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Fan. §, 1871 | 

NATURE 
189 

PHYSIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES IN GREAT 
BRITAIN 
HE introductory paragraph with which you bring 
under the notice of your readers the very excellent 
description of the Physiological Laboratory at Leipsic by 
Dr. H. P. Bowditch, of Boston, begins with the phrase : 
“Tn England we have absolutely no Physiological Labo- 
ratory open for students.” As this statement appears to 
me to admit of misconstruction, as leading to the inference 
that the present neglect of physiology in England is en- 
tirely due to the want of opportunities, it seems desirable 
to place before those of your readers who are interested in 
the subject, the actual position of this country as regards 
facilities for this kind of research. 
There is, at all events, one institution in London, viz. 
University College, in which, for many years past, it has 
been possible for any man desirous of conducting experi- 
mental inquiries in Physiology or Pathology to do so; in 
proof of which I may refer to the experiments of the 
scientific committees of the Medical and Chirurgical 
Society on Apnzea and on subcutaneous injections ; to my 
own experiments on the transmission of cholera to the 
lower animals, and on the influence of the respiratory 
movements on the action of the heart—all of which in- 
quiries were made in the Physiological Laboratory of 
University College by persons unconnected with the In- 
stitution. In this enumeration I make no reference to the 
more abundant similar work which has been done by 
professors and students of the College, because my only 
object is to show that, as regards London at all events, it 
is many years since it could be said with truth that there 
was no Physiological Laboratory open to students. 
At the present moment there are laboratories connected 
with one or two of the principal medical schools in 
this country to which students are admissible. In 
Edinburgh the Physiological Laboratory is fitted with 
all the instruments and appliances for research which are 
to be found in the laboratories of Germany ; and for some 
time the students have been superintended in their studies 
by practical teachers, thoroughly versed in those methods 
of exact research which have been lately introduced into 
vital physics. Inaddition to the Physiological Laboratory, 
which is under the direction of Professor Bennett, the 
Professor of Medical Jurisprudence (Dr. Maclagan), and 
the Professor of Materia Medica (Dr. Christison) severally 
open their laboratories without charge, only requiring 
those who profit by them to meet the current expenses of 
research, Further, Dr. Arthur Gamgee, Lecturer on 
Physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons, has opened 
a new laboratory in which several separate inquiries are 
now being carried on. In Edinburgh, therefore, little can 
be said of want of opportunities ; and here again the best 
proof of the existence of the means is to be found in 
the results attained, zc. in the laboratory work actually 
performed by Edinburgh students during the last few 
years, as, for example, the researches of Dr. Fraser on 
Calabar Bean, of Dr. McDougall on the action of phos- 
phorus, of Dr. Paton on the active principles of Broom, of 
Dr. Brunton on Digitalis, of Dr. Keith Anderson on the 
excretion of urea in typhus, of Dr. Young on the quantity 
of iron in bile, of Dr. Rutherford (now of King’s College) 
on the vagus nerve, and others which might be mentioned, 
all of which possess the essential characteristics which 
constitute scientific value, though differing very consider- 
ably from each other in completeness, That so much has 
been already accomplished affords encouragement for the 
hope that as soon as the obstacles which still exist in the 
way of the student have been removed, Edinburgh will 
stand behind very few of the German schools of medicine 
in scientific productiveness. Of these obstacles, the most 
serious is that of expense. The large fees which are de- 
manded, particularly for the physiological laboratory, have 
restricted the number of workers, the best of whom, as 
| already exists, to which 

your correspondent, Prof. Stricker, so well pointed out in 
one of his recent communications, are not to be found 
either in England or Germany among the well-to-do. 
It must be admitted that at the present moment our 
great London Schools are behind those of Edinburgh, as 
regards means of physiological and pathological research. 
There are, however, good reasons for anticipating that in 
a very few years the aspect of things will be entirely 
changed. In King’s College a physiological laboratory 
t I understand students are ad- 
mitted. Iam not aware to what extent it contains the 
necessary accommodation, but it is certain that those who 
work in it have at all events the supervision and aid ofa 
teacher thoroughly conversant with the art of investigation, 
At Guy’s, Bartholomew’s, and St. Thomas's I hear that 
similar improvements are at all events in contemplation. 
At University College, which, as has already been said, has 
long afforded opportunities not to be had elsewhere, these 
have been much extended during the present year. The 
Physiological Laboratory now consists of three rooms, one 
of which, of large size, is devoted to students, one is em- 
ployed as a place of research and for the preparation of 
materials for demonstration, while the third is used for such 
special purposes as require a separate apartment. 
The movement towards a more practical method of 
teaching the theory of medicine, of which the facts I have 
referred to afford evidence, is anew one. Inthe course of 
very few years it may be confidently anticipated that 
great progress will be made, and that although we cannot 
in so short a time hope to compete with the splendid insti- 
tutions which exist at Leipzig or at Breslau, where spacious 
buildings, costly instruments, and abundant material, are 
freely placed at the disposal of the student without charge 
and without respect to his nationality, or any cther 
consideration except his competency, we may hope to 
produce results which may be of equal importance for the 
advancement of Science. 
At the present moment, the want which perhaps presses 
even more than that of laboratories, is that of workers 
in physiology—that is, of men already crillkd in chemistry 
and physics, and prepared to devote a few years of 
their lives to continuous physiological or pathological 
research. The reason why such men are wanting 
is no doubt in great measure that hitherto the op- 
portunities for work have been denied them. Another, 
and perhaps more efficient reason, is that the statement 
which is so often repeated in lectures, that medicine is 
based on physiology, is not really believed or accepted. 
Consequently, young physicians, instead of devoting their 
time and energies to research—whether conducted in the 
hospital wards or in the laboratory—spend the best years 
of their lives in the collection and exhibition of curiosities 
from the dead-house (miscalled pathology), in the com- 
piling of masses of useless statistics, or in the perform- 
ance of other drudgeries, as little conducive to their own 
improvement as to the advancement of medicine. 
If it were not for the want of this scientific conviction, 
or, if I may venture to use the expression, scientific az¢h, 
the study of vital physics would make rapid progress in 
England, notwithstanding all the material obstacles which 
stand in their way. A dozen years of good work would 
place us again side by side with Germany, instead of 
being, as now seems possible, in danger of being over- 
taken by America. 
This country still maintains its superiority overall other 
European countries in respect of medical and surgical 
skill, and has reason to be proud of it. But it is to be 
borne in mind that the men who exercise that skill were 
for the most part educated at a time when we could also 
compete with Germany in Science. As Science advances, 
its influence on practice, now so difficult to trace, will 
increase. If we continue to undervalue it as we have 
done, shall we not also eventually lose our practical pre- 
eminence ? J. BURDON SANDERSON 
