404 Notices of Books. [J u h T > 



contains a great fund of interesting matter, not alone directly 

 illustrating the life of Humboldt, but at that same time the cha- 

 racter of the society in which he moved, and the times. As 

 such it must be welcomed by all English readers of the 

 " Cosmos." 



Principles of Animal Mechanics. Bv the Rev. Samuel Haugh- 

 tox, F.R.S., Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, M.D. Dubl., 

 D.C.L. Oxon. London : Longmans, Green, and Co. 1873. 

 Pp. 495. 

 This great work cannot receive from us the notice which it de- 

 serves ; the reviewer of it should be profoundly versed in the 

 higher mathematics, and should be withal a skilled and practised 

 anatomist. The Sciences of Geometry and Anatomy have not 

 been hitherto sufficiently cultivated together. The anatomist 

 who consults this work is staggered at the statement that atten- 

 tion is called to " the problem of the equilibrium of an elliptical 

 muscular dome.'* and to the use made " of the hyperboloid of 

 one sheet, of Ptolemy's Theorem, and of some curves of the 

 third order;" and the geometer is puzzled by the difficulty of 

 mastering, " inter alia," the course and attachments of the mus- 

 cular fibres of the heart. There is no doubt, however, that the 

 union of these two branches of science has produced, and will 

 produce, results of the highest importance in relation to intel- 

 lectual progress. Not only is a method pointed out for the investi- 

 gation of some of the host of problems in Biology yet unsolved, 

 but a new light is cast upon the question of medical education 

 in the future. The University man need not cram his higher 

 mathematics with the idea that if hereafter he joins the profession 

 of medicine they must be forgotten to make way for anatomy 

 and physiology, but he may be assured that his knowledge will 

 serve him well in the special studies of his calling, and very 

 probably in the scientific examinations which in the future he 

 will have to pass. It will be a matter of surprise if Dr. Haugh- 

 ton's work fail to place its mark upon the examination papers of 

 some universities. The Rev. Dr. Haughton is the Newton of 

 the Muscular System, and no cultivated anatomist of this or 

 future time can afford to pass by the study of his book. 



The general argument of the work is to establish the validity 

 of the principle of " least action in Nature " — the proposition 

 that in the muscular system of animals there is a perfect adapta- 

 tion of means to ends. The conclusion is irresistible that such 

 adaptation is the result of design. 



A large portion of the work is occupied by elaborate calcula- 

 tions of the statical and dynamical work done by man and by 

 animals. The number and kinds of animals examined by the 

 author are very great, and the labour of the investigation must 

 have been immense. Some of the results are of great practical 



