SHOULD 
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 
BE INCLUDED IN A 
MEDICAL COURSE? 
BY 
BURT G. WILDER, M. D. 
[REPRINTED FROM TT1R NEW YORK MEDICAL ,TOimp 
NEW YORK: 
I). APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
5 4 9 & 5 5 1 BROADWAY. 
1877. THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES, 
NOW READY. 
No. I. FORMS OF WATER, in Clouds, Rain, Rivers, Ice, and Glaciers. By Prof. John Tyndall, LL. D., 
F.R.S. 1vol. Cloth. Price, $1.50. 
“ 2. PHYSICS AND POLITICS; or, Thoughts on the Application of the Principles of “ Natural Selection ” 
and “ Inheritance ” to Political Society. By Walter Bagehot, Esq., author of “ The English Constitution.” 
1 vol. Cloth. Price, $1.50. 
44 3. FOODS. By Edward Smith, M. D., LL. B., F. R. S. 1vol. Cloth. Price, $1.75. 
44 4. Ml HD AMD BODY. The Theories of their Relations. By Alex. Bain, LL. D., Professor of Logic in the 
University of Aberdeen. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50. 
44 5. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. By Herbert Spencer. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.60. 
44 6. THE NEW CHEMISTRY. By Prof. Josiah P. Cooke, Jr., of Harvard University. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. 
Price, $2.00. 
44 7. THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. By Prof. Balfour Stewart, LL. D., F. R.S. 1 vol., 
12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50. 
44 8. ANIMAL LOCOMOTION * or, Walking, Swimming, and Flying, with a Dissertation on Aeronautics. By 
J. Bell Pettigrew, M. D., F. R. S., F. R. S. E., F. R. C. P. E. 1 vol., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Price, $1.75. 
44 9. RESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE. By Henry Maudsley, M. D. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. 
Price, $1.50. 
“ IO. THE SCIENCE OF LAW. By Prof. Sheldon Amos. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.75. 
44 II. ANIMAL MECHANISM. A Treatise on Terrestrial and Aerial Locomotion. By E. J. Marey, With 
117 Illustrations. Price, $1.75. 
“ 12. THE HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELICION AND SCIENCF. 
By John Wm. Draper, M. D., LL. D., author of “ The Intellectual Development of Europe.” Price, $1.75. 
44 13. THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT, AND DARWINISM. By Prof. Oscar Schmidt, Stras- 
burg University. Price, $1.50. 
“ 14. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY. In its Application to Art, Science, 
and Industry. By Dr. Hermann Vogel. 100 Illustrations. Price, $2.00. 
44 15. FUNCI; their Nature, Influence, and Uses. By M. C. Cooke, M. A., LL. D. Edited by Rev. M. J. Berkeley, 
M. A.', F. L. S. With 109 Illustrations. Price, $1.50. 
44 16. THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF LANGUAGE. By Prof. W. D. Whitney, of Yale College. 
Price, $1.50. 
“ 17. MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE. By W. Stanley Jevons, M. A., 
F. R. S., Professor of Logic and Political Economy in the Owens College, Manchester. Price, $1.75. 
44 18. THE NATURE OF LIGHT, with a General Account of Physical Optics. By Dr. Eugene Lommel, 
Professor of Physics in the University of Erlangen. With 188 Illustrations and a Plate of Spectra in Chromo- 
lithography. Price, $2.00. 
“ 19. ANIMAL PARASITES AND MESSMATES. By Monsieur Van Beneden, Professor of the 
University of Louvain, Correspondent of the Institute of France. With 83 Illustrations. Price. $1.50. 
44 20. ON FERMENTATIONS. By P. Schutzenberger, Director at the Chemical Laboratory at the Sor- 
bonne With 28 Illustrations. Price, $1.50. 
“ 2 1. THE FIVE SENSES OF MAM. By Julius Bernstein, O. O. Professor of Physiology in the Uni- 
versity of Halle. With 91 Illustrations. Price, $1.75. 
“ 22. THE THEORY OF SOUND IN ITS RELATION TO MUSIC. By Prof. Pietro 
Blaserna, of tha Royal University of Rome. With numerous Woodcuts. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50, 
PROSPECTUS. 
D. Appleton & Co. have the pleasure of announcing that they have made arrangements for publishing, and have recently 
commenced the issue of, a Series of Popular Monographs, or small works, under the above title, which will embody the 
results of recent inquiry in the most interesting departments of advancing science. 
The character and scope oi this series will be best indicated by a reference to the names and subjects included in the subjoined 
list, from which it will be seen that the cooperation of the most distinguished professors in England, Germany, France, and the 
United States, has been secured, and negotiations are pending for contributions from other eminent scientific writers. 
The works will be issued simultaneously in New York, London, Paris, Leipsic, Milan, and St. Petersburg. 
The International Scientific Series is entirely an American project, and was originated and organized by Dr. E. L. 
Youmans, who spent the greater part of a year in Europe, arranging with authors and publishers. The forthcoming volumes 
are as follows: 
Prof. W. Kingdon Clifford, M. A., The First Principles of the 
Exact Sciences explained to the Non-Mathematical. 
Prof. T. PI. Huxley, LL. D., F. R. S., Bodily Motion and Con- 
sciousness. 
Dr. W. B. Carpenter, LL. D., F. R. S., The Physical Geogra- 
phy of the Sea. 
Prof. Wm. Odling, F. R. S., The Old Chemistry viewed from 
the New Stand-point. 
W. Lauder Lindsay, M. D., F. R. S E., Mind in the Lower 
Animals. 
Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F. R. S , On Ants and Bees. 
Prof. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, B. A., B. Sc., Form and Habit in 
Flowering Plants. 
Mr. J. N. Lockyer, F. R. S., Spectrum Analysis. 
Prof. Michael Foster, M. IX, Protoplasm and the Cell Theory. 
H. Charlton Bastian, M. D., F. R. S., The Brain as an 
Organ of Mind. 
Prof. A. C. Ramsay, LL. D., F. R S., Earth Sculpture; Mills, 
Valleys, Mountains, Plains, Rivers, Lakes; how they were 
produced, and how they have been destroyed. 
Prof. Rudolph Virchow (Berlin University), Morbid Physiolo- 
gical Action. 
Prof. Claude Bernard, His'oryofthe Theories of Life. 
Prof. H. Saint-Clairk Deville, An Introduction to General 
Chemistry. 
Prof. Wurtz, Atoms and the Atomic Theory. 
Prof. De Quatrefages, The Human Race. 
Prof. Lacaze-Duthiers, Zoology since Cuvier. 
Prof. Berthelot, Chemical Synthesis. 
Prof. C. A. Young, Ph. D. (of Dartmouth College), The Sun. 
Prof. Ogden N. Rood (Columbia College, New York), Mod- 
ern Chromatics and its Relations to Art and Industry. 
Dr. Eugene Lommel (University of Erlangen), The Nature of 
Light. 
Prof. J. Rosenthal, General Physiology of Muscles and Nerves. 
Prof. James D. Dana, M. A., LL. D., On CephalizaUon; or, 
Head-Characters in the Gradation and Progress of Life. 
Prof. S. W. Johnson, M. A., On the Nutrition of Plants. 
Prof. Austin Flint, Jr., M. D., The Nervous System, and its 
Relation to the Bodily Functions. 
Prof. Bernstein (University of Halle), The Five Senses of Man. 
Prof. Ferdinand Cohn (Breslau University), ThalUphytes 
(Alga?, Lichens, Fungi). 
Prof. Hermann (University of Zurich), On ResjAration. 
Prof. Leuckaet (University of Leipsic), Outlines of Animal 
Organization. 
Prof. Liebreicii (University of Berlin), Outlines of Toxicology. 
Prof. Kundt (University of Strasburg), On Sound. 
Prof. Rees (University of Erlangen), On Parasitic Plants. 
Prof. Steinthal (University of Berlin), Outlines of the Science 
of Language. 
P. Bert (Professor of Physiology, Paris), Forms of Life and 
other Cosmieal Conditions. 
E. Ai.glave (Professor of Constitutional and Administrative 
Law at Douai, and of Political Economy at Lille), The 
Primitive Elements of Political Constitutions. 
P. Lorain (Professor of Medicine, Paris), Modern Epidemics. 
Prof. Schutzenberger (Director of the Chemical Laboratory 
at the Sorbonne), On Fermentations. 
Mons. Freidel, The Functions of Organic Chemistry. 
Mons. Debray, Precious Metals. 
Prof. Corfield, M. A., M. D. (Oxon.), Air in its Relation to 
Health. 
Prof. A. Giard, General Embryology. 
D. APPLETON er3 CO., Publishers, 549 6° 551 Broadway, N. K SHOULD 
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 
BE INCLUDED IN A 
MEDICAL COURSE? 
BURT G. WILDER, M. D. 
BY 
[REPRINTED FROM THE NEW YORK MEDICAL JOURNAL, OCTOBER, 1877.] 
NEW YORK: 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
549 & 5 51 BROADWAY. 
187V. SHOULD COMPARATIVE ANATOMY BE 
INCLUDED IN A MEDICAL COURSE? 
In liis address at the formal opening of Johns Hopkins 
University, Prof. Huxley used the following language: 
“In many medical schools of the present day young men are set down 
to spend three or four valuable months of the year in the study of zoology 
and comparative anatomy, and botany, and materia medica—that is, a 
knowledge of drugs and what they come from, and the animals and plants 
that yield them. If I had power in this matter, I should cut all these sub- 
jects out ruthlessly. . . . When the time which a man possesses to be- 
come familiar with the structure of the human body is so limited, what 
earthly business has he to be studying the anatomy of star-fishes, and 
crabs and lobsters ? ” (1, 11.) 9 
To these expressions—which, by the way, should be qual- 
ified by the speaker’s more carefully-worded discussions of 
1 Introductory lecture at the Medical School of Maine, February 15,. 
1877. 
