246 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and electricity, including the subjects of the 

 laws of climate. The contents are, there- 

 fore, of deep importance to all classes of 

 persons, especially to the observer of Nature, 

 the agriculturist, and the navigator." 



The volume is elegantly executed, and 

 in its whole style is a credit to the pub- 

 Ushers. 



The Comparative Anatomy op the Do- 

 mesticated Animals. By A. Chauveau, 

 Professor at the Lyons Veterinary 

 School. Second edition, revised and 

 enlarged, with the Cooperation of S. 

 Arloing, Professor at the Toulouse 

 Veterinary School. Translated and ed- 

 ited by George Fleming, F. R. G. S., 

 Veterinary Surgeon, Royal Engineers. 

 95*7 pages ; 450 Illustrations. Price, 

 $6.00. D. Appleton & Co. 



The first edition of this comprehensive 

 work appeared in 1854, and it has held a 

 leading place as a text-book in the Conti- 

 nental colleges. It is an exhaustive and 

 exact description of the anatomical ma- 

 chinery of which the bodies of our domes- 

 tic animals are composed. As the first 

 trait required in such a work is accuracy, 

 Prof. Chauveau could not be satisfied with 

 a compilation, no matter how weighty the 

 authorities ; and, although the whole range 

 Of anatomical erudition was consulted, the 

 work took its character from the direct 

 study of Nature, the position of the author 

 as anatomical principal in the Imperial 

 Veterinary School affording him the most 

 extensive opportunities of observation and 

 dissection. Moreover, the author aimed at 

 something more than the mere accumula- 

 tion of an endless and arid mass of ana- 

 tomical details. He sought the bonds, and 

 relations, and meanings, by which they 

 could be connected and harmonized, in a 

 philosophic method. Inspired by the in- 

 fluence of the two illustrious anatomists, 

 George Cuvier and Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, he 

 thus speaks of their labors : 



" The first, after immense researches, 

 ventured to compare the innumerable spe- 

 cies in the animal kingdom with each other ; 

 he seized their general characters — the 

 analogies which allied them to one another ; 

 he weighed these analogies, contrasted them 

 with the dissimilarities, and established 

 among them different kinds and different 



degrees; and in this way was he able to 

 form natural groups, themselves subdivided 

 into several categories in which individuals 

 were gathered together according to their 

 analogies and affinities. Then the chaos 

 was swept away, light appeared, and the 

 field of science was no longer obscured ; 

 comparative anatomy was created in all its 

 branches, and the structure of the animal 

 kingdom was brought within those laws of 

 uniformity which shine throughout the other 

 parts of creation. 



"Geoffroy St.-Hilaire followed Cuvier 

 over the same ground. More exclusive than 

 Cuvier, he entirely neglected the differential 

 characters, and allowed himself to be gov- 

 erned by the consideration of resemblances. 

 He especially pursued the discovery of a 

 fixed rule for guidance in the search after 

 these resemblances — a difficult task, and a 

 dangerous reef, upon which the sagacity of 

 his illustrious rival was stranded. To be 

 more certain than Cuvier, and the better to 

 grasp his subject, he restricted the scope of 

 his observations, confining himself more 

 particularly to the class of vertebrata, in 

 order to solve the enigma whose answer he 

 sought. At last he found it, and made it 

 known to us in those memorable though 

 abstruse pages, in which the meaning is 

 often obscure and hidden, but which con- 

 tain, nevertheless, magnificent hymns chant- 

 ed to the honor of the Creator. The shape 

 and functions of organs, he says, do not 

 offer any stability, only their relations are 

 invariable ; these alone cannot give decep- 

 tive indications in the comparison of the 

 vital instruments. He thus founded his 

 great principle of connections, firmly estab- 

 lished its value, and fortified it by acces- 

 sory principles. Then was the philosophi- 

 cal sentiment decidedly introduced into the 

 researches in organization, and anatomy 

 became a veritable science." 



The new edition of the work has been 

 rewritten throughout, greatly extended, and 

 brought up to the present time; but its 

 method is the same. The two branches of 

 anatomy, human and comparative, are 

 brought into closer alliance, and the com- 

 parison of the organs of man with those of 

 animals is made a prominent feature. The 

 work is, therefore, not only a complete dis- 

 section-manual for the student of veterinary 



