1873*] Notices of Books. 405 



importance — such are the calculations of the work done by 

 muscles in rowing, climbing, and walking, by the human heart, 

 and by the uterus in parturition. It appears that the oarsman 

 who rows one knot in seven minutes performs a work the rate of 

 which, while it lasts, equals six times that of a hard-worked 

 labourer. The maximum hydrostatical force of the heart of man 

 is nearly the same as that of the horse ; the resistance to the 

 circulation imposed by the capillaries varies much in different 

 classes of animals — in the horse this resistance is only half of 

 that which it is in the smaller animals. The daily work of both 

 ventricles of the human heart is calculated to be 124*208 foot- 

 tons ; the work done by the heart per ounce per minute is 20-576 

 foot-pounds, whilst the work of the muscles engaged by the 

 oarsman in a race is but 15*17 foot-pounds : irt the one case the 

 effort is continuous, night and day ; in the other, the strain is for 

 a short duration only. The greatest energy ever attained by a 

 locomotive equalled only one-eighth part of the energy of the 

 human heart. The calculation of the forces employed in partu- 

 rition establishes points of high importance. " If ever," the 

 author says, " there was a muscular system produced to effect a 

 specific object, the uterine muscle may be regarded as such." 

 This muscle possesses a force of 3-4 lbs., intended to overcome 

 a maximum resistance of 3-1 lbs. The additional force of the 

 abdominal muscles so raises this figure that on an emergency 

 somewhat more than a quarter of a ton pressure can be brought 

 to bear. The author's words rather discourage the use of chlo- 

 roform and other anaesthetics in labour; but here his conclusions 

 are rather those of the abstract mathematician and physiologist 

 than of the practical obstetrician, who recognises a very wide 

 range, in various patients, of intensity of suffering and capacity 

 of endurance. 



The portion of the work devoted to the consideration of mus- 

 cular types is also of very high interest. The calculations show 

 the superiority in force of the tiger above the lion ; the strength 

 of the latter is about two-thirds of that of the former, and the 

 power of the lioness about one-half that of the tiger. The in- 

 vestigation concerning the Canidas embraces an elaborate exami- 

 nation of the celebrated greyhound, " Master McGrath." As 

 regards Man and the Quadrumana, some people will be glad to 

 know that the difference between human kind and the gorilla is 

 greater than the differences between the Quadrumana themselves. 

 We quite agree with the author in thinking that over haste has 

 been shown in generalising from purely anatomical data. "The 

 skilful artisan can produce from the same number of wheels and 

 pinions either a clock or a roasting-jack, fulfilling the very 

 different functions of marking time and of roasting meat* An 

 ignorant but intelligent savage, who was shown the interior of 

 these machines, would come to the conclusion that they were 

 very like each other, simply because he would consider only their 

 VOL. III. (N.S.) 3 G 