2 The references are to a list of papers at the close of this article. 4 
the subject1—exception is taken by Prof. Harrison Allen, 
M. D., of the University of Pennsylvania : 
“ I am a teacher of comparative anatomy in its relations to medicine, 
of ten years’ standing, and, as such, I respectfully protest against the views 
so conspicuously announced by Prof. Huxley in his recent address at 
Baltimore. Now, I contend that no good teacher of comparative anatomy 
to medical students dwells at length upon any such topic as the anatomy 
of star-fishes and lobsters. He confines himself to the consideration of 
.general principles as they apply to all structure” (2). 
As stated in an extended review of his recent work upon 
“ Medical Education in Germany,” Prof. Billroth thinks that 
zoology and comparative anatomy should be taught to- 
gether ; and that the latter, if well taught, is especially adapted 
for giving breadth of view, and producing the habit of 
thought best suited to the investigator of Nature.” (Review 
•3,553.) 
The foregoing may be taken as fairly representing the 
present unsettled state of opinion upon this question. The 
custom of the great majority of medical colleges is presum- 
ably in conformity with the general sentiment of the profes- 
sion. Comparative anatomy is taught in many English 
schools, but Prof. Huxley would exclude it. It is taught in 
very few American schools, but Prof. Allen thinks it essen- 
tial. I do not know to what extent it is taught in German 
medical schools, but Prof. Billroth has laid especial stress 
upon its value. 
In attempting to decide when such doctors disagree, I can 
only hope that a somewhat varied and extended connection 
with medical schools, and with zoological teaching, may enable 
me to consider the whole subject with impartiality. I shall, 
at any rate, take pleasure in showing that the differences be- 
1 Since this lecture was delivered, Prof. Huxley’s lecture on the study 
of biology has appeared (16). Toward the close occurs the following 
passage: “To all those who intend to pursue physiology, and. especially 
to those who propose to employ the working years of their lives in the 
practice of medicine, I say that there is no training so fitted, or which 
may be of such important service to them, as the thorough discipline in 
practical biological work, which I have sketched out as being pursued in 
the laboratory hard by.” (See also 18 and 19.) 5 
tween the views of the distinguished anatomists already men- 
tioned are really slight, as compared with the antagonism be- 
tween them and the opinions current with the profession and 
the public respecting the requirements of a sound medical 
education. 
The full consideration of the question involves the follow- 
ing points: 
I. What is comparative anatomy ? 
II. What special advantages does it offer to the student of 
medicine ? 
III. To what extent should it be pursued ? 
IY. When should it be pursued ? 
I. What is comparative anatomy f 
Etymologically, anatomy designates the study of structure, 
which must be dissected, as opposed to the study of outward 
form. It may refer to any organism, but is commonly re- 
stricted to the animal kingdom. The study of the structure 
of man is human anatomy, or anthropotomy • of the horse, 
hippotomy, etc. In comparative anatomy two or more ani- 
mals are compared as to their structure. Now since, in some 
respects unfortunately, the human body has been first thor- 
oughly investigated, and has thence become the standard for 
comparison, and since the parts of oysters and star-fishes, 
beetles and lobsters, are not readily identified with those of 
man, the signification of comparative anatomy is usually re- 
stricted to the great branch of the animal kingdom to which 
man belongs—the vertebrates. 
There is another kind of comparative anatomy, or rather, 
it is comparative anatomy pursued in a different way : I 
mean embryology. For, while we hold that a bird is such 
from the egg, yet at its beginning that egg could not be dis- 
tinguished from that of a snake or a fish; still later, the 
embryo could not be distinguished from an embryo lizard or 
turtle ; and even later, the young chicken has webbed feet, like 
the duck. The tadpole, the young of the frog and toad, has a 
tail and gills, like some salamanders. The young gar-pike {Lepi- 
dosteus) has first a protocercal tail, like that of Polypterus; 
then the tail becomes heterocercal, as in the sharks and stur- 
geons; by degrees it attains the almost homocercal condition 6 
which led some early observers to suppose it similar to the tail ot 
ordinary fishes. (Wilder, 21.) So, too, we hold that the hu- 
man being is such from its conception. Yet the human ovum 
is, to our eyes, identical with the ovum of a cat or a dog. 
For a time the embryo has a short triangular tail, and even 
after certain parts, as the face, the hands, and the feet, have 
assumed human characteristics, yet the arms are as long as the 
legs, and for some time after birth the limbs of the child are 
semiflexed, as in the monkeys, and it has no more waist than 
the adult chimpanzee. Hence has arisen the generalization 
that higher forms, in the course of their development, pass 
through stages resembling more or less nearly the adult con- 
ditions of lower related forms. When, therefore, we trace the 
successive transformations of a single species, we are, in a 
limited but most suggestive way, studying comparative anat- 
omy. 
II. What is to be gained by the medical student from 
the study of comparative anatomy ? 
1. It may be regarded as a desirable element of general 
culture, upon the following grounds : 
(1.) The contrast between the lower animals and ourselves 
renders more apparent the advantages of the human form. 
(2.) The similarity of our organs and functions to those of 
animals should teach us consideration and humanity for those 
which serve us; and, whatever may be the case with those 
who, brutal by nature, and rendered more so by the horrors 
of the ordinary dissecting-room, dignify, under the name of 
science, unnecessary and unproductive tortures, I believe that, 
as a class, none are more kind and humane than those whose 
occupation requires them to occasionally take the life of ani- 
mals. 
(3.) The essential identity of the mode of development 
and the plan of structure of the human body with those of 
other vertebrates, and the probability that the highest has 
been gradually evolved from the lowest, should both encourage 
us to hope for yet further development, mental and physical, 
in time to come, and fill us with humble adoration of the 
Power which could, from such unlikely beginnings, create a 
habitation for the immortal soul of man. 7 
2. It serves as a means of mental training. Surely men- 
tal training of any kind, and by any method, implies the ac- 
quisition or cultivation of the following powers : 
(1.) Accuracy of observation. 
(2.) Thoroughness of comparison. 
(3.) Logic of conclusion. 
(4.) Clearness of definition. 
(5.) Desire for verification. 
(6.) Discrimination between the proved and the merely 
probable. 
(8.) Respect for, yet absolute independence of, authority. 
The educational value of the natural history sciences has 
been, of late years, often insisted on, and by none more em- 
phatically than Prof. Huxley, in the “ Lay Sermons ” and 
elsewhere. Indeed, the claim has been more or less fully al- 
lowed by nearly all excepting those who, having studied books 
alone, seem unable to conceive that any good thing can come 
out of that which hath not been printed, or at least written, 
by a man. 
Life is so short, and his art is so very long, that the physi- 
cian, like the naturalist, is generally forced to look upon 
purely linguistic studies as means to an end, as tools for his 
work. Still, it is to be hoped that few medical men have been 
obliged to literally adopt the suggestion contained in the fol- 
lowing passage : 
“ Any lawyer or doctor who cannot learn by heart, in a week, all the 
technical terms and phrases of Latin origin which he encounters in his 
common professional occupation, has not wits enough for his calling.” 
— President Eliot, Inaugural Address. 
I should, indeed, be the last to insist that the study of 
languages may not likewise subserve the mental training of 
those who, on other grounds, may select them as their especial 
field for cultivation ; for I have endeavored to show the strik- 
ing similarity of linguistic and natural-history studies in re- 
spect to the number and importance of exceptions to nearly 
all general rules, and even to the exceptions themselves (23). 
It is the knowledge of exceptions, and the readiness to ac- 
cept them, which distinguish the mere teacher from him who 
professes” to have derived his information from Nature her- 8 
self. The former is apt to be very certain of many things; 
the latter is absolutely sure of a few things, and has well-defined 
doubts respecting a large part of what passes in the commu- 
nity for knowledge. “ In order to know a few things well, he 
must be content to remain ignorant of a great deal.” Com- 
pare, for instance, the modesty, yet precision, with which Dr. 
Ferrier states his conclusion that the anterior cerebral lobes 
seem to be the seat of a certain inhibitory power, with the 
pretentiousness with which traveling phrenologists, “ most 
of whom have never seen a brain,” locate all your faculties 
upon the outside of your skull, and, for a consideration, deter- 
mine the past, the present, and the future of a human being 
in a quarter of an hour ! 
3. Comparative anatomy naturally leads toward the medical 
sciences. Perhaps the converse is even more frequently the 
case; but there can be no doubt that many who have com- 
menced with the desultory observation of the lower animals 
have, by degrees, drifted into the systematic study of medicine, 
either as a mere means of livelihood, or from a natural apti- 
tude not recognized in earlier years. 
The foregoing considerations are based upon the assump- 
tion that the physician should be primarily a man of culture, 
intellect, humanity, and religious sentiment. We have now to 
inquire what are the special advantages which the study of 
comparative anatomy may confer upon him who undertakes to 
know the body of man, and to maintain its integrity. 
4. The methods of zoological investigation are those which 
are required in the study of disease. This is well stated by 
Billroth, as follows : 
“ What better preparatory school can the physician have than the study 
of the natural sciences? The method hy which he examines all the 
parts and all the functions of an animal is the same which he must apply 
to the investigation of disease. . . . Zoology and comparative anatomy 
should be taught together; and the latter especially, if well taught, is one 
of the most valuable subjects for giving breadth of view, and producing 
the habit of thought best suited to the investigation of Nature ” (3, p. 553).. 
Nor need we, with Dr. Cotting (10), be fully convinced 
that “ disease is a part of the plan of creation,” to recognize 9 
in its phenomena an orderly sequence and correlation which 
entitle it to be regarded as a branch, though a distorted one, of 
the great natural-history tree. 
Comparative anatomy furnishes many illustrations of the 
saying, “ Appearances are deceitful,” and so teaches us to look 
below the surface. Linnseus supposed the whale to be a fish, 
not knowing that it had lungs, that its blood is warm, and that 
its young are nourished with milk. So, the flving-bat may 
readily be mistaken for a bird. Nor are there any external 
peculiarities of the Australian quadrupeds which would lead 
us, at first sight, to infer the existence of the pouch in which 
the young are carried, and the smallness of the corpus callosum. 
