50 



NATURE 



[May 2 1, 1903 



positively erroneous. We find, for example, the 

 amazing- statement that the speculum vaginae was un- 

 known until a hundred years ago ; yet of medical 

 historians who could forget, at least, the locus 

 classicus in Paul of Egina concerning this instrument 

 in its valve and screw form, and the instructions for 

 its use? In the same article we have dubious quotations 

 from such still more dubious authors as " Tralus " {sic 

 in text and index ; for Alexander of Tralles ?) and " Calo- 

 mella " (a version redolent of the shop !), slips which do 

 not reinforce our confidence in the author's general 

 accuracy. If the editors are to blame for some of these 

 oversights, they are surely still more to blame for pass- 

 ing sentences either so ignorant or so unfair as this : — 



" It has been shown, by Koch and others, that 

 malaria is conveyed largely, if not entirely, through 

 the instrumentality of certain mosquitoes." 



" Koch and others " is good. " Surmise," again, is 

 far too feeble a word to indicate the epoch-making 

 theory and practice of Semmelweiss in puerperal 

 fever. The next article, by one Martins of Rostock — so 

 he is called in the contents, index, and in all cross refer- 

 ences — is a far abler one. We are disposed to attribute 

 it to Prof. Martins. That we ourselves, and we are 

 glad to observe Dr. Bulstrode also, diff'er profoundly 

 from him in some important respects is not, of course, 

 to be pressed to his disadvantage. 



It would be impossible for us, even within limits 

 far wider than the present, to discuss each of the many 

 articles in turn, or, indeed, within the limits of leisure 

 and patience, to read them all critically. For the most 

 part the bread is too deeply drowned in sack. In 

 many chapters there is little but some character of 

 attenuation to distinguish the contents from the thera- 

 peutical sections of current text-books ; while there is 

 much to remind us of the lip medicine of the student, 

 with his common formulas, such as that " the patient 

 is to be put upon a light and nutritious diet," &c. 

 In turning to the Index for fresh light upon the initial 

 causes of particular maladies, we find too often 

 nothing, as in the case of gall-stones, pernicious 

 anaemia, acute rheumatism,' scurvy and certain other 

 maladies in which new knowledge seems to promise to 

 be of high preventive value ; or we find such vapid 

 paragraphs as are given to arterial diseases, senile 

 decay, dilatation of the stomach, &c. ; or, again, equi- 

 vocal names, such as " anaemia " undistinguished from 

 chlorosis and other particular kinds of impoverished 

 blood. Thus too often general views are attained only 

 by slurring over essential differences. We have sought 

 in vain, moreover, for recent observations on the geo- 

 graphical distribution of cancer ; and for the significant 

 fact of the prevalence of primary cancerous growths 

 upon the surfaces of the body. 



We are sorry we cannot speak with more apprecia- 

 tion of this important book ; but we feel, as Dr. Wlnd- 

 scheld, of Leipzig — the able author of the chapter on 

 the prevention of diseases of the nervous system — 



i For the recent views of the causation of rheunatism we searched the 

 index and found a reference to p. 112, but failed there to find any such 

 discussion. There are many errors in the index. 



NO. 



1 75 1, VOL. 68 J 



evidently does, that it is difficult to avoid falling, a- 

 some of his collaborators certainly have done, betwet i 

 the stool of specific detail and that of general gossljj. 

 However, that a work with such aims should appear 

 at all Is satisfactory ; we could scarcely expect the first 

 attempt to be one of full achievement. The transla- 

 tions, if slipshod at times, are, as the editors claim for 

 them, readable English enough; but the editors have 

 failed too frequently, whether in the text or by means 

 of notes, to modify facts and opinions, as, for Instance, 

 in respect of the diet of the working classes, hours of 

 labour, the management of schools and so forth, which, 

 however true of German societies, are inapplicable to 

 English conditions. T. C. A. 



ZOOLOGY FOR ARTISTS. 

 Anatomic artistique des Animaux. _Bv Ed. Cuyer. 

 Pp. xiI + 300; 143 figs. (Paris : J.-B. Bailllere et fils, 

 1903.) Price 7.50 francs. 



DOZENS of treatises on the anatomy of the human 

 body have been written for the use of artists, but 

 this is the first systematic attempt to place a know- 

 ledge of the structure of the more common mammals 

 at their disposal. During the last ten years, M. fidouard 

 Cuyer, who is a lecturer on anatomy at I'ficole 

 natlonale des Beaux-Arts, has been in the habit of 

 adding to his ordinary lectures on the structure of the 

 human body a number dealing with the anatomy of 

 the mammals more commonly drawn by artists. The 

 preparation of these lectures entailed much research, 

 and hence this work, which is based on the lectures, 

 not only treats comparative anatomy from a new point 

 of view, but also contains a number of original observa- 

 tions. In this country M. Cuyer is best known as 

 an illustrator of anatomical subjects ; in this rdle he 

 stands unrivalled, and the drawings which he has sup- 

 plied for the work under review are the most accurate 

 representations to be found in any work dealing with 

 the anatomy of mammals. 



No question has been more debated than the value 

 of anatomy as an aid to art. Ruskin's dictum was 

 that an artist should paint what he could see, not what 

 he knew he ought to see ; he even went further, and 

 held that art was debased by a knowledge of anatomy. 

 However that may be, one might have seen, a few 

 years ago, Onslow Ford, Briton Riviere, and J. M. 

 Swan, three of the most truthful and successful animal 

 modellers and painters this generation has produced, 

 dissecting and drawing, hour after hour, in the prosec- 

 torium in the Zoological Gardens at Regent's Park. 

 M. Cuyer cites the great animal painter Barye as an 

 example of an artist whose work has gained In force 

 and precision by his accurate knowledge of anatomy. 

 Anyone familiar with either the work of Barye or 

 Swan will recognise that they are real zoologists who 

 epitomise In their modellings and drawirigs the living 

 and essential nature of the animals portrayed. 



M. Cuyer presumes that the student is already 

 familiar with the structure of the human body, which 

 Is made the basis for a comparative study of anatomy. 



