166 
REVIEW. 
is literally wasted upon anatomy, and especially upon that branch of it 
termed ‘ descriptive anatomy/ Of course it is needless to say that for 
the operative surgeon such a knowledge of ‘surgical anatomy’ as shall 
render him competent, upon any emergency, to know with what ele¬ 
ments he has to deal, is absolutely necessary; and again, for the phy¬ 
sician, a knowledge of visceral anatomy is requisite; hilt what useful 
end is obtained by a laborious taxing of the memory by all sorts of arti¬ 
ficial devices, by V. A. B.’s and B. O. D. F. I.’s, in order to ‘get through 
an examination’ in which the candidate is expected to know the distri¬ 
bution and relations of every nerve-filament, and vascular ramuscle, the 
origin and insertion of every muscle, the course and contingencies of 
viscera, and parts of viscera which never come under the surgeon’s 
knife, and are always hidden from the physician’s ken, I am at a loss to 
conceive. 
“ As a mere exercise of memory it is not a particularly good one, for 
it is of such a nature that four fifths of it are lost as soon as the exami¬ 
nation is over; and further, the boy at school should have educated his 
memory, and the student should not have to waste one half of his ordi¬ 
nary three years’ curriculum of proper professional study by a mere 
gymnastic exercise of mind. 
“ What is the good of all this? I have often asked, but have never 
yet received a satisfactory reply. How much of minute descriptive 
anatomy do we, any of us, remember? How much less do we find of 
real value to us in our daily work? How should we stand a stiff exa¬ 
mination now? We should, many of us, positively flounder in our 
* bones!’ 
“ For those who intend to graduate at universities, or to take honours 
wherever they may be, there can be no doubt that the field of anatomy 
is an ample and noble one for emulation and distinction ; but for the 
practical use which is made of anatomy in after years, I believe that 
six months’ genuine work would be fully sufficient, and the ordinary 
student would then have time to ground himself well, instead of ‘grind¬ 
ing’ himself wretchedly, in physiology, pathology, medicine, and 
surgery.” 
It is possible that we may return to this Oration, as we 
have not exhausted all the subjects it embraces. 
Parliamentary Intelligence. 
VETERINARY SURGEONS IN THE ARMY. 
In the House of Commons, on Friday, February 25th, in 
answer to Mr. A. Baring, General Peel said that a new 
warrant had been prepared, the effect of which would be to 
improve the rank, pay, and retiring allowances of veterinary 
surgeons. That document had to receive the sanction of the 
Commander-in-Chief with regard to the rank and position of 
those gentlemen, and of the Treasury with respect to the 
pay. Until such sanction should be obtained, it would not 
be desirable to state the nature of the alterations proposed. 
