TO THS 



T HAVE written this brief account of the lives of 

 some of those who, directly or indirectly, have 

 contributed to the advancement of Physiology, or, to 

 use the old phrase, The " Institutes of Medicine," 

 solely as a labour of love and in no sense as a task. 

 For many years past in my lectures I have been in the 

 habit of giving a short sketch of the lives and showing 

 the printed works of some or most of these illustrious 

 " Apostles," and of many of their colleagues. These 

 notes as now printed are not intended to give a con- 

 secutive history of Physiology, but in arranging the 

 subject-matter I have followed a roughly chrono- 

 logical sequence. All the portraits are of those who 

 have joined the majority. The illustrations in the 

 text are all taken from the originals in the works in 

 which they occur. One plate I have added to 

 illustrate the powerful, vigorous, and artistic treatment 

 of dissections of the muscles by D. BUCRETIUS, and 

 the quaint, not to say picturesque, manner of treating 

 the nervous system by C. STEPHANUS (d. 1564). 



I have omitted much, especially on the recent 

 discoveries on the central nervous system. So many 