The second pair of lobes of the ordinary fish-brain have 
usually been called hemispheres, implying an identity of struct- 
ure with the hemispheres of reptiles. Yet both comparative 
anatomy and development teach that the essential feature of a 
hemisphere is its cavity or ventricle, and no ventricle has ever 
been found in the so-called hemisphere of the teleost or ganoid 
brain. Muller first showred the solidity of these lobes in a 
figure of the cross-section of the brain of Polypterus. 
So, in the diagnosis of a disease, the physician finds that its 
real nature is not always indicated by the more prominent 
symptoms; and it is not improbable that the early medical 
training of gave especial significance, in his own mind, 
to the following aphorism : “ The prominent appearances which 
first catch the eye are not always the best guides to the true 
affinities of an animal. It is as if truth were rather whispered 
than spoken by Nature.” 
It may be said that the advantages above mentioned may 
be derived from the systematic pursuit of any branch of nat- 
ural history, or from the anatomy of insects or other non- 
vertebrated animals. But there are additional and very con- 
siderable reasons why the medical student should select the 
comparative anatomy of vertebrates. These reasons may be 
variously stated, but they all depend upon the fact that man, 
as to his body, is a vertebrate, and that the regions, organs, and 
tissues of the human body have essentially the same structure, 
the same relative position, and the same mode of development, 10 
as those of fishes, frogs, turtles, birds, quadrupeds, and mon- 
keys ; in a word, because the human organs are homologous 
with the organs of other vertebrates. 
5. From the above, it follows that comparative anatomy 
enables us to make instructive comparisons. It was said by Dr. 
Gould (himself not only an able physician but a distinguished 
naturalist, and author, with Agassiz, of “ The Principles of Zo- 
ology ”), that “ the anatomical structure is only to be fully and 
acquired by comparison of the structure of 
one animal with that of another” (6, p. 8). But this compari- 
son must be made within certain limits. It may be interesting 
to contrast the arm of man with the tentacle of a cuttle-fish, 
but, excepting that both are living, either might almost as in- 
structively be compared with an arm of the sea. So, the wing 
of a bird may be contrasted with the wing of a butterfly, but 
their structural similarity is hardly greater than that between 
either and the wing of a house. These are only analogies, more 
or less remote ; while, in spite of their outward dissimilarity, 
the arm of man, the wing of a bird, the front-leg of a cat, and 
the flipper of a seal, are all homologous; and even the wide- 
spread wing of a bat is, at its first appearance, a little flattened 
pad, undistinguishable from the paw of the embryo kitten or 
pig (25). There is, in these cases, essential resemblance, with 
outward difference in adaptation to the needs of each species; 
and the collocation of the two is the more instructive, just as 
the relations of two friends, or of a married pair, are more 
enjoyable and productive when their real affinity is hidden 
from the world by a diversity of temperament, capacity, or oc- 
cupation. Perhaps no better illustration of this “ unity in 
variety ” could be given than the close and long-enduring mu- 
tual affection and esteem which united the distinguished math- 
ematician of Harvard University with his colleague, the late 
Prof. Agassiz—pure zoology and pure mathematics hand in 
hand. 
Aside, however, from the instructiveness of comparisons 
between man and the lower animals, there are certain prac- 
tical reasons for dissecting the latter before the former. These 
may be combined by saying that : 
6. Comparative anatomy forms a convenient intro due- 11 
tion to human anatomy. The accomplished human anato- 
mist must have made the following acquirements: 
Firstly. Skill in manipulation, including not only dissect- 
ing, hut injecting, and microscopic examination. 
It is probably not too much to say, that the student’s first 
dissections rarely do credit to himself or to the long-suffering 
demonstrator. Now, a human subject is costly, unwieldy, 
and, before it is disposed of, apt to answer more or less ac- 
curately to Mr. Mantalini’s prophetic description of what he 
would be after being drowned—“ a demmed damp, unpleas- 
ant body ; ” yet, upon it the tyro must begin, or do nothing in 
practical anatomy. In no other trade or profession is the most 
valuable material placed in the hands of the beginner ; and it 
is only one of the anomalies of medical education, apparently 
resulting from an unwillingness to admit that this mysterious 
profession can have anything in common with other human 
occupations, that all kinds of anatomical manipulation are not 
learned by long practice upon cats and dogs and rabbits, 
which may be had at little cost, which are easy to handle, and 
at very slight expense may be preserved for an indefinite pe- 
riod. 
Why should not the anatomist take a lesson herein from 
the physiologist ? Much has been learned from accident and 
disease, and some simple experiments may be performed upon 
the human body ; but how much would there be left of mod- 
ern physiological science if all that has been attained by ex- 
perimentation upon animals were suddenly to be erased from 
record ?1 
Secondly. The anatomist must become familiar with the 
technical names of parts. It is usually not difficult to have 
access to a human skeleton, and the bones should be learned 
before the student enters the dissecting-room ; but the skele- 
ton of a common quadruped will serve a very good purpose as 
a beginning. The same is to be said of the principal muscles, 
vessels, and nerves, so that they can be identified by means of 
1 Recent legislation has left England in the anomalous position of 
placing considerable restrictions upon the acquisition of precise physio- 
logical knowledge by trained experimenters, while an ignorant brute 
may, at the expense of a few shillings, maltreat his wife and children. 12 
the works on human anatomy; minor points can be overlooked 
in the earlier dissections. Finally, the viscera, which are usu- 
ally disorganized before they are reached in the dissecting- 
room, may be had fresh in a newly-killed quadruped, and may 
then be examined histologically, as well as in respect to their 
visible structure. 
The general structure of the heart can be learned just as 
well from that of a sheep, which costs a few cents, and is per- 
fectly fresh, as from that of a human subject, which is less- 
easy to obtain, may be full of injection, probably has an 
“ ancient and fish-like smell,” and, not unfrequently, presents 
certain pathological conditions which are worse than useless 
to the beginner in anatomy. 
Thirdly. The student must learn the relations of parts to 
each other, to the surface, and to the surroundings. These 
relations are essentially the same in all vertebrates; but, in 
order to compare the parts of man with those of a cat, the 
latter must be placed erect, or, which is more convenient, the 
human body must be reduced to the horizontal position. It 
is also necessary to note that the so-called “ knee ” of the horse 
is really the wrist, and that the true knee is near the trunk 
while the heel, with most quadrupeds, is greatly elevated. 
Keeping these, and some minor differences, in mind, the stu- 
dent is soon enabled to identify the muscles, vessels, and 
larger nerves of a quadruped, by means of the figures and de- 
scriptions in his “ Gray ” or “ Quain.” 
At a later period, a monkey will be very useful as present- 
ing more nearly the human arrangement of parts; and, al- 
though medical students are apt to think such a tiny subject 
beneath their notice, a child, or foetus at term, answers a most 
useful purpose. 
Not only do such materials as these cost less themselves, 
they also involve much less expensive accessory arrangements. 
7. In some lower vertebrates the tissues are coarser and 
more easily examined. This is especially the case with the 
Amphibia, and the late Prof. Wyman used to say that “ frogs 
seem to have been made for anatomists.” The frog is an al- 
most typical vertebrate, occupying a position between the 
fishes below and the air-breathing groups above. It is easy 13 
to breed, to keep, and to kill. Its very skin is as if only 
“ basted on,” so as to be readily stripped off. The muscles 
are distinct. The merribrana tympani is at the level of the 
head. More than this, the red-blood corpuscles are nearly 
three times as large as those of man. The white corpuscles 
are large, and their amoeboid movements very active. Cili- 
ated cells can readily be scraped from the roof of the mouth, 
and the zoosperms are not only easily obtained, but also larger 
than in man. In some respects even the frog is excelled by a 
tailed Batrachian, the Menobranchus or JVecturus of Hew 
York and westward, whose red corpuscles are more than eight 
times as large as those of man, and whose zoosperms are more 
than ten times the length of the human. 
8. Comparative anatomy enables us to understand certain 
human structures more readily. So far as I know, this use 
of comparative anatomy has never been distinctly presented. 
It depends upon the fact that, with certain of the lower ver- 
tebrates, organs which are very complex in man present a 
simpler structure and arrangement. 
To some this statement may appear either as self-evident, 
or as, at any rate, requiring no qualification. But, in fact, 
the generalization is far from being universally correct. For 
instance, the deltoid muscle, which in man is a single trian- 
gular mass, in cats and dogs forms three quite distinct mus- 
cles, which have received as many names; the same is the case 
with the trapezius/ and all quadrupeds have, just beneath the 
skin, a sheet of muscle, the panniculus carnosus, which is 
represented in the human body only by thqplatysma myoides, 
the muscles of the ear and of the face. So, too, the bones 
which support the upper incisor teeth are separable from the 
rest of the jaw with quadrupeds, and are called the premaxil- 
laries, or intermaxillaries. The stomach of a sheep or a por- 
poise is much more complex than that of man. The heart of 
an alligator presents peculiar characters. Finally, beside the 
skull of a cod, the human skull is simplicity itself. 
The cod is, in fact, a typical member of a very large group 
■of vertebrates, the Teleosts, or osseous tishes, wdiich are highly 
specialized in adaptation to a certain mode of existence; and, 
as a rule, specialized groups should not be brought before the 14 
notice of the medical student. Whatever may have been its 
value in pure comparative anatomy, I cannot but feel that 
the anatomical side of medical education twenty years 
suffered a serious drawback from the supposed necessity of 
understanding the skull and skeleton of the fish before study- 
ing those of man. 
But the so-called “ generalized ” groups of vertebrates 
frequently illustrate in a very simple way the more complex 
conditions of the human body which we wish to understand ; 
and, in first making ourselves familiar with them, we act in 
accordance with the following aphorism : 
“In all departments of investigation it is right to commence with the 
study of that which is common, simple, and regular, and thence to pro- 
ceed to inquire respecting that which is unusual and irregular” (Buck- 
nill and Tuke, 22). 
