Marcu 14, 1912] 
NATURE 37 
the story of the company with no less authority 
than that of the ten years of Imperial government, 
in which he himself took part, being attached to 
the political department of the colony. He treats 
in full detail of the events of the early years of 
the century, the occupations of Bauchi, Bornu, 
Kano, and Sokoto, which were carried out in 
1902-1903, followed by the organisation of pro- 
vinces. The difficulties of establishing a general 
and equitable system of taxation in place of a local 
and inequitable native system are fully brought 
out, and the genius of Sir F. Lugard in attacking 
this and other problems is clearly seen and 
acknowledged. Each other important department 
of administration has its chapter. Introductory 
to the whole is the survey of the history, such as 
it is, of the country from the earliest known times, 
and a chapter descriptive of the country and its 
people enables the reader to appreciate the 
problems faced by the administration, especially 
in respect of dealings with the native peoples. 
The Hausas and the Fulanis or Fulahs, and par- 
ticularly the latter, are of especial interest. From 
this descriptive chapter it appears, as is probably 
not generally realised, that the Northern Nigerian 
Government has had to deal, not with uncivilised 
natives alone, but with peoples who possess or at 
least claim a certain degree of civilisation and 
systems of government which already, in some 
cases, recognise the principles of vassalage and 
slavery, and are not easily tolerant of a suzerain 
power. Capt. Orr’s volume is illustrated by 
simple but sufficient maps, save that no attempt 
is made towards the portrayal of relief or other 
physical characteristics. There is ground for 
regret here, especially when it is remembered what 
admirable geographical work so many Nigerian 
Government officials have found time to accom- 
plish amid all their strenuous duties. 
“The Story of the Zulus” is a rather sombre 
story, though even by strict historical methods 
it is not shorn of all the romance attached to it 
through the medium of fiction. Mr. Gibson has 
been a magistrate in Zululand, and was brought 
up in Natal at a time when Zulu opposition to 
white settlement was active. In this new edition 
he has been able to make use of new material 
discovered since the first issue, and the matter of 
the book has in consequence been not only revised 
but extended. Its claim to recognition as an 
authoritative work is thus strengthened. 
ONyOR: H: 
THE HUMAN FORM.’ 
ANKIND in general is imbued with a 
deep-rooted instinct of interest in the 
human form, the reality of which is substantiated 
by the contrast between the uncouthness of the 
ape and the gracefulness of man, which this in- 
terest, working through sexual selection, has 
brought about. 
1 “Die ausseren Formen des menschlichen Kérpers in ihrem allgemeinen 
Zustandekommen. By Prof. E. Gaupp. Pp. 57. Thirteenth part of the 
“*Sammlung anatomischer und physiologischer Vortrige und Aufsitze.” 
(Jena: Gustav Fischer, rorr.) Price 1°50 marks. 
NO. 2211, VOL. 89] 
But while it is thus ingrained in the nature of 
all human beings, not excepting even Schopen- 
hauer, to find some fascination in the contempla- 
tion of the forms of the rest of our species, there 
are two classes of students whose business it is, 
during the course of the technical training for 
their professional work, to familiarise themselves 
with the exact topography of the surface of the 
human body and to inquire into the nature of the 
factors which determine its form. ‘The artist, be 
he sculptor or painter, studies the body for the 
purpose of reproducing its features in the creation 
of statues or pictures; the medical man because 
the visible parts of the body afford the land- 
marks to guide him in the perilous undertakings 
incidental to his professional labours in the hidden 
depths of the body. 
Although these two classes of students work 
in the same field of investigation they are seeking 
different kinds of knowledge, for much of the 
information that is of vital importance to the 
surgeon is of no interest to the sculptor. Teachers 
of anatomy have recently begun to realise that 
the usefulness of teaching in surface anatomy 
can be enhanced by taking a wider view of the 
subject in imparting knowledge to either class 
of students by borrowing judiciously, both in 
methods and knowledge, from the other class. 
It is now widely acknowledged among teachers 
of anatomy in medical schools that the use of 
living models, after the manner of the art-teacher, 
is essential as a corrective to the mistaken ideas 
of the surface form of the body acquired from 
the cadaver in the dissecting-room; and the pro- 
fessional teacher of art-anatomy, if he is in the 
habit of dissecting, is able to impart to the 
medical student a great deal of useful information 
which he acquires when looking at the body from 
his own viewpoint. The time has come when 
the real teacher of anatomy for artists has begun 
to realise that it is not enough to show his 
students the human skeleton and demonstrate its 
muscles. He must give him facilities for ex- 
amining and handling the muscles, and for 
investigating the nature and arrangement of 
tendons, aponeuroses, and intermuscular. septa, 
and for studying the varieties of fatty tissues, and 
the factors (sex, age, and the individual and 
racial characters) that modify these packing 
tissues. : 
But, most important of all, he must be taught 
the difference between a dead and a live muscle, 
and between a living muscle that is in active con- 
traction and one that, though “resting,” is in a 
state of tonicity, which is a condition vastly 
different from the flaccidity of a dead or paralysed 
muscle. 
Such studies are essential if the artist is to por- 
tray living men in action, and not merely models 
in the attitude of performing the civen act. By 
this it is not meant that the student of art should 
attempt to fathom the mysteries of the “ Integra- 
tive Action of the Central Nervous System,” but 
he should learn the general principles of reciprocal 
action of muscles and the meaning of tonus. 
