608 
the dog’s own order, the Carnivora, but 
through the entire mammalian class, and 
beyond this limit, so as to include the 
homologous structures, in other vertebrate 
classes, the result of the investigation be- 
comes potentially amplified to a correspond- 
ing degree. The investigator can not only 
reason from analogy as to the results of 
similar experiments extended as far as 
deemed advisable through the vertebrate 
classes and orders, but he can also, guided 
by the morphology of the structure under 
consideration, select types which, from their 
anatomical configuration, promise unequiv- 
ocal confirmation and extension of the 
results yielded by the first experiment. 
How frequently the success of an investiga- 
tion depends on details of anatomical 
structure every physiologist will attest. It 
is often the question of the length of an 
arterial vessel without branches, or the ar- 
rangement of a duct, or the combination of 
several peripheral nerves. The museum of 
comparative morphology converts a hap- 
hazard search for a suitable form into one 
which will select the most desirable type 
with certainty. 
In turn the generalized view of organized 
structure obtained in the comprehensive 
system of the museum will afford to the 
morphologist the aid which is to be found 
in the broad physiological interpretation of 
the modifications exhibited. Thus these 
two fundamental departments will be 
brought into closer contact with each other, 
a contact which cannot fail to redound 
equally to the benefit of both. I believe 
that a closer association of anatomy and 
physiology, such as is afforded by the link 
of the museum, is of very distinct advantage 
in undergraduate instruction. The modern 
development of science inevitably leads to 
a high degree of specialization, which nat- 
urally becomes apparent in the teaching of 
any department. The general advantage 
of this is obvious, provided touch is not lost 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Vou. XIII. No. 329. 
with cognate branches. The morphological 
museum preserves this vital connection be- 
tween anatomy and physiology more than 
any other single factor in the university 
equipment. Moreover, the museum has im- 
portant relations to the practical depart- 
ments of medical teaching and to pathol- 
ogy. Nearly all important advances, es- 
pecially in departments such as diseases of 
the eye and ear, the diseases of women, 
surgery in general and in its specialized 
branches, depend primarily on some mor- 
phological question for their inception, ren- 
dering this or that proposed operative 
interference proper and advantageous, or 
interdicting it. 
A museum which offers to the medical 
specialist not only the normal and variant 
human structures which constitute his field 
of work, but which enables him at the same 
time to examine the homologous parts of 
other vertebrates for the purpose of gaining 
clearer insight into obscure morphological 
conditions and the origin of aberrant for- 
mations, will certainly be an aid to practical 
advance which can be obtained by no other 
means. It is needless to point out further 
connections of a similar character, or to 
more than touch upon the line along which 
pathology and embryology meet, a line 
which is sufficiently extensive, but obscure 
because the assistance which vertebrate 
embryology can afford to the pathologist is 
only rarely attainable in the form which 
the museum proposes to offer, viz., com- 
plete sets of serial preparations. As the 
museum develops it is proposed to take 
successively certain portions of the subject, 
such as eye, ear, larynx, brain, genito- 
urinary tract, etc., and to develop these as 
fully as possible, demonstrating the results 
in the form of an exhibition to a selected 
number of scientific men who are directly 
interested in the matter as expert special- 
ists. The importance of this feature of the 
museum work will thus be brought more 