For instance, when the student is told that man, like other 
vertebrates, consists of two parallel cavities, a dorsal or neural, 
containing the cerebro-spinal axis, and a ventral or haemal, 
containing the nutritive and reproductive viscera, and that the 
alimentary canal is essentially a tube from one end of the 
trunk to the other, he may accept the statements upon author- 
ity ; but if you place in his hands a lamprey-eel, and tell him 
to make a transverse section at the middle of its length, he 
may then, at a glance, satisfy himself of the correctness of your 
description of the arrangement of organs which is character- 
istic of the vertebrate subkingdom. 
Descriptive anatomy teaches us that there is one heart, 
and that it lies between two lungs, the right and the left; 
also that the vessels enter the lungs and come out of them. 
From a physiological point of view the lungs are a single thin 
walled diverticulum of the alimentary canal, over the walls, 
of which the pulmonary vessels ramify; and that this single- 
lung lies between the two hearts, the right and the left. 
The student finds it hard to see it in that light—the light 
of human anatomy. But show him the heart of a manatee 
or a dugong—still better, the admirable Auzoux model there- 
of—and he sees that there the two ventricles are almost wholly 
separated. 
Now, as the blood comes to the lungs from the right ven- 15 
tricle, and returns from them to the left, it follows that the 
lungs are, physiologically, between the right and the left 
hearts. The lungs of a frog are nearly simple sacs hanging 
from the anterior aspect of the throat; and, at their first ap- 
pearance even in man, they are a little bilobed pouch or diver- 
ticulum from the alimentary canal. 
How the student dreads an examination upon the cranial 
nerves! and how is the confusion worse confounded by the 
double nomenclature of Sommering and of Willis! He takes 
an almost revengeful delight in being assured that neither sys- 
tem is correct, for the auditory (Till.) and optic (II.) are nerves 
of special sense, the latter, at any rate, being direct outgrowths 
from the brain ; and the olfactory (I.) is not a nerve at all, 
but a lobe of the brain, quite large in quadrupeds, and con- 
taining an obvious prolongation of the lateral ventricle; in 
the liag-fishes and lamprey-eels it is larger than the hemisphere 
itself; while in some sharks the olfactory lobes seem to be 
distinctly formed before the true hemispheres, as if with these 
voracious fishes the scenting and recognition of food were 
more urgently required than any subsequent reflections re- 
specting the mode of its acquisition, or the dangers attendant 
thereupon. 
Nine pairs of cranial nerves remain. If the student has 
condescended to throw light upon his path by taking the ini- 
tial letters of anterior, motor, posterior, sensory, and prefixing 
L. thereto, he will look for motor nerves upon the ventral or 
anterior aspect of the medulla, and for sensory upon its poste- 
rior aspect. But when he is told that in frogs there are only 
five pairs, and that in some others there are only three, he 
begins to realize that the motor communis (III.), the troch- 
learis (IV.) (miscalled patheticus), the abducens (VI.), and 
facial (VII.), with the smaller root of the trifacial (V.), are 
really dismemberments of the motor roots of a great nerve, of 
which the rest of the trifacial, with its ganglion, forms the 
sensory root; that the two, therefore, constitute a single 
modified nerve like those of the spine. After this it is net 
difficult to suppose that the spinal accessory (XI.) and the 
vagus (X.) form a second pair, and that the hypoglossal (XII.) 
and the glossopharyngeal (IX.) constitute a third. 16 
This is the arrangement proposed by Dalton, and it is at 
least convenient, and easy to remember. Blit it can hardly be 
considered conclusive, because with frogs the hypoglossal is a 
regular cervical nerve with motor and sensory roots, which 
leaves the glossopharyngeal to unite with the vagus. 
It is probable that, in course of time, these relations will be 
more fully understood, and that the present artificial nomen- 
clature will be discarded. 
Even more appalling than the cranial nerves is the brain 
itself. Men have been graduated without being able to re- 
member the difference between the corpus callosum and the 
corpus striatum ; and probably few can state with certainty, 
off-hand, whether the optic lobes are in front of the thalami 
or behind them. It is easy to see that the medulla is a modi- 
fied enlargement of the cord, but the exact and personal 
knowledge of the average student rarely extends beyond the 
pons Varolii, which has thus become a veritable pons asi- 
norum. 
No doubt part of the difficulty arises from the peculiar 
nomenclature which has been left to us by our anatomical 
forefathers. I apprehend that peculiar will be admitted to be 
a very mild characterization of the system according to which 
a narrow passage about an inch in length became known by 
two such appellations as “ aqueduct of Sylvius ” and “ iter a 
tertio ad ventriculum quartum ; ” especially when neither of 
them expresses the fact that this passage is the contracted 
representative of the cavity or ventricle of the optic lobes, a 
primary subdivision of the brain. 
But whatever difficulties of nomenclature the student may 
have to contend with, I believe the failure of most medical 
students to gain a clear conception of the arrangement of 
brain-parts is even more largely due to a faulty system of 
teaching and of study. 
In the first place, since a human brain is not easy to get at 
all, and almost impossible to obtain perfectly fresh, there are 
reasons of convenience and economy for examining the brain 
of some common animal. In the second place, the human 
brain is so large as to be easily torn by its own weight, or, if 
hardened, to require much fluid, and time, and attention. IT 
But more than either of these considerations is that of the 
complexity of the human brain, and the disproportionate size 
of certain parts by which others equally essential are con- 
cealed. I shall give you, hereafter, the description of the 
typical structure and mode of development of the brain which 
will be most useful to us from a physiological point of view, 
and will now refer only to the hemispheres. These, with man, 
are so large as to cover all the other portions when the brain 
is seen from above, and their numerous convolutions have not 
yet been reduced to a perfectly satisfactory pattern. With 
cats and dogs and monkeys, the hemispheres are relatively 
smaller, and their fissures are less numerous. With some of 
the lower monkeys, as with rabbits, the hemispheres are al- 
most smooth. With moles, as with reptiles, they do not 
wholly cover the optic lobes. Finally, in frogs they are sim- 
ple elongated masses lying side by side, but wholly separate 
from each other, between the olfactory lobes and the thalami, 
and hardly larger than the optic lobes. 
In short, the hemispheres are here reduced to their proper 
morphological condition as lobes of the brain. Yet their 
cavities are, as in man, the lateral ventricles. 
By availing ourselves of the other kind of comparative 
anatomy, namely embryology, we may, in a series of foetal 
pigs, readily procurable from any slaughter-house, not only 
trace the hemispheres back to their smaller and smoother con- 
dition, but also at last, or rather at the first, to the state of 
minute hollow buds or protrusions from the anterior vesicle 
of the embryo brain, which itself becomes the thalami. 
Strange to say, the gigantic hemispheres of man are not only 
the homologues of the insignificant second lobes of the frog., 
but, in the earliest condition of the brain, they have no exist- 
ence at all, and. are merely secondary formations from the 
thalami, which they afterward outgrow, as when a diminutive 
father is overtopped by his stalwart son. 
Now, this is not simply curious, and, I trust, interesting ; it 
is valuable to the student who would master the arrangement 
of parts of that organic labyrinth, the human brain. Let him 
learn the names of the lobes and their ventricles in the frog 
from behind forward, and I can assure him, from experience> 18 
that he will afterward have little difficulty in understanding 
the other and less essential parts and complications by which 
the brains of higher forms differ from those of lower. 
So greatly, indeed, does this comparative-anatomy method 
facilitate the study of the brain, that I can only account for 
Prof. Huxley’s non-reference to it in his address, and upon 
other occasions, by the fact that to him, more than to any 
other, is due the credit for placing (IT) the labors of em- 
bryologists and comparative anatomists in an intelligible Eng- 
lish dress. 
III. To what extent should the study of comparative an- 
atomy be pursued by the medical student f 
Assuming, first, that no one can know too much, and, 
secondly, that the average student is apt to learn no zoology 
at all, we should endeavor to define the amount of acquaint- 
ance which shall be at the same time most useful and most 
easily acquired. 
The student should have a good general knowledge of the 
animal kingdom, including the names and leading character- 
istics, external and internal, of the great primary branches. 
Neither the Badiates (star-fishes and sea-urchins) nor the 
Mollusks and Molluscoids (clams, snails, and cuttle-fishes) 
need long occupy his attention. The same is to be said of 
the Crustacea (crabs and lobsters) and worms, though certain 
kinds of worms have a practical importance. He should 
know the difference between the spiders and the true insects, 
and what kinds are liable to injure by jaws or sting. 
But among the vertebrates his knowledge should be much 
more extensive. He should know that a salamander and a 
lizard are members of two separate classes, the Amphibia and 
Keptiles ; and that among the so-called “ fishes ” are forms 
differing from one another as widely as do turtles from birds. 
He should know that a bat is not a bird, not only from hav- 
ing hair in place of feathers, but also because the young are 
nourished with milk; it has two occipital condyles; its brain 
possesses a pons I Ta/rolii, a fornix, and a corpus callosum / and 
its red corpuscles are round and non-nucleated. But he 
should also know that in one group of mammals, the camels 
and llamas, the red corpuscles are oval, as in birds and reptiles. 19 
But while the student should learn, at any rate from lect- 
ures, the names and distinguishing features of the vertebrate 
classes, so as to appreciate the bearing of any generalization 
that may be presented to him, and while he would certainly 
be profited by the dissection of a lamprey, a shark, a stur- 
geon, and a perch, as types of certain groups, as he would by 
the examination of a reptile or a bird, yet he should bear in 
mind that these are of scientific rather than practical value. 
He should confine himself mainly to such forms and such or- 
gans as may facilitate the study of human anatomy and phy- 
siology in respect to convenience, intelligibility, or economy 
of time or expense; and with these forms his acquaintance 
can hardly be too practical or extensive. 
Among all these forms the frog is the most useful, espe- 
cially as a beginning. Indeed, had Prof. Huxley never done 
anything else in aid of the diffusion of biological knowledge, 
we should owe him gratitude and honor for the concise sum- 
mary of the structure of that animal which was prepared 
under his direction in the “ Elementary Biology.” 
