354 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. n., No. 32. 



of the leucocytes, in great numbers, in the adenoid 

 tissue during digestion; and, also, to certain proofs 

 of the ability of the leucocytes to combine with pep- 

 tones in a loose form of combination. 



The similarity of these two functions of the color- 

 less corpuscles, as determined by Hofmeister for pep- 

 tones, and by Zawarykin for fats, cannot fail to suggest 

 the probability of a very definite and important fimc- 

 tion of these corpuscles in general nutrition. Pos- 

 sibly, also, the anomalies observed in the absorption 

 of saccharine food, and in the glycogenic functions 

 of liver and muscles, may in time receive some ex- 

 planation through the functions of the colorless cor- 

 puscles. 



It seems as if we were, at last, beginning to obtain 

 an idea of the functions performed by these impor- 

 tant cells, whose close connection with the life of the 

 organization has been generally recognized, though 

 but vaguely understood. J. M. S. 



HUMAN PROPORTION. 



Human proportion in art and anthropometry : a lecture 

 delivered at the National museum, Washington, D. C. 

 By Egbert Fletcher, M. R. C. S. E. Cam- 

 bridge, King, 1883. 37 p. iUustr. 8°. 



Feom the earliest ages, man has found his 

 standards of measurement most conveniently in 

 some bodily measure, like the digit, the palm, 

 the span, the foot, or the cubit. As these 

 measures necessarily vary with the size of the 

 individual, the attempt to ascertain their aver- 

 age led to the first sj'stematic measurements 

 of the human bodj' : hence have sprung the 

 innumerable schemes of human proportion de- 

 vised by artists and anatomists, all founded 

 on the belief that some one part of the body 

 was a standard of measurement for all its 

 other dimensions. The Egyptians first de- 

 veloped a canon of proportion as early as the 

 thirtj'-fifth century B.C., which was twice sub- 

 sequentlj' changed . Their last canon adopted 

 the length of the middle finger as the stand- 

 ard, reckoning it precisely one-nineteenth of 

 the entire stature. But in the ' canon of Polv- 

 kleitos,' the famous sculptor who flourished 

 about 450 B.C., was embodied the highest 

 rule of Greek art in its most flourishing pe- 

 riod. This has fortunately been preserved in 

 a well-known passage of Vitriivius, and is illus- 

 trated by a recently discovered drawing by 

 Lionardo da Vinci. The restless spirit of 

 modern life has not remained content with 

 this, as more than a hundred diflTerent at- 

 tempts bear witness by men of all nations, 

 including the celebrated English sculptor Gib- 

 son and our own Stoiy. All these methods 

 have been based upon the theory that there is 

 a fixed relation between some one portion of 

 the body and all its other dimensions ; and 

 their number proves the fallacj' of the idea. 

 Anthropometry, on the other hand, measures 



with the strictest scientific accuracy the living 

 man, and from an immense mass of measure- 

 ments obtains the mean of tlie human form, 

 and thus arrives at the perfect human type. 

 The father of tliis science is tlie Belgian Que- 

 telet, and the enormous number of measure- 

 ments rendered necessar}' by the draft during 

 our civil war have greatly advanced it. By its 

 tests many a time-honored dogma bearing upon 

 human proportion has been exploded. Thus 

 it has been proved that the length of the out- 

 stretched arms is somewhat greater than, and 

 not exactly equal to, the height of the body ; 

 that not eight, but seven and a half heads 

 make up the entire stature ; and that only in 

 the negro skeleton can be found the length of 

 humerus bestowed upon the Apollo Belvedere. 

 All these matters the author has illustrated 

 with great learning and in a clear and ani- 

 mated style. We have noticed, however, that 

 his knowledge of archeology is sometimes at 

 fault, — as where he calls the ' crux ansata' in 

 the hand of the Egyptian standard figure 'a 

 ke}',' which is reallj' a cross with a loop or 

 handle attached to it, and is the symbol of 

 eternity- ; or suggests that the ' golden fleece ' 

 was in realitj' ' the secret of Egyptian art ; ' or 

 states that the Dorj-phoros of Polj'kleitos was 

 ' a beautiful j'outh in the act of throwing a 

 spear,' instead of its being one of the ' spear- 

 bearers,' the bodj'-guard of the Persian king. 

 The most marvellous statement, however, is, 

 that "prior to the time of Phidias, tlie face, 

 hands, feet, or other exposed parts of the bod^' 

 were carved in marble, and fastened to a 

 wooden block, which was covered with real 

 draperj-." This is a complete misunderstand- 

 ing of the nature of the archaic foava, or 

 wooden statues, which in Greece preceded 

 those made of stone or metal. 



WARE'S MODERN PERSPECTIVE. 



Modern perspective: a treatise upon the principles 

 and practice of plane and cylindrical perspective. 

 By William B,. Ware, Professor of architecture 

 in the School of mines, Columbia college. Bos- 

 ton, /amesii. Osgood^ Co., 1883. 321 p. 12°. 



Professor Wake's Modern perspective is in 

 substance a series of papers printed two or 

 three years ago in the American arcJiitect, but 

 with additions which extend its range, and give 

 it more the scope of a scientific treatise. Sci- 

 entific it is, both in its idea and its methods ; 

 though its treatment is naturallj- freer than 

 would be given it for scientific uses alone, — 

 freer, perhaps, than the author would have given 

 if it had originally' been written as a formal 



