4. Lectures on the Chemistry of Pathology and Therapeutics, showing the ap- plication of the Science of Chemistry to the Discovery, Treatment, and Cure of Disease. By AFRED B. GARROD, M.D. b. Lectures on the Influence of Researches in Organic Chemistry on Therapeu- tics, especially in relation to the Depuration of the Blood, delivered at the Royal College of Physicians. By Dr. GOLDING Bird, a.m., F.r.S., &C. ART. VIII.—1 On Infantile Laryngismus; with Observations on Artificial Feed- ing, as a frequent Cause of this Complaint, and of other Convulsive Diseases 2. Observations on the Pathology of Croup; with Remarks on its Treatment by Tropical Medications. By HORACE GREEN, M.D., M.A., &c. ART. IX-Pathological and Practical Observations on Strictures, and some other Diseases of the Urinary Organs. By FRANCIS RYND, M.A., M.R.I.A., Sur- geon to the Meath Hospital, and County of Dublin Infirmary, &c. &c. ART. X.-1. On the Nature of Limbs. A Discourse, Delivered at an Evening FR.S. 2. The Homologies of the Human Skeleton. By HOLMES COOTE, F.R.C.S., De- ART. PI.——1. The Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology. Part XXX-I. Article "Products, Adventitious.” By W. H. WALSHE, M.D., Prof. Clin. Med. Univ. ART. XII.-General Roard of Health: Report on Quarantine. Presented to both ART. XIII.-I. On Healthy and Diseased Structure, and the True Principles of Treatment for the Cure of Disease, especially Consumption and Scrofula; founded on Microscopical Analysis. By WILLIAM ADDISON, M.D. F.R.S., 2. Thoughts on Pulmonary Consumption; with an Appendix on the Climate of Torquay. By William Herries Madden, m.d., Physician to the Torbay 8. De l'Analogie et des Différences entre les Tubercules et les Scrofules; Mé- moire qui au Concours, fondé par Portal, a mérité de l'Académie de Mé- decine une mention honorable. Par A. LEGRAND, Docteur en Médecine de 4. The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight; its Climate, History, and Natural Pro- ib ART. I.-Elements of Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical; including the most recent Discoveries and Applications of the Science to Medicine and Pharma- cy, to agriculture, and to Manufactures. By Sir ROBERT KANE, M.D., M.R.1.A., ART. II.-Lectures on Medical Missions, delivered at the instance of the Edinburgh ART. III.-Letters on the Truths contained in Popular Superstitions. By HER- ART. IV.-1. The Hunterian Oration delivered before the Royal College of Sur- geons of England, on the 14th of February, 1849. By CESAR H. HAW- KINS, Surgeon to St. George's Hospital 2. The Retrospective Address on Diseases of the Chest, delivered at the Fif- teenth Anniversary Meeting of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Associa- ciation, held at Derby, 1847. By EDWARD JAMES SHEARMAN, M.D. ART. V-1. The Pathology of the Human Eye. By JOHN DALRYMPLE, F.R.C.S. 2. Portraits of Diseases of the Skin. Bv ERASMUS WILSON, F.R.S. Fasciculus V. ib. 3. Surgical Anatomy. By JOSEPH MACLISE. Fasciculus III ART. VI.-Some Thoughts on Natural Theology, suggested by a Work, entitled ART. VII.-Questions and Observations in Hygiene: recommended to the consi- deration of Naval Medical Men; suggested to the mind of the Author by the approach of the Asiatic Cholera. By FRED JAMES BROWN, N.D., Lond., ART. VIII.-Portraits of Diseases of the Scalp, with the Safest and most Efficient Modes of Treatment. By WALTER COOPER DENDY, Senior Surgeon to the Royal Infirmary for Children, &c.&c. Fasciculus I ART. IX.-1. Memoirs on the Ganglia and Nerves of the Uterus. By ROBERT Lee, M.D., F.R.S., Lecturer on Midwifery at St. George's Hospital, &c. &c. . 245 2. Practical Observations on the Diseases of the Uterus. By Robert Lee, M.D. F.R.S., &c. Coloured Illustrations from Original Drawings by Mr. PERRY ib. ART. X.-Lectures on the Parts concerned in Operations on the Eye, and on the Structure of the Retina, delivered at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospi- tal, June, 1847; to which are added a Paper on the Vitreous Humour, and also a few Cases of Ophthalmic Disease. By WILLIAM BOWMAN, F.R.S, F.RC.S., Professor of Physiology and General and Morbid Anatomy in ART. XI-A Treatise on the Diseases of the Heart and Great Vessels, and on the the Affections which may be mistaken for them; comprising the Author's View of the Physiology of the Heart's Action and Sounds. By J. HOPE, M.D., F. S., &c. &c. ART. XII.-On the Cryptogamous Origin of Malarious and Epidemic Fevers. By J. K. MITCHELL, A.M. M.D., Professor of Practical Medicine in the Jefferson ART. XIII.-The Training Institutions for Nurses, and the Workhouses: an at- tempt to solve one of the Social Problems of the present day. By EDWARD SIEVEKING, M.D., Physician to the Northern Dispensary, &c. &c. ART. XIV. On the Science of those Proportions by which the Human Head and Countenance, as represented in Works of Ancient Greek Art, are distin- guished from those of Ordinary Nature. By D. R. HAY, F R.S.E, Author of First Principles of Symmetrical Beauty,' &c. &c. ART. XV.-Essay on the Use of Alcoholic Liquors in Health and Disease. By ib. Original Report. An Inquiry into the Bearing of the Earliest Cases of Cholera, which occurred in London during the Present Epidemic, on the Strict Theory of Contagion. By EDMUND A. PARKES, M.D., Assistant-Physician to University College On the Development of the Purkinjean Corpuscles in Bone. By Dr. JOSEPH LEIDY ib. On Hæmatozoa in the Rat. By M. CHAUSSAT On the Arrangement of the Muscular Fibres in the Vena Cava Inferior of the On the Direction assumed by Plants. By Professor MACAIRE, of Geneva Microscopical Examniation of the Contents of the Hepatic Ducts, with Conclusions founded thereon. By T. WHARTON JONES, F.R.S. On the Artificial Production of Diabetes. By M. CLAUDE BERNARD On the Composition of the Salts of the Blood, and of their Relations to the Forma- tion of the Vesical Calculi. By M. VERDEIT On Crises and Critical Days. By M. BRICHETEAU On Catarrh of the Mouth. By Dr. PFEUFER Case of Obliterating Phlebitis of the Vena Porta. By M. MONNERET On Traumatic Cataract. By M. TAVIGNOT On a Case of Blenorrhagia occurring in a Perforated Urethra. By M. RICORD On the Employment of Collodion in Ophthalmic Affections. By M. HAIRION On a Substitute for Tents in dressing Abscesses. By M. NONAT On Amputation of the Penis by means of the Actual Cautery. By M. BONNET On Neuralgia of the Cervex Uteri. By M. MALGAIGNE Intra-vaginal Respiration recommended in some cases of Parturition where the Child's Life is in danger from Pressure on the Cord. By M. M'CULLOGH, THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL REVIEW. JULY, 1849. PART FIRST. Analytical and Critical Reviews. ART. I. 1. Parturition, and the Principles and Practice of Obstetrics. By W. TYLER SMITH, M. D. Lond., Lecturer on Obstetrics in the Hunterian School of Medicine.