The radical theory is attacked by our author, as might be expected, with considerable energy; and he will not give it any more countenance than he is obliged to do. He censures it, not only on account of its involving so much speculation, but because, as he declares, the attempts which have been made by some eminent chemists to represent the composition of organized structures by means of formulæ, have tended to throw into confusion the most interesting questions of physiology and animal chemistry. (p. 661.) So that Sir Robert Kane is a follower in the path of Dumas, Laurent Gerhardt, and Gmelin; and is disposed to adopt the theory of types, rather than the more popular doctrine of organic radicals. We cannot, therefore, but regard his work as a wholesome check upon the too rapid course of modern speculation; and we can recommend it to our readers as one of the best introductions extant to the science of which it treats.

We trust, however, that whenever it may reach another Edition, the Index will be found to have undergone considerable improvement. The author's fluent style and facile manner tend to hurry him right onwards, and thus not unfrequently lead to the postponement of topics of which some notice might have been expected, until some other and perhaps less appropriate opportunity. Hence a copious and well-arranged index is peculiarly requisite; and we are compelled to remark that the one which now terminates the volume is neither one nor the other, the references being meagre and the words frequently misplaced.

ART. II.-Lectures on Medical Missions, delivered at the instance of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society.-Edinb., 1849. 12mo, pp. 320. IN our Third Number, for July 1848, when considering the general question of medical ethics, we briefly alluded to the subject of Medical Missions, and took the opportunity of commending them to the favorable notice of our readers. The appearance of the present volume recalls our attention to this truly important matter, and will tend, we trust, to excite a deeper and more active sympathy among the profession at large—more especially in the metropolis and other large cities, where young men are being educated for the future exercise of the healing art-in the great and good object that is sought to be accomplished. It contains a series of lectures which have recently been delivered before the medical students at Edinburgh, and a prefatory essay from the pen of Professor Allison, in which this distinguished physician points out, in a calm and philosophic spirit, the intimate connexion that should ever subsist between the pursuit of scientific knowledge, and the reception of the blessed truths of Christianity. The lectures are six in number, and stand thus: 1. An introductory one, explanatory of the series and recommendatory of the subject, by Mr. Miller, Professor of Surgery in the University. 2. On the importance of Medical Missions, by the Rev. W. Swan, lately missionary in Siberia. 3. On the qualifications of a medical missionary, by W. Browne, Esq., F.R.C.S., and President of the Medical Missionary Society. 4. On the duties of a medical missionary, by the Rev. J. Watson. 5. On the sacredness of medicine as a profession, by Dr. Wilson, F.R.S.E. 6. On the responsibilities attaching to the profession, by Dr. Coldstream, F.R.C.P.E. They will, each and all of them, repay the labour of a

1849.]

thoughtful perusal, and are, we think, exceedingly well fitted to promote the excellent cause which the Society, at whose instance they were delivered, has in view. The one by Professor Miller (it is also published separately, we believe) is especially deserving of praise for its eloquence and fervour; it should be read, and pondered too, by every medical man in the kingdom. May the good example that has thus been set by the Edinburgh school of medicine-to which so many of the present members of the profession look back with pleasure as their alma mater-be followed in other seminaries of professional instruction.

There cannot surely be a doubt but that as a body, we have not hitherto lived or acted up to the true and highest end of our vocation or mission. Our thoughts have been so much absorbed in the materialities of its pursuit, or in the ceaseless acquisition of its merely intellectual details, that its loftier and more spiritual bearings have well-nigh been overlooked by most of us. Perhaps, indeed, this charge might fairly be brought against every department of secular knowledge, as studied and carried out in the present day; they are all too much followed as an end, not as a means to How admirably has Bacon pointed out a more remote and nobler one. and rebuked this fault, when speaking of the impediments to the advancement of truth and science in his time :

"But the greatest error of all the rest is the mistaking or misplacing of the last or furthest end of knowledge; for men have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite; sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes for ornament and reputation; and sometimes to enable them to victory of wit and contradiction; and most times for lucre and profession; and seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason to the benefit and use of men; as if there were sought in a searching and restless spirit; or a knowledge a couch, whereupon to rest terrace for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect; or a tower of state, for a proud mind to raise itself upon; or a fort or commanding ground for strife and contention; or a shop for profit and sale; and not a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator, and the relief of man's estate."

