ClI \1{I.KS SKIKiWICK MINO'I'. 85 
His appointments, all of tlicin in the Ilaixard Medical Seliool, run 
as follows: — 
Lecturer on Kinhryolo^'V and Inslnietor in Oral l'atliolo^\\ and 
Surgery, 1S80-1SS3; then successively Instructor, Assistant Professor, 
and Professor of Histolo^'y and Knihryolojjy, IKS^-HMHi; and finally 
James Stillman I'rofessor of Comparative Anatomy, from lOOfi. 
Fortunately the man was always l)igger than the frame through 
which (me saw him in the catalo^me. Had he chosen his own tith-s 
they would, I think, have been dili'erent. If one nuist give a title to 
him I should suggest Naturalist or Biologist as more fitting for his 
comprehensive interests. When he was first made Lecturer in Em- 
bryology in 1880, l)oth he and those responsible for the appointment 
gave hostages to fortune — since then most nobly redeemed — for his 
emliryological work was all before him. 
Minot's earlier interests are indicated by two papers: one on 
"Growth ag a function of cells," quickly followed by another "On 
certain laws of histological diflFerentiation." It was in this same year, 
1879, that he presented in an address "On the conditions to be filled 
l\v a theory of life" this comprehensive outline: — 
"To explain life we must discover why it displays itself only in a 
physical basis composed of various albumenoid molecules imljibed 
with w^ater and certain salts and commingled with other complex 
organic compounds, all disposed in a definite order; why this basis 
divides into distinct masses, cells, grouped each around a distinct 
body, the nucleiis; why chemical and physical events take place in a 
particular order in each cell, the regulating power being within the cell 
itself; why senescence and rejuvenation take place; and finally the 
sources of consciousness, memory and hal)it." 
In this address he really formulated his leading ideas. Twelve 
years later he says (Senescence and Rejuvenation, 1891), "It is now- 
several years since I first published the thesis that the best and most 
fruitful biological work is that which contributes to determining the 
essential and fundamental peculiarities of living organisms." 
These were the problems and they may be approached in se\eral 
ways. His aptitudes and taste made Minot a student of structure, 
but his scientific sympathies w^ere broad. 
When he was entering on his work, physiology was largely concerned 
with the study by physical methods, of the isolated organs or systems 
of the mammal and the frog. General physiology on the one hand and 
the physiology of the animal as a w'hole were less regarded. 