-London, 1849. Fcap. 8vo, pp. 396. 2. Obstetrics: the Science and the Art. By CHARLES D. MEigs, m. d., Professor of Midwifery in the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, &c. &c. With 121 Illustrations on Wood.-Philadelphia, 1849. 8vo, pp. 686. It seems to us not a little strange that writers who show a considerable amount of acuteness on other topics, should continue to entertain such vague and confused ideas with respect to the relation between Science and Art, as are presented by the authors of the two works before us, in the opening sentences of their respective treatises. According to Dr. Tyler Smith, "Labour the study of the act of parturition itself, and of all that relates to the prevention or alleviation of the pangs and dangers in which women bring forth children, and to the preservation of their offspring, are the principal aims of the Obstetric Art." (p. 1.) We do not precisely understand the relation of the first word in the above quotation to the rest of the sentence from which it is separated by a colon; according to all ordinary rules of punctuation, it is entirely isolated; and although certain clever writers of fictitious or imaginative works have lately broken through all these for the sake of effect, we shall set our face against the introduction of any such method, or rather want of method, into treatises in which the clear and sober exposition of truth is the only object. Leaving the word Labour, then, to stand alone like, the monosyllabic noun-verb which in the Chinese language forms a sentence by itself, we shall inquire into the meaning of the remainder of the passage. Inverting the sentence, we find Dr. Tyler Smith asserting that 7-IV. 1 "the principal aims of the Obstetric Art" are "the study of the act of parturition itself, and of all that relates to the prevention or alleviation of the pangs and dangers in which women bring forth children, and to the preservation of their offspring." In our apprehension, this is rather a definition of the science, than of the art, of obstetrics. The object of the art is to alleviate the sufferings, and preserve from the dangers, incident to the performance of the function in question; that of the science is to know how to alleviate. The art consists of a set of rules for practice, deduced from the scientific study of the function in its normal and abnormal conditions; and these may be successfully applied by a practitioner, who knows nothing of their rationale. On the other hand, the science is evolved from the philosophic contemplation of the phenomena presented by clinical observation, guided by an acquaintance with the general principles of physiology; and this may be successfully pursued by a man who has never conducted a case of labour for himself. Although we are far from thinking that a mere observer is the man best qualified for such a pursuit, yet on the other hand, we are confident that he would be much more likely to contribute towards the advancement of the science, and the consequent improvement of the art in precision and certainty, than the mere practitioner who isolates this department of biology from every other, and looks at the parturient woman as a being with whom no one but himself has anything to do. Let us see whether Dr. Meigs is more successful in his definitions. The following are his opening sentences: "Midwifery is the art of assisting women in labour. "Obstetricy comprises the sciences of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, as relates to the reproductive organs, and the arts of therapeutics and surgery, as applied to sexual affections in women. 66 Midwifery is an Art. "Obstetricy is a Science. "A Midwife or Accoucheur is one who assuines the conduct of cases of labour. "An Obstetrician is a physician, who, in addition to a general knowledge of physic and surgery, adds the special information that it is necessary for one having the peculiar charge of all sexual affections, whether in the department of midwifery proper, or in other complaints of the sex. 66 Notwithstanding obstetricy is composed of several different branches or sorts of knowledge, it claims to be considered as a distinct science." (p. 17.) In these oracular dicta, we have an attempt at greater precision of statement; and we believe that, by a little amendment, they may be made to express the true view of the subject. We will take Dr. Meigs's definitions of Obstetricy as the Science, and Midwifery as the Art; and inquire what are their respective provinces. Obstetricy, strictly speaking, consists of those departments of the sciences of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, which relate to the reproductive function; but as the obstetric practitioner is the one generally consulted upon the diseases and injuries to which the female sexual organs are liable (unless these diseases, like syphilis, be purely constitutional in their nature), the whole pathology of these organs (with the exception we have named) must be considered as included under the designation of obstetrics. Now so far as obstetrics is a science,—in other words, to use the definition of Mr. John Mill, as it consists of a collection of truths, whose language is "this is, or this is not; this does, |