his own description, any one will now be a sufficient judge who can obtain a brain to dissect, and will use the requisite care. The advantages which the volume before us confers for studying the anatomy of the brain, are of too obvious a nature to require a description. We notice, in the present edition, an error of the press, or rather of the graver, which, though it seems of slight consequence, must present real embarrassment to the student. In several of the figures copied from Serres, the lobes of the brain are marked with the numbers by which the latter writer refers to his own plates; these not having been altered so as to accommodate them to Dr. Spurzheim's references. As these occur among the brains of fishes, the error is of a less radical importance, though it is a pity to confuse the conceptions of the reader on this minor, but still interesting subject.

Dr. S. complains of unjust treatment from some of the learned,

-

"The influence our labors have had on the study of the nervous system is incontestible. To be convinced of this, it is enough to examine the state of knowledge in regard to the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the brain. and spinal marrow, when Dr. Gall and I developed our ideas on these matters, whether it was by teaching orally, by dissecting publicly, or by means of our writings. I confess there is great satisfaction in the cousciousness of having contributed to the important reform that has been effected in regard to the nervous system. I am only sorry to observe, that many of our ideas are appropriated by the authors of recent publications, without any mention of the source

whence they are derived, or of the individuals who first struck them out, or reduced them to certainty by direct proofs. We are commonly enough mentioned, it is true, when such of our assertions as appear weak are the subjects of criticism, but our names are kept in the back ground when points of importance become the "Furmatter of discussion." ther, the mass of facts cited, the number of dissections made, ought never to impose on us, nor be made a means of concealing the truth.” "Anatomists and physiologists had certainly looked on heads without number; but, before Dr. Gall's appearance, had failed to discover the seat of a single cerebral organ. A solitary individual, a beggar, enabled him to detect the organ of selfesteem, precisely as the fall of a single apple revealed the law of gravitation to Newton. Anatomists had seen many human brains without remarking any differences among them; these, however, are, to say the least, as constant as similarities. The point that essentially interests science, is the discovery of the truth; and this is then confirmed and established by all ulterior observations."

Whatever justice there may be in the application of these remarks Dr. Spurzheim makes to some distinguished liv ing names, his lasting fame will be sufficient to admit of such deductions. The historian of science will always be forced to admit that our author, and his equally celebrated preceptor and coadjutor, have given the primary and effective impulse to the investigations which are now so ardently and usefully proceeding, for the elucidation of the structure and

functions of the brain; and that such names as Reil, Tiedemann, Serres, Julius Cloquet, &c. &c. are actively engaged in repeating, verifying, and occasionally extending opinions, which, when first advanced by the physicians from Vienna, were denounced, at least in England, as bold impostures.-C.-N.A.Med.&Surg. J.

ANATOMY.

Structure of the Skin.-M. Andral, Jun., has demonstrated on a limb affected with elephantiasis, three subepidermic layers, admitted by Gaultier and Dutrochet, but which had never been before demonstrated except in negroes and animals. The dermis, or skin was considerably thickened; above it, the papillary body very distinct, and much developed in several places, was separated from the epidermis by three very distinct layers. One of these the innermost was thin, having the appearance of a white line, and received no vessel;* the second exterior to this was composed of blackish filaments, analogous to the colored layer of negroes, but without gemmules; and finally, the third, which was thicker, and scaly, was immediately subjacent to the epidermis; it is the couche albide superficielle of Gaultier, or the couche cornée of M. Dutrochet.-Bibliotheque Med. Avril.

Appearances of healthy Mucous Membranes.-M. Billard obtained the prize of the Parisian Athenæum of Medicine for a treatise on the appearances presented by the healthy and diseased mucous membranes. His observations

* Couche albide profonde of M. Gaultier, and couche epidermique of M. Du

trochet.

have been made in a course of many years in a large hospital at Angers, and his opinions of course have a claim to that respect which long experience and ample opportunities for observation might bestow. We take the following account of his observations from the July number of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. Some of these observations have been already cited in vol. 1, p. 441 of this Journal, but we will not separate them in this place on that account.

The color of the mucous membrane in the adult state, when not injected either by disease or by pseudo morbid infiltration, is in the stomach dull white; in the duodenum and jejunum pale ashgray; in the ileum grayishwhite, and in the great intestines white. In the fetus, however, the whole alimentary canal has a pale rosered tint, which disappears very soon after birth. During digestion, too, it assumes in all periods of life a more or less vivid red blush at the points where the alimentary matter is undergoing the process of chylification.

The ruga, or wrinkles, differ very materially in distinctness, even in circumstances apparently the same. Stomachs, for example, are occasionally found, in which, though they have not been distended, scarcely any rugæ are visible. The first inch, or inch and a half, of the duodenumi is free from rugæ or valves; the rest of the duodenum is crowded with imbricated plates, which become fewer and less prominent as we proceed downwards, till at length, at the termination of the ileum, they are merely linear. The valvula of the intestines do not begin to be

formed till the seventh month after impregnation, the rugæ of the stomach not till birth.

The villi of the stomach and intestines are sometimes hardly perceptible, occasionally very distinct, even without the aid of a microscope. They are best seen by floating the membrane under water, and then passing the finger gently backwards and forwards over its surface. They are most abundant in the stomach and duodenum, diminish in number and distinctness in the rest of the small intestines, and in the great intestines are hardly visible.

The muciparous glands, about which anatomists are not very generally agreed, have been studied very carefully by M. Billard; and the following is the result of his inquiries. In some bodies they cannot be discovered but with great difficulty; in others, though the membrane is quite healthy, they are so distinct that even their orifices are visible to the naked eye. They are most obvious in the duodenum, at the termination of the ileum, and in the great intestines. In their most indistinct form they are seen arranged in oblong lamina, with a barely persceptible line bounding them, and causing an increased opacity of the mucous coat when it is held between the eye and the light. In other places they are rendered more distinct by constituting little white granulations as big as a millet seed, and communicating together by a fold of the membrane. In their most distinct form the surface is studded with such granulations, the summit of each of which has a little gray point. In this form they are seen in the lower part of the ileum.

It is impossible to give an accu

rate account of the thickness of the mucous membrane of the intestinal canal in a state of health. It is thickest in the duodenum, then in the stomach, next in the rectum, jejunum, and ileum, and thinnest in the colon. Wheu a fragment torn from the subjacent coat is stretched over the finger, the finger is seen through it, as through white crape.

The mucus secreted on the surface of the membrane, is abundant in the fetus, and very firm about the time of birth. It is not easy to lay down its healthy characters in adult age; but it is never red, as some suppose, unless where the membrane underneath is infiltered with blood. It becomes less abundant in old age, particularly in the great intestines.

N. A. Med. and Surg. Journ.

WEN.

A case of enormous wen was lately received into the Hospital of Surgery of Panton Square. The right side of the gland is considerably more enlarged than the left. No artery of any consequence is discoverable, but several large veins appear on the surface, and the external jugulars are considerably distended. The tumor, by compressing the windpipe, causes difficulty of breathing, and, by obstructing the return of blood from the head, occasions confusion and giddiness. The patient is of a fair complexion, and about thirtyfour years of age. Mr, Wardrop directed leeches to be applied twice a week, and the tincture of iodine to be taken, and the ointment of iodine to be rubbed over the tumor every night, which have afforded very consi

derable relief. The tumor has

evidently decreased in size, and