The cat, dog, and rabbit may be dissected by a human an- 
atomy ; but something has been done toward furnishing man- 
uals for the examination of these quadrupeds. A descriptive 
anatomy of the rabbit has been published in German by 
Krause (20). 
The bones, muscles, and ligaments of the cat have been 
described and elegantly figured by Strauss-Durckheim ; but 
the text is in French, the descriptions are too long for practi- 
cal purposes, the nomenclature is artificial, and the plates are 
inconveniently large. Beduced photolithographic copies of 
the outline plates, with an explanatory text by Mr. II. S. 
Williams, have been published by Putnam’s Sons, of Hew 
York. 
Directions for examination of the rabbit or dog are given 
in Foster and Langley’s admirable “ Practical Physiology.” 
Finally, similar directions are given in Morrell’s little work 
(21) for dissections of the heart, brain, and head of the sheep, 
and the ox’s eye. 
How, these are average mammals; and the frog is an aver- 
age vertebrate, midway between the higher and the lower 20 
But, upon the same principle as that which leads the teacher 
to contrast the two ends of his class, the genius and the dunce, 
it may be worth while to glance from man to the opposite ex- 
treme of the vertebrate series. The lancelet is worth exam- 
ination, if only to convince ourselves that the same essential 
arrangement of organs may exist in the little fish three inches 
long and the whale of sixty feet. In fact, during my lectures 
I shall so frequently employ the Amphioxus for odious com- 
parisons with man, that I fear some of you may be inclined to 
spell it with an initial “ D.” 
If the reasons for recommending the dissection of the 
above-named forms are sound, they are equally cogent for the 
exclusion of all peculiar and “ specialized ” groups. Hence, 
neither birds nor ordinary fishes (Teleosts) should be especial- 
ly studied by the medical student. They present other and 
unusual combinations, and tend to confuse, rather than sim- 
plify, the ideas which may have been derived from more 
generalized forms. 
In the letter already referred to (2) Prof. Allen has sug- 
gested some other ways in which a knowledge of comparative 
anatomy and zoology may be of use to the medical student: 
“ An exact knowledge of the venomous animals—of internal and ex- 
ternal parasites—the relations of food-animals to one another and to man, 
are all of great importance to the physician.” 
I think this will be admitted by all; but the real question 
is, How wide and how general should be the physician’s knowl- 
edge upon these points? He should certainly know very 
thoroughly the structure and transformations of the Trichina 
and the tape-worm, to the extent, for instance, described and fig- 
ured in Dalton’s “ Physiology.” But, in order to learn their 
relations to the other members of the immense class of worms, 
the student would have to neglect something else; and very 
likely that something else would be the treatment of the dis- 
orders produced by these parasites. 
So, too, he should know the names and habits of venom- 
ous insects and serpents, and be aware that the bite of a jump- 
ing-spider (/Salticus) is more apt to do harm than that of its 
larger but less vigorous relative, the garden-spider {Epeira); 21 
also, that the so-called water-adder of the Middle States has 
no poison-fangs or glands, and that its bite is therefore not apt 
to cause serious injury. 
But, to learn these things, he need not dissect a spider or a 
snake, or even hear the whole of their structure described in a 
lecture. Much less need he know the precise zoological rela- 
tions of these to the other articulates or vertebrates. He will, 
of course, be none the worse for such, or any other, informa- 
tion ; but, as a medical man, he should keep in mind that his 
business is to learn, and remember, how the venom acts upon 
the system, and what may be done to counteract its effects. 
I say remember, for to have known a fact is a very differ- 
ent thing from knowing it now and always. We all learn a 
great many things, and some of them may come back when 
wanted; but some others should be ever present—should form 
a part of our mental constitution, ready for use at any time. 
Prof. Allen further says : 
“ If the doctrine of evolution has any practical value, it must lie in the 
application that the medical philosopher may make of it in explaining the 
significance of variations and malformations in the anatomy of man.” 
Certainly this is a very fascinating subject, and of great 
scientific interest. But, for practical purposes, is it not enough 
that the student be told that many muscles, vessels, and nerves 
are liable to variation, and that some of these variations close- 
ly resemble the normal condition of the parts in monkeys and 
other animals? At any rate, while personally interested in 
this very matter, and while advocating the incorporation of a 
certain amount of instruction upon such topics into a com- 
plete ‘preliminary medical education, I should deplore the de- 
votion to them of any of the lectures of the regular medical 
course. 
Upon this point the following remarks have lately been 
made b}7 Prof. Cleland, of Galway, himself an eminent com- 
parative anatomist, as well as teacher of human anatomy in a 
medical school: 
“ There can he no doubt that a great and curious influence has been ex- 
ercised on morphology by the rise of the doctrine of the origin of species 
by natural selection. Attention has thereby been directed strongly for a 
number of years to varieties; and probably it is to this doctrine that we 22 
owe the larger number of observations made on variations of muscles,, 
nerves, and other structures. Particularly elaborate have been the records 
of muscular variations, very praiseworthy, interesting to the recorders, very 
dry to most other people, and hitherto, so far as I know, barren enough of 
any general conclusions. So much the more credit is due to those who 
have worked steadily, in faith thaf beauty will emerge to gild their results 
some day ” (13). 
I regret that upon this matter my views do not altogether 
accord with those of my friend Prof. Allen. His position as 
teacher of comparative anatomy in a large medical school 
must afford far better opportunities than mine have been for 
observing the degree in which such instruction is useful to the 
average student. But my own experience and observation of 
others in several schools compel me to the conclusion that such 
instruction should either be received before entering the school, 
or, after entrance, rigidly restricted within very narrow limits,, 
according to the practical advantages derivable therefrom. 
This, as I understand his address in connection with his 
previous utterances upon the subject, is essentially the opin- 
ion of Prof. ITuxley. Billroth’s recommendations look in the 
same direction. And it gives me pleasure to quote, with his 
permission, from a personal letter from Prof. Allen, that lie 
thinks “ the medical student should have a general knowl- 
edge of biology before beginning his studies.” 
Perhaps I cannot better illustrate the extent to which, as 
a comparative anatomist, I believe the study of comparative 
anatomy should be limited in a medical course, than by a quo- 
tation from one of the oldest and most experienced as well as 
the wittiest of anatomical teachers. 
He said, ten years ago: 
“Is not the question why our young men and women so often break 
down, and how they may he kept from breaking down, far more impor- 
tant for physicians to settle, than whether there is one cranial vertebra, or 
four, or none ? 
“ ‘ But I have a taste for the homologies. I want to go deeply into the 
subject of embryology. I want to analyze the protooihilates precipitated 
from pigeon’s-milk by the action of the lunar spectrum ! Shall I not fol- 
low my star ? Shall I not obey my instinct ? Shall I not give myself to 
the lofty pursuits of science for its own sake ? ’ 
“ Certainly yon may, if you like ; but take down your sign, or never put 23 
it up. That is the way Dr. Owen and Dr. Iluxley, Dr. Agassiz and Dr. 
Jeffries Wyman, Dr. Gray and Dr. Charles T. Jackson, settled the diffi- 
culty. We all admire the achievements of this band of distinguished 
doctors who do not practise. But we say of their work, and of all pure 
science, as the French officer said of the charge of the six hundred at Bala- 
klava: ‘ C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre ! ’—it is very splen- 
did, but it is not a practising doctor’s business. His patient has a right 
to the cream of his life, and not merely to the thin milk that is left after 
Science has skimmed it off. The best a physician has is never too good 
for his patient.” (Holmes, 5, 29.) 
The following is likewise to the point under consideration: 
“ ‘ I suppose I must go and earn this guinea,’ said a medical man, 
who was sent for while he was dissecting an animal. I should not have cared 
to he his patient. His dissection would have done me no good, and his 
thoughts would be too much upon it. I want a whole man for my doctor, 
not a half one. I would have sent for a humbler practitioner, who would 
have given himself entirely to me, and told the other—who was no less a 
man than John Hunter—to go on and finish the dissection of his tiger. 
(Holmes, 5, 25.) 
“Medicine is my wife, and Science is my mistress,” said Dr. Rush. 
And Dr. Holmes adds, “I do not think that the breach of the seventh 
commandment can be shown to have been of advantage to the legitimate 
owner of his affections.” 
Let not the wit at which we smile prevent our reflection 
upon the solemn truth of this commentary. To the honorable 
physician science should be a kindly, helpful friend, but noth- 
ing more—unless, that is, he openly proclaims a separation 
from his profession. 
IV. When should this instruction he given f It is neces- 
sary to repeat, that our object is to make competent doctors, 
not thorough comparative anatomists ; also that, as to his 
body, man is a very peculiar and highly specialized mamma- 
lian vertebrate. In fact, so far from being in any respect a 
type of either vertebrates or mammals, he is, morphologically 
speaking, a monster. 
While, therefore, the final end of medical education is a 
knowledge of the structure and functions of the human body, 
all the considerations hitherto advanced indicate the desira- 
bility oi preceding human anatomy by comparative. 
True, the custom is almost always the reverse, as has been 
stated in a late introductory lecture. “ First, the student be- 24 
comes acquainted with the structure and functions of the hu- 
man subject, the subject of his future practice. Secondly, 
knowing one animal well, he is in the best position to proceed 
to the study of others, and so to comparative anatomy and 
physiology.” 
Fully admitting the truth of the clause, “ Knowing one 
animal well, he is in the best position to proceed to the study 
of others,” I hold that the general idea of the passage quoted 
is just contrary to what should be entertained respecting 
medical education. For the real object of the student is the 
anatomy of man• and for him to study human anatomy before 
comparative anatomy, is, in common language, to “ place the 
cart before the horse.” 
But if, before undertaking the study of the human body, 
it is necessary to dissect an Amphioxus, a frog, and a cat; 
and if the examination of the human heart is to be preceded 
by dissection of the heart of a sheep ; and if the human brain 
cannot be readily understood without previous study of the 
brains of frog, rabbit, cat, and monke}T; and if, moreover, the 
performance of this preliminary work involves familiarity 
with the use of the microscope as well as of ordinary disseet- 
ing-instruments, it may well be asked: 1. AVlien is time to be 
found for it all ? and 2. Where are there offered any oppor- 
tunities for its accomplishment ? 
