VOL. XXXV.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 231 



inches in diameter, and continued of that dimension, till it came out at the 

 neck, between the clavicles ; but then extended itself circularly to a diameter 

 of above 3 inches, the covering of which was nothing else but the outer coat 

 of the same artery all along dilated from the base, even to the extremity of the 

 tumour. 



The cavity was for the most part filled with a sort of polypus, or sarcoma; in 

 which nevertheless there were three sinuses, or passages, that were kept open 

 by the constant influx of the blood, and communicated near the apex with 

 each other; that in the middle being the largest, and terminating in one to- 

 wards the extremity of the tumour, not far from where it broke. 



Observations on Aneurisms in general, and on the foregoing in particular. By 

 F. Nicholls* M. B. Reader on Anatomy at Oxford, and F.R.S. N° 402, p. 440. 



An aneurism is by all authors defined to be a soft circumscribed tumour, in 



* Dr. Frank Nicholls was born in London 1699. His father was a counsellor. After receiving 

 his grammatical instruction at Westminster, he was sent to Oxford, where he cultivated with great 

 diligence general philosophy, as well as anatomy and physiology ; and was at length appointed reader 

 on anatomy in that university. In this situation he combined, (an object which had been too much 

 neglected by preceding lecturers) physiology with anatomy; for he was not content with a mere expo- 

 sition of the parts composing the human machine, but threw a new interest upon the subject by mak- 

 ing the demonstration of the corporeal structure subservient to the elucidation of the various functions 

 in the animal economy. To quote the words of his elegant biographer, Anatomen 'aAoyc* et nudam 

 vix inter artes ingenuas numerandam censuit; vix dignam, quae discipulos studiis liberalibus occupatos 

 morari posset, nisi cum physiologia esset conjuncta. Here it is said that he showed the lymphatic 

 vessels, and explained their uses in the business of absorption, many years before the claims to this 

 discovery were brought into dispute by other anatomists. 



When he accepted the appointment of anatomical reader at Oxford, it was his intention to deliver a 

 course of lectures on anatomy and physiolog)' once a year; but not to reside wholly in the university. 

 Accordingly he used to spend part of the year in London, where he resolved some time or other to 

 settle. Yet he once had thoughts of residing in Cornwall, where his father was born, and actually 

 went there with that view; but he soon became disgusted with the sacrifice of time and exposure to 

 fatigue from visiting patients lying wide of one another, to which those who engage in country prac- 

 tice are obliged to submit. Nevertheless, during his short stay in Cornwall, he had an opportunity 

 of making observations on the miliary fever, which was then epidemic in that part of the kingdom; and 

 these observations he some years afterwards laid before the public. It was about this period that he 

 visited the continent, travelling into France and Italy. On his return heestablished himself in Lon- 

 don, where he began a course of physiological lectures, which, as might be expected, were attended 

 by a great number of pupils. In 1729 he took his degree of M. D. at Oxford. He was afterwards 

 admitted a fellow of the College of Physicians, and in 1734 he read the Gulstonian lecture, choosing 

 for his subject, the structure and action of the heart, and the circulation of the blood; this lecture 

 he published some years afterwards with considerable additions. It is a most finished performance ; 

 and while it exliibits a comprehensive view of Harvey's discoveries, it contains many new and original 

 reflections relative to the stracture and functions of the heart, and the distribution and uses of the 



