EEVIEWS 
-*o^ 
PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY * 
I F we except the earlier writings of men like Wolffj we may say that the 
first impetus which the philosophic study of microscopic anatomy 
received in Europe was due to the admirable essays of Schwann of Berlin, 
and Schleiden of Jena. More than twenty-five years have rolled away since 
the treatises of these distinguished observers were first given to the public, 
and it may almost be said that from the date of their issue up to the present 
day the views promulgated in them have held their place in science. The 
doctrine which was propounded by MM. Schwann and Schleiden was that 
which is now commonly known as the “ cell-theory,” and it was enunciated 
with such a force of logical reasoning, and such an amount of what appeared 
to be histological fact to support it, that it proved absolutely irresistible. 
The cell hypothesis was admitted by all anatomists of the age to be little 
short of a grand truth ; the expression of one of the great laws of tissue- 
development ; and, as we have stated, it has since continued to hold an 
almost absolute sway over the minds of microscopists. In this country it 
found an able and enthusiastic advocate in the author of the volume now 
under notice,^and we think it is not too much to assert that its hold upon 
English histologists has been mainly due to the plausible reasoning and in- 
genious illustration which Dr. Carpenter brought to bear upon it. In all his 
works upon physiology he has endeavoured to develope and support the cell- 
doctrine, and the eloquent manner in which he pleaded his cause, added to 
the skill always displayed by him in adducing evidence to bear out his case, 
brought hinYmany followers. 
But, after all, it must be admitted that the writer harped too much upon 
the same string, and even those who were most willing to adopt the cell 
theory found it occasionally pushed to such lengths, that they were compelled 
to be a little sceptical as to its truth. The cell was defined to be a closed 
A^esicle with liquid contents and a nucleus, and having the power of growth 
and of multiplication. It was a sort of separate being, with a kind of inde- 
“ A Manual of Physiology, including Physiological Anatomy.” By Wil- 
liam B. Carpenter, M.D., F.E.S. Fourth edition. London : Churchill. 
1865. 