In the United States the chief prerequisite to graduation in 
medicine is attendance upon two full courses of lectures upon 
the fundamental branches. These courses vary in length from 
four to nine months; the more usual period is between five 
and six months. We are not here concerned directly with the 
facts that in the profession, and before the law, forty lectures 
upon physiology, for instance, are accepted as equivalent to 
eighty lectures in another institution; and that, as stated in 
an editorial in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 
for April 27, 1876, p. 491, “at the Medical 
School any enterprising young man may, by a series of inge- 
nious devices, obtain, at a merely nominal price, a medical di- 
ploma within the short space of nine months.” What I wish 
here to insist upon is, that the two medical sessions are already 
too full, and that the introduction of comparative anatomy 25 
would require either the omission of some subjects, or the re- 
duction of the time now devoted to them. 
Probably there is no respectable graduate, of ten years’ 
standing, from any American medical college, who would not, 
if called upon to express an opinion wholly irrespective of its 
effect upon public sentiment, or upon the school with which 
he happens to be connected, affirm that the present term of 
instruction is too brief. This idea is the burden of nearly 
every impartial discussion of medical education ; it has been 
forcibly expressed by Gould (6), by Reeve and McCook (7), 
hy Wood, and others. The last announcement of the Medical 
Department of the University of Michigan contains the fol- 
lowing significant paragraph : 
“The time usually spent in American medical colleges—always too 
short—is now entirely inadequate to that full, thorough, and repeated 
presentation of the subjects required in a proper medical education.” 
Finally, in a speech upon scientific education, Prof. Hux- 
ley has sharply questioned the sufficiency of the four or five 
years’ course in English medical schools, holding that, “in nine 
cases out of ten, the first year is spent in learning how to learn ” 
(4). It is obvious that, if this criticism is merited, it applies 
with greater force to the much shorter courses in our own 
country. 
It may be suggested, by some who admit the value of com- 
parative anatomy to the medical student, that a few hours 
might be diverted from human anatomy to the exposition of 
some animal structures. But this does not meet the require- 
ments. The necessary information and training, especially 
the latter, cannot be gained in a few lectures, or even from 
lectures at all ! What the student needs is an intimate, 
personal, and practical acquaintance with the organization of 
certain animals, so that he may thereby more readily and fully 
comprehend the human body, and profit by didactic instruc- 
tion in human anatomy. 
In the second place, even were the professors of anatomy 
willing to yield a portion of their time (and it is obvious that 
any such change does not commend itself to a professor 
under the usual system of our schools), I should urge that the 26 
time so gained be given, not to comparative anatomy, but to 
physiology, and especially hygiene. 
Now, I cannot claim to be wholly exempt from that form 
of human weakness which, in a council of war for the defense 
of a town, induced a tanner to declare that “for the building 
of fortifications there is nothing like leather;” and I hasten 
to escape the imputation of interested motives by the solemn 
affirmation that, although the words of physiology are on my 
lips, my heart belongs to comparative anatomy. 
In passing, I may here express the opinion that the prog- 
ress of students would be facilitated if the anatomical course 
should commence with the viscera instead of with the bones 
and muscles, following thus the order naturally adopted in 
the physiological course. 
Since it is doubtful whether any additional studies can be 
embraced within the regular medical courses ; and since, for 
many, if not most purposes, the comparative anatomy should 
precede the human anatomy, the question arises whether its 
study may not profitably be pursued before entrance into the 
schools. 
It is now required, in the United States, that at least three 
years1 be spent “ in the study of medicine,” under the direc- 
tion of some regular practitioner or graduate. 
If common report be true, the certificates respecting this 
period of study are sometimes equally trustworthy with those 
for “ good moral character.” The schools, however, rarely 
“ go behind the returns,” in order to ascertain just how this 
time has been spent. 
At best, the student has “ read anatomy,” studied “ the 
bones,” and accompanied his preceptor upon his visits. Per- 
haps the first two occupations are not altogether unprofitable, 
though they are apt to be carried on in a leisurely and unsys- 
tematic way. But as to the last, I venture to express the be- 
lief that it represents time worse than wasted ; that it is posi- 
tively injurious, as tending to give the youth confidence in 
the powers of his art, before he has learned the science accord- 
1 It is stated that five years are required in Russia and Austria, and 
four in Germany. Billroth thinks five should be the minimum period of 
medical education (3, 580). 27 
ing to which the art may be safely practised. Certain rules 
and formulae crystallize into a therapeutic bed of Procrustes, 
from which his patients vary at their deadly peril. In no pro- 
fession is a “ rule of thumb ” so totally out of place. 
If, as is now generally admitted, diseases are perversions 
of normal functions; and if the investigation of any subject 
should proceed from that which is simple and regular to that 
which is more complex, then, upon the same ground that the 
study of the human brain should begin with that of the frog, 
the study of disease should be preceded by the prolonged ob- 
servation of normal physiological phenomena. The study of 
medicine should commence without the mention of medicine 
or of disease. 
The graded course of the Harvard Medical School1 includes 
in the first year only anatomy, physiology, and chemistry ; 
and a recent editorial in the Medical Times and Gazette (Oc- 
tober 7, 1876, p. 418) urges that, partly for lack of proper 
preparation, neither the first nor second year students ought 
to visit the hospital wards. See also Gould (6, 8). 
Why, then, should not the student spend some portion of 
his pupilage, not occupied in the exercises of the schools, in 
biological work? Ilis preceptor may not be especially pre- 
pared to guide his labors, but this need not now be a serious 
impediment. Within the past two years there have appeared 
two little books, Iluxley and Martin’s “ Elementary Biology ” 
and Foster and Langley’s “ Practical Physiology.” They are 
small and inexpensive. The medical student may be obliged 
to omit some portions of the biology, but together they form 
the most advantageous introductions to both medical and 
natural history studies which have ever been published. 
Most of the work described in these two volumes may be 
accomplished by the student alone, if he be reasonably earnest 
and intelligent. But why, in every large town, should there 
not be formed a laboratory under the direction of one or more 
practitioners, wherein such work might be done by several 
students, and with the advantages of better material, micro- 
1 Graded courses have been more or less fully adopted in the Universi- 
ties of Michigan and Pennsylvania and the Medical School of Maine. 28 
scopes, and other apparatus, than could be afforded by single 
individuals ? A year so spent, and in the study of a certain 
amount of chemistry, anatomy, physiology, and hygiene, would 
he worth far more than the same time devoted to all the medi- 
cal sciences together, to the compounding of prescriptions, or 
to the service of a practitioner. 
Particularly advantageous would it he to establish such a 
laboratory in connection with a medical school, or with a uni- 
versity possessing a medical department. 
As an indication of the extent to which such instruction is 
desired, I may give some statistics respecting the anatomical 
laboratory of Cornell University, premising that my own in- 
clinations are toward pure zoology rather than physiology, and 
that there is no medical department connected with the uni- 
versity.1 
During .the eight and a half years since the opening of 
Cornell University, nearly one hundred students have worked 
in my laboratory. Of these, about one-third were preparing to 
become teachers, or professional naturalists; the remaining 
sixty-seven have since entered medical schools, or are intend- 
ing to do so. There is abundant evidence that such students 
are much better able to profit by their later medical training, 
and that, upon graduation, they more readily obtain positions 
of honor or profit in their profession. 
Doubtless the same is true of students who have been thus 
prepared to study medicine in the laboratories of other institu 
tions. 
I am not aware, however, that the need of a preliminary 
education especially adapted to the medical student has else 
where been so fully recognized as to lead to the arrangement 
of a separate curriculum, like the Natural History course in 
Cornell University. 
The following summary of this course sh )ws that, while 
studies for general culture are not excluded, four-fifths of the 
1 It is to be hoped that no proposition to establish a new medical school 
will be entertained, unless it include the assurance of an endowment such 
as may warrant an elevation of the standards for admission and graduation 
far above the present general level. 29 
time is devoted to the sciences and to laboratory practice, in- 
cluding drawing.1 
SUMMARY OF THE COURSE IN NATURAL HISTORY AT THE CORNELL UNI. 
YERSITY. 
1. English grammar. 
2. Arithmetic. 
3. Algebra through quadratics. 
4. Plane geometry and trigonometry. 
5. Latin (Allen’s “ Reader ”). 
6. Greek (elementary). 
7. Physiology (elementary). 
8. Elementary French or German. 
REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION. 
Four Years' Course. 
Exercises. 
Actual 
hours. 
General culture 
552 
662 
282 
502 
1998 
546 
1365 
Phvsical sciences (including geology) 
Botanv 
Zoology 
Total 
Laboratory practice, including drawing2 
Studies for general Culture. 
Exercises. 
French and German 352 
English language and rhetoric 140 
History of science 24 
Free-hand drawing 36 
Total 552 
1 It is to be hoped that, ere long, children shall learn to draw before they 
write; and that the practical value of the ability to make an outline diagram 
will be more fully recognized by not only naturalists but physicians, if only 
as an auxiliary to 'practice. The patient desires to learn where his trouble 
lies, and in what it consists. He is too ill, perhaps, or too anxious, to under- 
stand the language of the physician, even though the latter be clear in his 
idea and his expression. But a simple drawing may be intelligible to almost 
any one; and he who can make the drawing is understood, and, consequently, 
appreciated. 
2 An exercise requires two and a half hours of actual work. 30 
Physics 260 
Chemistry, lectures 60 
“ laboratory practice 60 
Geology and paleontology, lectures 96 
“ “ “ laboratory practice 186 
Total 662 
Physical Sciences. 
Biology. 
