36 MEMOIR OF JOHN BARCLAY. 



the species, were those which he had found, with a 

 few exceptions, in all the individuals he had examined, 

 or had learned from the writings of the most eminent 

 Anatomists, Eustachius, Winslow, Haller, Sahatier, 

 Murray, Soemmering, and others. The exceptions 

 from these general appearances, were such as he 

 had himself observed, or had been collected by his 

 friend Mr. Allan Burns of Glasgow. 



For some time before his death his health had 

 begun to decline; and he was in consequence, and 

 by the advice of his friends, induced to enter into 

 partnership, 1825, with Dr. Robert Knox, at that 

 time Conservator of the Museum of the Royal Col- 

 lege of Surgeons, who succeeded him as lecturer on 

 Human and Comparative Anatomy. He did not, 

 however, relax in his scientific labours, and com- 

 pleted not long before his death, " An Inquiry into 

 the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, concerning Life 

 and Organization," a publication which displays an 

 intimate acquaintance with the works of ancient and 

 modern times that bear upon his subject, and be- 

 trays no symptoms of failure in his natural acute- 

 ness. 



The origin and design of this work, he tells us, 

 was to direct young men entering on the study of 

 anatomy in their speculations upon the causes of 

 organisation. On deliberately examining an animal 

 structure in connection with its functions, reflecting 

 on its singular and astonishing mechanism, how food 



o ' 



and drink are converted into blood, and blood into 

 a diversity of organs, by chemical processes 



