Vice-President’s Address. 7 
generally adopted in the descriptive anatomy of the cerebral 
cortex. Two years ago, his position as one of the leading 
authorities in this department of anatomy was recognised 
by his being invited to deliver an address on this subject 
before the Anatomical Section of the International Medical 
Congress held in Berlin. This address was published in the 
Journal of Anatomy and Physiology for October 1890, and 
also in the Zvransactions of the Berlin Congress. It contains 
a very extensive and valuable series of investigations into 
the arrangement of the rhinencephalon and pallium in 
numerous animals, and is illustrated by a large number of 
original figures. 
Turning now from the comparative anatomy of the adult 
brain to its developmental history, we shall find that this 
department has likewise engaged the attention of many 
earnest investigators, and shows a good record of work 
already accomplished. Of course, the very early stages in 
the development of the brain could not be ascertained until 
the general introduction of the microscope as an instrument 
of research, the discovery of suitable hardening and staining 
reagents, and of improved methods of section cutting; 
but even before these important aids had been adopted 
in our laboratories, the main features of cerebral develop- 
ment had been traced. 
We have seen that the publication of Vieq d’Azyr’s work 
in 1787 provided the anatomist with an accurate and a | 
beautifully illustrated account of the naked-eye anatomy of 
the adult brain. About thirty years later, in 1816, the 
science of embryology was enriched by Frederick Tiede- 
mann’s memoir on the “ Anatomie und Bildungsgeschichte 
des Gehirns im Fcetus des Menschen.” This was the first 
work of any importance dealing in a systematic manner with 
the development of the human brain. It affords an admir- 
able illustration of the fact that the introduction of improved 
methods of research are soon followed by fresh discoveries. 
Shortly before Tiedemann began to work at the development 
of the brain, Reil had shown the value of spirits-of-wine as a 
hardening agent for the central nervous system, and Tiede- 
mann used this fluid for the embryoes he obtained for his 