Botany, general lectures 86 
“ lectures, and laboratory practice 122 
“ laboratory practice on special groups *74 
Total botany 282 
Physiology and hygiene, lectures 42 
“ laboratory practice 60 
Zoology, lectures 30 
“ laboratory practice 80 
Comparative anatomy, special lectures 20 
Anatomy and physiology of domestic animals 1 60 
Medicine and surgery of domestic animals 100 
Preparation of thesis, and laboratory practice in anatomy and physiology... 110 
Total zoology 502 
Doubtless the foregoing course is open to criticism ; and I 
hope that a place may be found for instruction in logic, the 
omission of which from the ordinary medical curriculum has, 
as pointed out by Prof. Dunster (8,10), led to the most un- 
warrantable conclusions respecting the utility of a given 
method of treatment. 
In speaking (1,12) of the advantages of preliminary train- 
ing in botany, chemistry, and physiology, Prof. Huxley says, 
u I believe we may consider it as practically doubling the time 
of professional study.” 
Sooner or later the demand will be made for the allow- 
ance of time so spent as equivalent to part of the three years 
of study. While it may be well to accede to the demand for 
the present, and to a certain extent, there can be no doubt 
that the best interests of the profession and the public will be 
subserved by gradually requiring of all students an extended 
1 For this, and the twe following studies, the student intending to be- 
come a naturalist may substitute work in botany or geology. 31 
preliminary education in all branches which are directly sub- 
sidiary to the medical sciences. 
It is to be regretted that the Articles of Confederation 
proposed to be conformed to by the American Medical College 
Association do not yet refer to the topic of preliminary medi- 
cal education. 
Meantime, for how long is to be allowed to continue the 
condition of things described in the following passage ? 
“Any young man without mental training, without the slightest 
classical or scientific acquirement, without even a respectable English 
education, can enter upon the study of medicine unquestioned, and pass 
every portal leading to the profession unchallenged ” (7, 14). 
Consequently, while the professional schools are com- 
monly supposed to stand upon a higher plane than the col- 
leges, it is notorious that he who fails to pass the examination 
for entrance to the freshman class in a college may commence 
the study of medicine without impediment. 
It is obviously the duty of the older and more flourishing 
schools to set the example in respect to requirements for ad- 
mission. This has been done by a few,1 but at the close of the 
opening paragraph of the last announcement of one of the 
largest New York schools are the words, “ Ho preliminary 
EXAMINATION IS REQUIRED.” 2 
So high, so noble, so responsible is the office of the physi- 
cian, that entrance to the medical profession should be more 
difficult than to any other. And the non-preparation, or even 
mal-preparation, of the average candidate for his sacred calling 
of saving life is only to be compared with the non-preparation, 
or even inal-preparation, of the average parent when he per- 
forms the act of initiating the existence of a new human 
being.3 And as, in consequence, the troubles of many people 
began nine months before they were born, when no one 
1 Harvard, Michigan, and, more recently, Pennsylvania. 
2 In contrast to this, I take pride and pleasure in stating that the Medi- 
cal School of Maine, a “country school,” this spring refused admission to 
several applicants, in consequence of failure to pass an entrance-exam- 
ination. 
3 On this matter, see the conclusions of Prof. Law (15). 32 
thought anything about them, so the conditions which deter* 
mine the success or failure of the physician are too often de- 
termined long before his proper medical studies commence. 
It’ may be urged that the requirement of entrance-exami- 
nations upon so many subjects will, at any rate primarily, 
lessen the revenues of the schools, and diminish the number 
of physicians. No doubt these are conclusions logically sound, 
but unattractive. Abstractly they commend themselves, but 
practically they fail to harmonize with the desires of the nat- 
ural man both for flourishing schools and for a numerous and 
powerful profession. 
To answer these objections in full would unduly extend 
this article. In brief, however, I will say that the schools 
should be endowed, as are ordinary institutions of learning ; 
that the doctors should be fewer, but more competent; and, 
finally, that the public should be much better educated in 
physiological and hygienic matters, so as to avoid disease, and 
thus require less medical attendance.1 
My conclusions may be stated briefly as follows: 
1. Comparative anatomy, as usually understood, is the 
study of the structure of vertebrates. 
2. In addition to uses common to all branches of natural 
history, comparative anatomy presents special advantages to 
the medical student. It forms a convenient and economical 
introduction to human anatomy, enabling the student to ac- 
quire skill of manipulation, and familiarity with organs and 
their names. 
3. In particular, the comprehension of the general arrange- 
ment of organs and of their structure may be greatly facili- 
tated by a previous examination of corresponding parts of 
simpler forms, especially the Amphioxus, the frog, the cat, 
and monkey. 
4. Comparative anatomy for the medical student should 
be restricted to such forms and topics as may aid his special 
studies. 
5. The courses of lectures in most medical schools, espe- 
1 These questions were discussed at some length in the lecture as de- 
livered. 33 
daily in the United States, are already too short, and afford 
no time for extended or systematic instruction in comparative 
anatomy. But it might well occupy some part of the time 
of medical pupilage which is not passed in the schools. Still 
better, it should form a prominent element of a 'preliminary 
medical education. 
6. The preliminary education of medical students should 
be general and special. General in respect to mathematics, 
drawing, English, logic, French, and German, with a small 
amount of classics, and the sciences, especially biology ; special 
in respect to more extended practical work in the compara- 
tive anatomy of vertebrates, including training in the meth- 
ods of anatomical manipulation and physiological experimen- 
tation. 
7. On many accounts it would be advantageous to extend 
the medical curriculum so as to bring the special training 
above described under the direct supervision of the medical 
faculty. 
8. The elevation of the standard of medical education de- 
mands : a. High requirements for admission, b. Lengthen- 
ing of medical terms to nine months, not so much in order 
that more may be taught, as to allow time for digestion and 
assimilation of what is already presented in four, live, or six 
months, c. Systematic gradation of studies, and exclusion 
of first-year students from clinics and hospital-wards, d. In- 
crease of time for instruction in physiology and hygiene, e. 
Endowment of the chairs, making the salaries independent of 
the number of students or of graduates, f. Separation of 
the teaching-body from the licensing-power, the latter being 
under central and national control. 
9. Finally, to return to the original question, if it be asked 
whether systematic instruction in comparative anatomy should 
be included in the two courses of lectures now required for 
graduation in most American medical schools, I would answer, 
unhesitatingly and emphatically, “No.” But if it be asked 
whether this same instruction should be received at some time 
before graduation, I would answer, “Yes, and a great deal 
else which is not now required.” 34 
WORKS AXD PAPERS REFERRED TO. 
References are made upon the following plan : The figure after the 
name of the author designates the number of the work upon this list. 
The last number denotes the g>age, and the middle number, when there 
are three, indicates the volume. 
1. Huxley, T. H.—On University Education. Address delivered at 
the formal opening of the Johns Hopkins University. Delivered at Balti- 
more, Md., September 12, 1876. Reported in the New Yorlc Tribune for 
September 18, and reprinted in the Tribune Nxtra, No. 36, pp. 7-14. 
2. Allen, Harrison, M. D.—Criticism of Prof. Huxley’s Views respect- 
ing the Value of Comparative Anatomy to Medical Students. Letter to 
the New York Tribune, about October 1, 1876. 
3. Billroth, Tiieodor.—Ueber das Lehren und Lernen der medicin- 
ischen Wissenschaften an den Universitat n der deutschen Nation, nebst 
allgemeinen Bemerkungen liber Universitaten. Eine Culturhistorische 
Studie. Pp. 500. Wien, 1876. (Review in Medical Times and Gazette, 
November 11 and November 18, 1876, to which references are here made.) 
4. Huxley, T. II.—Lay Sermons, Addresses, and Reviews. Pp. 378, 
8vo. New York, 1871. 
5. Holmes, O. W.—Teaching from the Chair and at the Bedside. An 
introductory lecture delivered before the Medical Class of Harvard Univer- 
sity, November 6, 1867. Printed at the request of the Class. Pp. 45, 8vo. 
Boston, 1867. 
6. Gould, A. A.—Search Out the Secrets of Nature. The annual ad- 
dress oefore the Massachusetts Medical Society, June 27, 1855. Pp. 56, 
8vo. Boston, 1855. 
7. Reeve, J. C., and McCook, G.—Report of the Committee on Medi- 
cal Education. “ Transactions of the American Medical Association,” 
1869. Pp. 30, 8vo. Philadelphia, 1869. 
8. Duxster, E. S.—The Logic of Medicine. An address delivered on 
the occasion of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the New York Academy 
of Medicine, December 30, 1872. New York Medical Journal, March, 
1873. Pp. 31. 
9. Duxster, E. S.—The Relations of the Medical Profession to Modern 
Education. An address delivered at the commencement of the Medical 
Department of the University of Vermont, June 16, 1869. New York 
Medical Journal, December, 1870. Pp. 25. 
10. Cotting, B. E.—Disease a Part of the Plan of Creation. The 
annual discourse before the Massachusetts Medical Society, May 31, 1865. 
“Medical Communications of the Massachusetts Medical Society,” vol. x., 
No. 5, 1865. Pp. 45. 
11. Bigelow, Jacob.—Self-Limited Diseases. The annual address be- 
fore the Massachusetts Medical Society, May, 1835. 
12. Muliieron, J. J.—Annual Address before the Wayne County (Mich- 35 
igan) Medical Society, July, 1876. Peninsular Journal of Medicine, July, 
1876. 
13. Cleland, John.— Address to the Anatomical and Physiological 
Section (Department of the Biological) of the British Association, August 
25, 1875. Pp. 9. 
14. Maudsley, Henry.—The Medical Profession in Modern Thought. 
Introductory lecture at University College, London, October 2, 1876. The 
Popular Science Monthly, January, 1877, 330-348. 
15. Law, James.—Hereditary Entailments in Domestic Animals, and 
in the Human Family. “Public Health Papers of the American Public 
Health Association,” vol. ii., 1875. Pp. 18. 
16. IIcxley, T. IT.—On the Study of Biology. A lecture delivered at 
the South Kensington Museum, December 16, 1876. Popular Science 
Monthly, March, 1877, 527-542. 
17. Huxley, T. H.—Manual of the Comparative Anatomy of Verte- 
brated Animals. New York, 1872. 
