THE RISE OF EMBRYOLOGY 



227 



monographs, etc., and there was no compact science of em- 

 bryology with definite outlines. Balfour reviewed all this 

 mass of information, digested it, and molded it into an organ- 

 ized whole. The results were published in the form of two 

 volumes with the title of Comparative Embryology. This 

 book of "almost priceless value" was given to the world in 

 1880-1881. It was a colossal undertaking, but Balfour was 



Fig. 69. — Francis M. Balfour, 1851-1882. 



a phenomenal w r orker. Before his untimely death at the age 

 of thirty-one, he had been able to complete this work and to 

 produce, besides, a large number of technical research* 

 The period of Balfour is taken arbitrarily in this volume as 

 beginning about 1874, when he published, with Michael 

 Foster, The Elements oj Embryology. 



His University Career. — Balfour (Fig. 69) was born in 