If such be the true end of all knowledge, how emphatically so must it be of that branch of it which professes to teach us how to soothe the sufferings and heal the diseases of our fellow-creatures! The physician, indeed, who takes the Bible as the oracle of truth and the guide of his life, cannot but feel the sacredness of his calling, and the deep responsibilities, but no less lofty privileges, which it involves. And is there not something very touching in the fact that the Saviour himself appeals to his works of healing as one of the signs and evidences of His Messiahship? "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." When, too, he sent forth his disciples to preach the gospel, we read that he commissioned them also to "heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, and to cast out devils;" adding the admonitory injunction,-" freely ye have received, freely give." Do not these things imply a hallowed union between the office of relieving human suffering and that of evangelistic teaching? And is there not therefore reason for believing that if the "healing element," so to speak, in missionary enterprise had been more earnestly and steadfastly worked

out than it has ever yet been since the apostolic age, there might have resulted a larger amount of success in the diffusion of the gospel in barbarous and heathen lands, than has hitherto been gained? Indeed the good that has already been done by the few medical missionaries who have gone forth within the last eight or ten years-and to America belongs the praise of having been foremost and most zealous in the work-fully warrants this belief, and affords, at the same time, the most gratifying evidence how much our profession has it in their power to promote the We all How can it be otherwise? highest welfare of the human race. know the amazing power of active disinterested philanthropy in disarming even the most obstinate of their prejudices, and in winning the confidence and esteem of our fellow-creatures. The human heart cannot resist the force of this talisman; do good-single-minded, unselfish, good,—and men are constrained to love you. Now this is the very weapon whereby it is sought to prepare the ground for the reception of the good seed of Christian instruction, in nations that are still lying in heathen ignorance and superstition. The medical missionary goes forth on his labour of mercy among the sick, the suffering, and the wretched, in lands where neither science has bestowed its light nor charity has conferred its blessing. He invites all to come to him for relief, without money, and without price. The poor, unused to sympathy, flock to him from all quarters; they have tried their own doctors, and probably besought their own gods, but withont avail; he heals or relieves them; their affection is won by the good he has done them or their friends; they regard him as a benefactor, and look up to him as a friend; he invites them to join with him in praise and prayer to their common Father in heaven, from whom cometh down every good gift, and to whom he ascribes all the glory; their hearts, warmed with gratitude, respond to the call; the first gleams of divine truth dawn upon their souls; they feel the wish to know more; his advice directs and encourages them; they have the gospel preached to them; and thus they are led on from step to step, until at length they are brought to the saving knowledge of their Redeemer, and become missionaries themselves, in their own humble sphere, and to their own families and kindred, of the glad tidings of great joy which He came into the world to proclaim. This is certainly a glorious field for exertion; it rests, in a great measure, with medical men, whether it be rightly and efficiently occupied. Our privilege, as well as our duty, is great; we can all aid the good work in some way or another; to engage in it will dignify and exalt our profession; the object is an ennobling one; the present time is most favorable, the reward is sure; for beneficence like mercy, is

ever.

"twice blessed,

It blesseth him who gives, and him who takes."

ART. III.-Letters on the Truths contained in Popular Superstitions. By HERBERT MAYO, M. D.-Frankfort, 1849. Post 8vo, pp. 152. THESE letters, which originally appeared in "Blackwood's Magazine" for 1847, profess to examine and elucidate the reputed phenomena of "the divining rod, vampyrism, the belief in ghosts and dreams, secondsight, supposed workings of the holy spirit on masses, possession by

devils (in the middle ages and subsequently), and witchcraft." And the author claims to have established as truths, "the od force, the law of sensorial illusions, the laws of trance."

The value of any production of this kind entirely depends upon the care taken in the collection of evidence, on the penetration employed in sifting the details of such as is really genuine upon the whole, and on the philosophical character of the inferences founded upon it. Now we cannot accord to Dr. H. Mayo the credit of success in any one of these particulars. He has brought together a number of stories, old and new, many of which bear pretty obvious marks of having been either invented or improved upon by clever dealers in fiction. In discussing those which have the most claim to be considered as honest records of the impressions of competent witnesses, he has shown but little acquaintance with the mode in which such narrations are affected by the preconceived impressions of the parties, nor has he adverted to many other sources of fallacy which the discriminating reader will easily discover. And in drawing deductions from the evidence he has thus collected, he excludes many considerations which must enter into a really comprehensive and philosophical view of them.