18. Huxley, T. H.—Universities—Actual and Ideal. Inaugural ad- 
dress of the Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen, February 27, 
1874. The Popular Science Monthly, May, 1874, 46-66. 
19. Huxley, T. H.—On Elementary Instruction in Physiology. A 
paper read at the Domestic Economy Congress, July 17, 1877. Nature, 
July 19, 1877, 233, 234. 
20. Krause, W.—Die Anatomie des Kaninchens, in topographischer 
und operativer Riicksicht. Pp. 271, 8vo, with 50 figures. Leipsic, 1868. 
21. Morrell, G. H.—Supplement to the Anatomy of the Mammalia, 
containing Dissections of Sheep’s Heart and Brain, Rat, Sheep’s Head, 
and Ox’s Eye. 8vo, pp. 269. London, 1872. 
22. Bucknill and Tike.—Manual of Psychological Medicine. 1856. 
23. Wilder, B. G.—Is Nature Inconsistent? The Galaxy, April, 
1876, 437-447. 
24. Wilder, B. G.—Gar-pikes, Old and Young. Popular Science 
Monthly, May and June, 1877. 
25. Wilder* B. G.—Bats and their Young. Popular Science Monthly, 
October, 1875. Pp. 12, 11 figures. MEDICAL WORKS 
PUBLISHED BY D. APPLETON & 00. 
Anstie on Neuralgia. 1 vol., l2mo Cloth, $2 50 
Bartholow’s Treatise on Therapeutics “ 5 00 
Barker on Puerperal Diseases. 1 vol “ 5 00 
Barker on Sea-Sickness. 1 vol., 16mo “ 75 
Barnes’s Obstetric Operations. 1 vol., 8vo “ 4 50 
Bellevue and Charity Hospital Reports. 1 vol.,8vo “ 4 00 
Bennet’s Winter and Spring on the Mediterranean. 1 vol., 12mo “ 3 50 
Bennet on the Treatment of Pulmonary Consumption. 1 vol., 8vo “ 1 50 
Billroth’s General Surgical Pathology and Therapeutics. 1 vol., 8vo— “ 5 00 
Buck’s Contributions to Reparative Surgery 1 vol.. 8vo...■ “ 3 00 
Bastian on the Common Forms of Paralysis from Brain Diseases “ 1 75 
Bulkley’s (L. D.) Acne; its Pathology, etc {Inpress.) 
Combe on the Management of Infancy. 1 vol.K12mo Cloth, 1 50 
Carpenter’s Mental Physiology “ 3 00 
Chauveau’s Comparative Anatomy of the Domesticated Animals. Ed- 
ited by George Fleming, F.R. G. S., M. A. I. 1 vol., 8vo, with 450 Illustrations. .. “ 6 00 
Davis’s (Henry G.) Conservative Surgery “ 3 00 
Dickson on Medicine in Relation to the Mind “ 3 50 
Elliot’s Obstetric Clinic 1 v,ol., 8vo “ 4 50 
Ecker’s Convolutions of the Bnain “ 1 25 
Flint’s Physiology 5 vois., 8vo Cloth, per vol., $4 50: Sheep, 5 50 
Flint’s Text-Book of Human Physiology. 1 vol., 8vo Cloth, $6 00; “ 7 00 
Flint’s Manual on Urine. 1 vol., 12mo Cloth, 1 00 
Flint’s Relations of Urea to Exercise. 1 vol., Svo “ 1 00 
Frey’s Histology and Histo-Chemistry of Man— “ 5 00 
Hoffmann’s Manual of Medicinal Chemicals “ 3 00 
Holland’s (Sir Henry) Recollections of Past Life. 1 vol., 12mo “ -2 00 
Howe on Emergencies. 1 vol., 8vo “ 3 00 
Howe on the Breath, and the Diseases which give it a Fetid Odor— “ 1 00 
Huxley on the Anatomy of Vertebrated Animals. 1 vol “ 2 50 
Huxley and Youmans’s Physiology and Hygiene. 1 vol., 12mo “ 1 75 
Hammond’s Insanity in its Relations to Crime. 1 vol., 8vo “ 1 00 
Hammond’s Diseases of the Nervous System. 1 vol., 8vo.. .Cloth, $6 00; Sheep, 7 00 
Hammond’s Clinical Lectures on Diseases of the Nervous System. 1 vol., Svo, 3 50 
Hamilton’s (A. McL.) Electro-Therapeutics. 1 vol., 8vo Cloth, 2 00 
Johnston’s Chemistry of Common Life. 2 vols., 12mo 3 00 
Keyes’s (E. L.) Tonic Treatment of Syphilis “ 1 00 
Letterman’s Recollections of the Army of the Potomac. 1 vol., Svo i 00 
Lewes’s Physiology of Common Life. 2 vols., 12mo “ 3 00 
Markoe on Diseases of the Bones. 1 vol., 8vo... “ 4 50 
Maudsley on the Mind. 1 vol., 8vo— “ 3 50 
Maudsley’s Body and Mind. 1 vol., 12mo “ 1 00 
Maudsley on Responsibility in Mental Disease “ 1 50 
Meyer’s Electricity. 1 vol.. 8vo “ 4 50 
Niemeyer’s Practical Medicine. 2 vols., 8vo Cloth, $9 00; Sheep, 11 00 
Neftel on Galvano-Therapeutics. 1vol., 12mo Cloth, 1 50 
Nightingale’s Notes on Nursing. 1 vol., 12mo “ 75 
Neumann on Skin Diseases. 1 vol., Svo “ 4 00 
New York Medical Journal $4 00 per annum. Specimen copies, 35 
Paget’s Clinical Lectures and Essays. 1 vol., Svo Cloth, 5 00 
Peaslee on Ovarian Tumors. 1 vol., 8vo “ 5 00 
Pereira’s Materia Medica and Therapeutics. 1 vol., 8vo Cloth, $7 00; Sheep, 8 00 
Richardson’s Diseases of Modem Life. 1 vol., 12mo Cloth, 2 00 
Sayre’s Club-Foot. 1 vol., 12mo “ 1 00 
Sayre’s Orthopedic Surgery. With the Operations incident to Deformities. 
With numerous Illustrations Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, 6 00 
Schroeier on Obstetrics. 1 vol., 8vo Cloth, 3 50 
Steiner’s Compendium of Children’s Diseases “ 3 50 
Stroud’s Physical Cause of the Death of Christ. 1 vol., 12mo “ 2 00 
Swett on Diseases of the Chest. 1 vol., 8vo “ 3 50 
Simpson’s (Sir Jas. Y.) Complete Works. Vol. I. Obstetrics and Gynte- 
cology. Svo. Vol. II. Anaesthesia, Hospitalism, etc. 8vo. Vol. III. The Dis- 
eases of Women Per vol., Cloth, $3 00; Sheep, 4 00 
Tilt’s Uterine Therapeutics. 1 vol., Svo Cloth, 3 50 
Van Buren on Diseases of the Rectum. 1 vol., 12mo “ 1 50 
Van Buren & Keyes’s Genito-Urinary Diseases, with Syphilis. Cloth, $5; Sheep, 6 00 
Vogel’s Diseases of Children. 1 vol, Svo Cloth, $4 50; “ 5 50 
Wells on Diseases of the Ovaries. 1 vol., 8vo Cloth, 5 00 
Wagner’s Chemical Technology. 1 vol., 8vo “ 5 00 
Walton’s Mineral Springs of the United States and Canada. With Anal- 
yses and Notes on the Prominent Spas of Europe “ 2 00 
*** A'.iy of these works will be mailed, post-free, to any part of the United States, on receipt 
of the price. 
A large and carefully-selected stock of Medical Works, American and Foreign, constantly on 
hand. Descriptive Catalogue forwarded on application. 
Physicians desiring to have their names inserted in our Medical Directory of the United States and 
Canada, will please send them in full, with addresses. No charge. ! 
D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, New York. APPLETONS’ 
AMERICAN CYCLOPEDIA. 
NEW REVISED EDITION. 
Entirely rewritten by the ablest writers on every subject. 
Pinnted from new ty-pe, and illustrated with sev- 
eral thousand Engravings and Maps. 
The work originally published under the title of The New American Cyclopaedia 
was completed in 1863, since which time the wide circulation which it has attained in all 
parts of the United States, and the signal developments which have taken place in every 
branch of science, literature, and art, have induced the editors and publishers to submit 
it to an exact and thorough revision, and to issue a new edition entitled The American 
Cyclopaedia. 
In preparing the present edition for the press, it has accordingly been the aim of the 
editors to bring down the information to the latest possible dates, and to furnish an ac- 
curate account of the most recent discoveries in science, of every fresh production in 
literature, and of the newest inventions in the practical arts, as well as to give a succinct 
and original record of the progress of political and historical events. 
The illustrations, which are introduced for the first time in the present edition, have 
been added not for the sake of pictorial effect, but to give greater lucidity and force to 
the explanations in the text. They embrace all branches of science and of natural his- 
tory, and depict the most famous and remarkable features of scenery, architecture, and 
art, as well as the various processes of mechanics and manufactures. Although intended 
for instruction rather than embellishment, no pains have been spared to insure theii 
artistic excellence; the cost of their execution is enormous, and it is believed they will 
find an excellent reception as an admirable feature of the Cyclopaedia, and worthy of it? 
high character. 
This work is sold to Subscribers only, payable on delivery of each volume. It is now 
completed in sixteen large octavo volumes, each containing over eight hundred pages, 
fully illustrated with several thousand Wood Engravings, and with numerous colored 
Lithographic Maps. 
PRICE AND STYLE OF BINDING. 
In Extra Cloth, - - per vol., $5 00 
In Library Leather, • “ 6 00 
In Half Turkey Morocco, “ 7 00 
In Half Russia, extra gilt, per vol., $8 o© 
In Full Mor., ant., gt. edges, “ io oo 
In Full Russia, - - “ io oe 
*#* Specimen-pages of The American Cyclopaedia, showing etc., 
sill be sent gratis, on application. 
D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 
549 & 551 Broadway, New York.