REVIEWS. 
379 
engravings, and in part by kerograpliy , accompany the volume ; the first of 
these, which illustrates the action of Tinea on hair, is very well done 
indeed, and had the magnifying power employed been higher would have 
been of much interest to the histologist, as showing the pathological con- 
dition of the parts. In our opinion the profession is greatly indebted to 
Dr. Fox for his admirable essay. 
LIFE AND DEATH * 
S OME time since Mr. Savory delivered four lectures on the above sub- 
ject, at the Royal Institution. It is these which are now printed. 
They are an interesting and sketchy account of the relation which exists 
between the two conditions. We admire Mr. Savory’s style as a writer 
and lecturer, it is both elegant and exact. We think too that his lectures 
are calculated if not to explain the nature of life, at all events to awaken 
in the minds of most persons a desire to become more conversant with phy- 
siological laws. Viewed from this aspect, the tendency of the little volume 
is a good one. The pages of Mr. Savory’s lectures abound in generaliza- 
tion, and it must be confessed that he has left nothing undone to induce in 
his audience a keen appreciation of the beauty of natural laws, and of 
those sublime speculations which first emanated from the great Von Baer. 
The importance of studying comparative anatomy, in order to arrive at a 
true conception of the complexities of the human organism, is adverted to 
in impressive terms, and the distinction between the generalization and 
specialization of organs is briefly stated. Still, with the exception of 
reference to the general phenomena of life and death, our author leaves the 
subject as it was before. True, he admits that life involves two essential 
conditions, destruction and renewal ; and he does not attribute it, as some 
do, to a vital principle ; but something more is to be expected from one in 
Mr. Savory’s position. Nevertheless, those who are anxious to know some- 
thing of the grand fundamental laws of physiology cannot do better than 
read these lectures. 
THE STORY OF THE GUNS.+ 
W HAT is the condition of our national defences F This is the ques- 
tion which almost everybody puts to everybody, but which very 
few indeed are able to answer. Now, when we are almost on the eve of a 
general European war, it behoves us to inquire into the matter of arma- 
ments, to see in what way our homes and hearths are protected. This we 
can only do by making ourselves acquainted with guns and gunnery, and 
by thus being enabled to compare the merits of different varieties of the 
latter. The author of the present volume has spared us an infinite amount 
of labour, for he has compiled all the information which lay scattered here 
* “On Life and Death.” By William Savory, F.R.S., &c. London : 
Smith & Elder. 1863. 
t “ The Story of the Guns.” By Sir J. Emerson Tennent, K.C.S., 
LL.D., F.R.S. London : Longman & Co. 1864. 