The little book, however, will form a very amusing companion for an hour of leisure, and will afford some interesting suggestions to those who take an interest in following out the various questions discussed

in it.

ART. IV.-1. The Hunterian Oration delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons of England, on the 14th of February, 1849. By CESAR H. HAWKINS, Surgeon to St. George's Hospital.-London, 1849. 8vo, pp. 35.

2. The Retrospective Address on Diseases of the Chest, delivered at the Fifteenth Anniversary Meeting of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, held at Derby, 1847 By EDWARD JAMES SHEARMAN, M. D.-Worcester, 1848. 8vo. pp. 47. With Four Plates. IN choosing the principal topic for his Hunterian Oration-a selection. which to almost every one now called to discharge that duty must be a matter of some perplexity-Mr. Hawkins followed the example of his predecessor, Mr. Grainger, in bringing before his audience some of the more interesting examples of recent progress, rather than again traversing the ground which has already been so frequently trodden; and he specially directs attention to the improvements in physiology, organic chemistry, and histology, which tend to elucidate the history of diseases, and to suggest means for their cure. Among these, he does not omit to notice in a very appropriate manner the revival of the humoral pathology; the mention of which, in the Theatre of the Royal College of Surgeons, by a distinguished Fellow, is a pleasing indication that the days of those pure surgeons, who thank their Maker that they know nothing of physic, are passed away. Mr. Hawkins holds up the system of cooperation which exists among the cultivators of the physical sciences, and from which such great results are being obtained in regard to terrestrial magnetism, tidal phenomena, and the like, as a useful example to the medical profession. "Would not the stimulus of some such concert and controlling power as I have 7-IV.

21

alluded to in others, advance medical science also, more steadily, step by step in the right direction, and at the proper time, through the combined efforts of many now isolated labourers? Would it not check many crude and ill-digested hypotheses, prevent the revival of disproved facts and exploded theories, and give a higher value to original discoveries?" (p. 33.)

There can be but one answer to this question; nor can there be a doubt that any such plan ought to originate with the existing corporate bodies, which would vastly increase their claims to the esteem of the profession, did they bring forward any measures calculated to elevate its character, without consideration of their separate interests. Will Mr. Hawkins endeavour to arrange the details of such a plan, and to bring them before his own College?

Dr. Shearman's "Retrospective Address" has only just reached us, although it seems to have been some time published; and we can do no more than mention that it gives an admirable digest of the recent additions to our knowledge of the diagnosis, nature, and treatment of diseases of the chest, brought down to the year of its delivery (1847); and that it is illustrated by several beautiful delineations, chiefly from the pencil of Dr. Branson, of Sheffield, of the pulmonary structures in health and disease.

ART. V.-1. The Pathology of the Human Eye. By JOHN DALRYMPLE, F.R.C.S. Fasciculus II. Small folio. Four Plates.

2. Portraits of Diseases of the Skin. By ERASMUS WILSON, F.R.S. Fasciculus V. Large folio. Four Plates.

3. Surgical Anatomy. By JOSEPH MACLISE. Fasciculus III. Large folio. Four Plates.

Or this unrivalled triad, it is now superfluous to speak in words of commendation; and we might content ourselves with simply announcing the publication of a new Fasciculus of each of the works composing it.

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We owe it to Mr. Dalrymple, however, to give a somewhat fuller account of the plan and scope of his undertaking, than we were able to do in our former notice. These are scarcely expressed by his title; for he tells us that" it is not within his meaning to publish a treatise on diseases of the eye, but the rather to exhibit them as they occur in nature, in a series of drawings, with such explanations as shall identify them with symptoms, and with the general treatment of the case." In fact, Mr. Dalrymple's purpose is, in the main, analogous to that of Mr. Erasmus Wilson, in his "Portraits of Diseases of the Skin." It is not intended, however, to exhibit all the diseases of the eye: many offer such inconspicuous appearances (as in the large class of amaurotic affections), that drawings would scarcely convey any useful information, while others are either too familiar to surgeons to require delineation, or too rare to afford useful or practical assistance." The subjects are selected from a series of many hundred drawings, made at the Ophthalmic Hospital by the best artists (chiefly by Mr. W. H. Kearny and Mr. S. Leonard), under the superintendence of the late Mr. John Scott and of the author; and the utmost pains have, in every instance, been taken to verify their correctness by frequent comparison with existing specimens of disease. To each figure are devoted a few lines of explanation, with a very brief history of