INTRODUCTION. xlvii 



afterwards, to be its excretory ducts; 1 and he formed the 

 same opinion of the lymphatics of the spleen. He observed 

 the ruddy colour produced by the presence of blood-corpuscles 

 in the lymph of this organ; and although he concluded that 

 the office of the spleen is to form their red envelopes, he be- 

 lieved that it is not the only part destined to this function, 

 since he confirmed the truth of the old observation, that the 

 spleen may be removed without a permanent ill effect, and 

 that the blood-corpuscles may be perfectly formed in the 

 lymphatic system generally. Similar views as to the office 

 of the spleen have been lately arrived at by inquirers, 2 probably 

 still ignorant of Hewson' s labours. His researches concerning 

 the use of the glands without regular excretory ducts show 

 the marks of an active and ingenious mind, and I believe first 

 indicated a rational method of research into this important 

 and recondite branch of physiology. His observations on the 

 lymphatic glands are in the same spirit ; and his doctrine of 

 central particles, 3 so long looked upon as visionary, was a step 

 far in advance of the age in which he lived. 



The relation between the lymph-globules and the red cor- 

 puscles of the blood, originally announced by Hewson, has 

 been advanced anew from independent observations by some 

 of the best physiologists on the Continent. Professor Wagner 4 

 agrees with Nasse in concluding that the lymph -globules are 

 free nuclei of the blood-corpuscles. Mulder assumes that 

 these corpuscles originate from those of lymph ; and Schultz, 

 Henle, and Simon 6 entertain the same opinion. 



Yet, of all Hewson's able contemporaries and immediate 

 successors, Magnus Falconar alone perceived the importance of 

 this subject, and entered on the new field of inquiry with an 

 honest zeal, unfortunately arrested by a death still more pre- 

 mature than that of Hewson. The conduct of Falconar in 

 the use which he made of the materials intrusted to him by 

 his deceased friend was every way just and generous, nobly 



1 See Note cxxvii, p. 261. 



2 See Note cxxxni, p. 273. 3 See Note cxxn, p. 254. 



4 Elements of Physiology, tr. by Dr. Willis, p. 253, 8vo, London, 1844. 



5 Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology, tr. by Dr. P. F. H. Fromberg, 

 Part II, p. 344. 



6 Animal Chemistry, translated for the Sydenham Society by Dr. Day, vol. i, pp. 

 120-21, 8vo, London, 1845. 



