THE RISE OF EMBRYOLOGY 227 
monographs, etc., and there was no compact science of em- 
bryology with definite outlines. Balfour reviewed all this 
mass of information, digested it, and molded it into an organ- 
ized whole. The results were published in the form of two 
volumes with the title of Comparative Embryology. This 
book of “almost priceless value” was given to the world in 
1880-1881. It was a colossal undertaking, but Balfour was 
Fic. 69.—Francis M. Batrour, 1851-1882. 
a phenomenal worker. Before his untimely death at the age 
of thirty-one, he had been able to complete this work and to 
produce, besides, a large number of technical researches. 
The period of Balfour is taken arbitrarily in this volume as 
beginning about 1874, when he published, with Michael 
Foster, The Elements of Embryology. 
His University Career.—Balfour (Fig. 69) was born in 
