564 KEPORT— 1882. 



majoritj' of his pupils in such a manner as to enable them successfully to pass 

 examinations, would occupy no exalted position. He possessed, however, the far rarer 

 power of instilling into the minds of the best of his pupils that love of original 

 inquiry, and that deep regard for truth, which are the chief incentives to all 

 scientific research of any real value. 



The Iktestigatioxs and TnEORiEs of BowjiAiir. 



At the time when Goodsir was engaged in his investigations and speculations 

 relating to cells, Mr, Bowman was making researches which were to give him a 

 lasting place among the great histologists of the century. 



His investigation on the structure of tlie kidney,' which was published in the 

 'Philosophical Transactions' for the year 1842, surpassed in completeness as au 

 anatomical study, no less than by the deep insight into the nature of the function 

 discharged by the organ, any investigation of like kind which had preceded it. It 

 not only led to a more complete knowledge of the structure of tlie kidney than Wtas 

 possessed of tliat of any other gland, but to far-seeing generalisations concerning the 

 structure of mucous membranes, and of secreting organs generally, which found 

 expression in a masterly article on mucous membranes, published in the year 1847,. 

 in the ' Cyclopredia of Anatomy and Physiology.' 



Time will not permit of my giving a complete analysis of the (to use a German 

 expression) epoch-making research upon the kidney ; but let me remind you that it 

 led to a complete understanding of the relations cf the Malpighian bodies to the 

 urinary tubules; to a description which, so far as it went, was perfectly accurate of 

 the tubules themselves, though the scheme upon which these tubes are arranged 

 has, since Bowman's time — thanks to the labour of Henle, Ludwig, and Sehweigger- 

 Seidel — been proved to be more complicated than lie had imagined : and to a know- 

 ledge of the distribution of blood-vessels, not only in the kidney of man and other 

 mammalia, but also in that of certain reptiles. 



His study of the structure of the tubuli uriniferi had led Mr. Bowman to 

 discover that in these, a layer of epithelial cells lies upon a structureless membrane, 

 to which he gave the name of the basement membrane^- and wliich intervenes- 

 between the epithelium and the blood capillaries, whence the materials of secretion 

 are primarily derived. His examination of the mucous memlnanes of the body 

 led Bowman to the conclusion that the relationsliip so easily observed in the case 

 of the kidney between cells, basement membrane, and blood-vessels is one which 

 holds true, not only in the case of that orgau, but in that of many other epithe- 

 liated structures. 



' In the mucous tissue,' said Mr. Bowman,^ ' there are two strHctures which 

 require to bo separate!}' described, viz. the basjineiit membrane and the epithelium. 

 The basement membrane is a simple homogeneous expansion, transparent, colourless, 

 and of extreme tenuity, situated on its parenchymal surface and giving it shape 

 and strength. This serves as a foundation ou which the epithelium rests. The 

 epithelium is a pavement composed of nucleated particles adhering together, and 

 of various size, form, and number. The following general observations on these ele- 

 mentary parts will receive illustration as we advance. Neither the one nor the other 

 is peculiar to the mucous tissue in the sense either of being invariably present in it, 

 or of not being found elsewhere. There are certain situations of the mucous system 

 where no basement membrane can be detected, and othei's from which the epithe- 

 lium is absent. Both, however, are never absent together. Again, a structure 

 apparently identical with the basement membrane is met with in numerous textures 

 besides the mucous, and all internal cavities, whether serou.s, synovial, or vascular, 



' W. Bowman, ' On the Structure and Use of the Malpi.a:hian liodics of the Kidnc}-, 

 with Observations on the Circulation through that Gland,' Philosiqihical Transactions 

 for the year 18 t2. Tart I. p. 57. 



2 Op. cit. p. .oS. 



' Article ' Mucous Membrane,' in Todd's Cijclop(rdla, p. 436. 



