The 

 labour involved in wading through the enormous mass of exist- 

 ing literature on any physical subject can only be appreciated by 

 those who have undertaken such work, and there is a constant 

 risk of overlooking important papers, which are often buried in 

 the Transactions of some obscure foreign society. It sometimes 

 happens, too, that such papers cannot be procured, and hence 

 cannot be consulted, to the great detriment of the report. May 

 I therefore hope that the authors of any investigations bearing 

 on the subjects of my report will kindly send me reprints ? 

 Lists of papers or suggestions will also be most acceptable. 



G. H. Bryan. 



Thornlea, Trumpington Road, Cambridge, October i8. 



Curious Phenomenon. 



I was on the top of a small mountain in the Dovrefjeld, near 

 lljerkin, in the late afternoon of August 26, the sun be- 

 ing 10-15° above the horizon, when I saw a remarkable 

 phenomenon. On the opposite side to the sun was a bright 

 disc, perhaps 5° in diameter, shown on some drifcing clouds. 

 The shadow of my head appeared in the centre of the disc, 

 that of my body below, while outside the disc the shadow 

 of my legs was faintly visible. The phenomenon continued on 

 and off — that is to say, when the clouds were favourable — for 

 nearly a quarter of an hour. The landlord of the hotel said he 

 had never seen anything of the sort. 



William Churchill. 

 New University Club, St. James' Street, S.W., October 17. 



HUMAN AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY AT 

 OXFORD. 



ON October 14, a distinguished company, including 

 the Professors of Human Anatomy in Edinburgh 

 and Cambridge, the President of the College of Surgeons 

 of England, and many well-known medical men and 

 teachers, attended the opening of a new institute of 

 Human Anatomy by the Vice-Chancellor of the Uni- 

 versity of Oxford. 



The occasion is one in connection with which a few 

 words are appropriate concerning the history of anato- 

 mical studies in Oxford and the relation between the 

 special technical study of the anatomy of man required 

 by medical students, and the more general study of the 

 comparative anatomy of man and animals, or animal 

 morphology. Historically the study of natural science 

 has had the closest connection with the profession of 



NO. 1252, VOL. 48] 



medicine. In the last century, zoology and botany were 

 not pursued in the universities of Europe as branches of 

 science to be studied for their own intrinsic value as 

 departments of knowledge, but primarily as giving the 

 student acquaintance with " drugs " or " materia medica." 

 LinnKus was the first university professor who lectured 

 on animals from the strictly zoological point of view ; 

 until his time, animals had been studied, even in the uni- 

 versities, chiefly in relation to their supposed medicinal 

 virtues. Concurrently the anatomists, who had mainly 

 confined themselves to exploring the structure of the 

 human body and of the animals nearest to man, extended 

 their area of study. Through John Hunter and Georges 

 Cuvier an immense body of knowledge as to the anatomy 

 of all kinds of animals was accumulated and syste- 

 matised, to which the name Comparative Anatomy was 

 applied — more especially by Cuvier and his followers. 



In this country, and very generally elsewhere, the study 

 of "comparative anatomy'' was carried on by men like 

 Hunter, members of the medical profession, even prac- 

 titioners. In the earlier half of the present century it 

 was usual to find in the universities of Germany, as well 

 as of Britain, that anatomy, including the wider compara- 

 tive anatomy, as well as the topography of man required 

 for medical purposes, together with physiology and even 

 pathological anatomy, were all taught by one professor. 

 Thus the great Johannes Miiller discharged this multiple 

 function until his death in Berlin in 1858. 



It is not therefore surprising that when the Oxford 

 University Commissioners of 1856 revived the ancient 

 foundation of Linacre, they charged the new professor 

 with the teaching of both anatomy and physiology. To 

 this large task Rolleston, the first Linacre professor, 

 devoted himself with characteristic energy and with a 

 breadth of view which few nowadays could command. 

 Rolleston taught physiology, comparative anatomy, as 

 well as that topographical anatomy of the human body 

 which medical training demands— a pursuit which he 

 loved to call "anthropotomy." .Anthropotomy was not 

 neglected in RoUeston's time ; those students of the 

 University who wished to pursue human dissections in 

 Oxford found the necessary material and assistance in 

 his departinent. 



The more recent Commissioners (of 1880) came to the 

 conclusion that it was desirable that a separate chair of 

 Physiology should be founded in the University of Oxford, 

 and accordingly instituted such a professorship from the 

 funds of Magdalen College, whilst they altered the title 

 and scope of the Linacre chair to " Human and Com- 

 parative Anatomy." It was to the Linacre chair thus 

 modified that Moseley was appointed on the death of 

 Rolleston in 1 881, whilst subsequently Burdon Sander- 

 son was appointed to the newly-created Waynflete 

 (Magdalen) chair of Physiology. 



A further division of labour now became desirable. 

 The teaching of anthropotomy— the medical student's 

 necessary groundwork— could not be carried on per- 

 sonally by the same professor who was charged with the 

 subject-matter of Cuvier's life-work. It was a question 

 between either assigning to the Linacre Professor a 

 specially qualified assistant to superintend the dissecting- 

 room of Human Anatomy, or appointing an independent 

 lecturer in that subject. The latter course seemed to be 

 the better, and Mr. Arthur Thomson, the senior demon- 

 strator in the Medical School of Edinburgh University, 

 was appointed as Lecturer in Human Anatomy in Oxford. 

 The expressed purpose of this appointment was to 

 relieve the Linacre professor of that part of his duties 

 which consisted in teaching human anatomy for the 

 specific purposes of medical education, and it was in no 

 way proposed to remove from the professor his functions 

 as a teacher of the anatomy of man in its morphological 

 aspects and his duties as guardian of the anatomical and 

 ethnological collections of the University. 



