ANATOMY. 



represented and described by 

 Albinus, Cheselden, Sue, and Cowper. 

 The vascular system has been illustrated 

 by a splendid work of the immortal Haller. 

 Walker and Meckel of Berlin, and Scarpa 

 at Pavia, have bestowed equal, or eyi-n su- 

 perior, diligence in tracing" the distribu- 

 tion of the most important nerves, and re- 

 presenting 1 them in faithful engravings. 

 Mr. Cruikshank distinguished himself by 

 an excellent book on the absorbing sys- 

 tem ; and Mascagni has lately given to the 

 public a most elaborate account of the ab- 

 sorbing vessels, with very splendid plates. 

 Dr. Hunter, to whom anatomy owes more 

 in this country than to any individual, has 



Kublished a complete history with beauti- 

 il explanatory engravings, of the growth 

 of the human ovum, and of the changes 

 which the uterus undergoes, after the 

 ovum has been received into its cavity. 

 His brother, Mr. John Hunter, also de- 

 mands mention in this place, as an accu- 

 rate and minute dissector, and a patient 

 experimentalist. He surveyed, in his re- 

 searches, the whole field of animated na- 

 ture, and greatly promoted the science 

 of phisiology. He formed also the grand- 

 est and mos't beautiful anatomical cabinet 

 in Europe; and this precious treasure has 

 now passed into the bauds of the Royal 

 College cff Surgeons in London. The 

 structure of the brain has been represent- 

 ed with unrivalled elegance, by Viccj 

 D'Azyr, a French anatomist, in a folio 

 volume of coloured plates, which we hesi- 

 tate not to applaud as a chef d'ceuvre of 

 anatomical science, and a most splendid 

 monument of the arts. Some parts of 

 this most important organ have also been 

 illustrated by the labours of Soemmering 1 , 

 who still prosecutes the study of anatomy 

 with unwearied industry. We have late- 

 ly, from his hands, two most finished pro- 

 ductions, in every respect, on the anatomy 

 of the eye and ear. It would be unjust 

 not to enumerate, with a due tribute of 

 applause, the labours of Zinn, Cassebohm, 

 and Scurpa, on the same subjects. 



Morgagni, who taught anatomy in Pa- 

 dua, published a work of great utility on 

 morbid anatomy. Dr. Bailie has of late in 

 this country prosecuted the same subject, 

 though in a different manner. He has 

 published a book on the morbid anatomy 

 of the body, and has illustrated his descrip- 

 tions by a collection of the most elegant, 

 expressive, and accurate plates. 



Winslow, Sabatier, and Bichat, are the 

 authors of the most approved anatomical 

 systems in France, and Soemmering and 

 Ilildebrant in Germany. We regret that 

 it is not in our power to mention am* cor- 



VOL. r 



rect and complete system by an English 

 writer. The imperfect and contemptible 

 ephemeral productions, published under 

 the auspices of booksellers, cannot have a 

 place in this enumeration. 



UTILITY OF ANATOMY. 



Astronomy and anatomy, as Fontenelle 

 observes, are the studies which present 

 us with the most striking view of the two 

 greatest at tributes of the Supreme Being. 

 The first of these fills the mind with the 

 idr.i of his immensity, in the largeness, 

 distances, and number of the heavenly 

 bodies ; the last astonishes, with his intel- 

 ligence and art in the variety and delicacy 

 of animal mechanism. 



The human body has been commonly 

 enough known by the name of microcos- 

 mus ; as if it did -not differ so much from 

 the universal system of nature, in the sym- 

 metry and number of its parts, as in their 

 size. 



Galen's excellent treatise on the use of 

 the parts was composed as a prose hymti 

 to the Creator, and abounds with as irre- 

 sistible proofs of a Supreme Cause, and 

 governing Providence, as we find in mo- 

 dern phisico-theology. And Cicero dwells 

 more on the' structure and economy of 

 animals, than on all the productions of na- 

 ture besides, when he wants to prove the 

 existence of the Gods, from the order and 

 beauty of the universe. He there takes a 

 survey of the body of man, in a most ele- 

 gant synopsis of anatomy, and concludes 

 thus : '' Quibus rebus expositis, satis do- 

 cuisse videor, hominis natura quanto cm- 

 lies antoiret animales. Ex quo debet in-- 

 telligi, necfiguramsitumque membrorum, 

 nee ingenii mentisque,vim talem efficipo- 

 tnisse fortuna." The satisfaction of mind 

 which arises from the study of anatomy, 

 and the influence which it must naturally 

 have on our minds as philosophers, cannot 

 be better conveyed than by the following 

 passage from the same author: " Quse con- 

 tuens animus, accepit ab his cognitionem 

 deorum, ex qua oritur pietas : cui con- 

 juncta justitia est, reliquxque virtutes ; 

 ex quibus vita beata ercsistit, par et similis 

 deorum, nulla a^a re nisi immortalitate, 

 qux nihil ad bene vivendum pertinet, 

 cedens coclestibus." 



It would be endless to quote the ani- 

 mated passages of this sort, which are to 

 be found in the physicians, philosophers, 

 and theologists, who have considered the 

 structure and functions of animals, with a 

 view towards the Creator. It is a view 

 that must strike us with the most awful 

 conviction. "Who can kf.ow and eonsidir 

 Y 



