76 REPOKT— 1867. 



applicable to tte solution of otlier anatomical and physiological questions. It 

 consists in injecting- into a vein or introducing into the stomacli of a living animal 

 a colouring-matter, which may, after a certain lapse of time, be found filling, and 

 so rendering conspicuous, the gland ducts through which it is being eliminated 

 from the sj'stem. It is needless to pursue these considerations further, and it is 

 not my purpose to attempt anything in the nature of a general sm'vey of the recent 

 work done in our science. The number of active workers has so greatly multiplied, 

 and the published results of their labours have become so immense in extent and 

 variety, that, to me at least, it would be a hopeless task to present within reason- 

 able compass any consistent and intelligible summary. In one of the lately pub- 

 lished annual reports on the progress of anatomy and physiology, I find that the 

 wi-iters referred to as ha^dng contributed to these sciences within the year are 

 between five and six hundred, and a good many of them are cited for two or more 

 contributions. One fruitful source of this increased production has been the insti- 

 tution in recent years of physiological laboratories in various continental seats of 

 learning, in which practical instruction is given in histological and physiological 

 studies, and where many able and well-trained young men, ambitious of scientific 

 distinction, are engaged in prosecuting original inquiries. No one, of course, can 

 doubt the gain to science thus immensely accruing ; at the same time it must be 

 admitted that the eager publication of iuimatm'e results and hasty conclusions to 

 which some are tempted, and the corrective, or at least diverging statements of 

 others, equally confident, which speedily follow, present in not a few cases an 

 amount of contradiction and confusion most bewildering to any one who desires 

 to master the existing state of knowledge of the subject. But although this is 

 undoubtedly a drawback, it is trifling in comparison with the advantage of mani- 

 fold activity and accelerated progress. Anatomical aud physiological jomuials, 

 and other channels for the publication of physiological papers, have of late years 

 been on the increase abroad, and augmented facilities are thus afforded for dis- 

 seminating new matter ; and we admire (I might almost say envy) the number 

 and excellence of the graphic illustrations with which they are furnished. Such 

 advantages are not so freely offered to the anatomists and physiologists of this 

 country. Anatomical and physiological memoirs, for the most part, require elabo- 

 rately executed figures for their illustration, and the expense of a journal illus- 

 trated fully and fitly is found to be a serious obstacle to its maintenance, with tlie 

 limited circulation which a purely scientific periodical has heretofore obtained in 

 Britain. It has sometimes occun-ed to me that a publication fund might be esta- 

 blished, which, under unimpeachable management and control, might be applied 

 especially to defray part of the expense incurred in illustrating scientific memoirs. 

 Such a purpose, I venture to think, is not tmworthy of consideration by those who 

 desire to promote knowledge by pecuniary foundations. 



Finally, let me say a word on the influence of the British Association in the 

 promotion of our science. The British Association carries on its work in various 

 ways. One most important line of action is the appointment of committees, or 

 individual members, to draw up reports on the progress and existing state of par- 

 ticular branches of science, or to in^•estigate particular scientific questions by 

 actual observation or experiment, and report thereon; and every year sums of 

 money are voted to meet the expenses of such investigations. These reports are 

 published in extemo in the annual volume, and are, for the most part, of gi-eat and 

 acknowledged value. Biological science has fairly participated in these advan- 

 tages, and has further profited through the example set by the British Association, 

 which has led other influential bodies to set on foot investigations by similar 

 means. Doubtless it might be held that the same or like advantages might be 

 obtained through a stationary scientific institution, and without such local gather- 

 ings and annual visitations as that which we are now attending ; but it has been 

 justly said that the periodic meetings of the British Association in different places 

 serve not only to freshen the interest and stimidate the activity of the habitual 

 cultivators of science, but also to render the studj' more widely attractive, aud 

 enlist fresh energies in the pursuit ; and then it must be remembered that the 

 subjects for reports and particular lines of inquiry are for the most part suggested 

 or determined by the discussions that take place at these meetings. It must be 



