1787

the " development and verification " of "Life’s Great Law."There is, it would appear, a trinity of fundamental laws, thediscovery of each of which in turn has revolutionised theworld of science. Gravitation, the author tells us, gave us

a trustworthy astronomy, chemical affinity gave us chemistry,while Life’s Great Law yields a correspondingly trust-

worthy vital science. He proceeds to enunciate the greatlaw and the present volume is occupied chiefly in an

examination of the exact science of health and the

principles upon which the knowledge is founded. A second

volume is promised and this is to deal with the practicefounded on the principles here stated. A brief foretaste is

given of the manner in which the principles are to be appliedand those who dislike the dry details of clinical observa-

tions and the toilsome investigations of the laboratorymay possibly care to study the unfettered ipse dixits of theauthor who gives his views on the treatment of diphtheriaand pneumonia with a confidence which may excite admira-tion. It is, however, unlikely that his teaching will causeamongst English physbians the imitation which is the

sincerest form of flattery.It was formerly the practice amongst the reviewers of

novels not to destroy any possible interest there might bein their plots by fully revealing them to the public. Wehave the like feeling in the case of the author of this workand must therefore refer the curious reader to the bookit-elf for a full enunciation of Life’s Great Law which hewill readily find set out in bold type. It should, however,in fairness be added that we do not think the secret worththe price asked for the book-and when applied in practice,as suggested by the author, it is subversive of all faith in themost striking developments of modern practice.

LIBRARY TABLE.The S’d2cdy of Tropicccl Diseases in Dutc7t India.-The

second part of the forty-first volume of the Genees kundige ITijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indie contains a synopsis ofthe course that is to be followed at the institution for the

study of tropical diseases which has been established in

Weltevreden, Java. Similar institutions have been organisedat various places in Europe but the Dutch medical authoritiesare of opinion that better opportunities for the attainmentof the end in view are to be met with in tropical regions thancan possibly be forthcoming within the temperate zone. In

the first place the diseases in question can be investigatedduring their acute stages, and, secondly, their mode of origincan be scrutinised in their own home. There is also scopefor original research in the well-known fact that some

affections with which European medical men are familiarfrequently follow a distinct course under the influence of aneastern sun. The director of the laboratory at Weltevredenis Dr. J. de Haan. Dr. G. Grijns is the sub.director and Dr.G, W. Kiewiet de Jonge is the professor of tropical medicine.The duration of a course is three months. The curriculum

comprises : (1) clinical lectures on tropical diseases ; (2)tropical hygiene, acclimatisation, water, habitations, con-

servancy, and climatology; and (3) clinical lectures and

demonstrations on bacteriology.ezcas una urunortss aer gesamlllien Avagenreaunae.

(Atlas with a Short Account of Ophthalmic Diseases ) In

Three Volumes. Vol. II., Ophthalmoscopy and Ophthalmo-scopic Diagnosis. With 149 Coloured Plates and Seven Un-coloured. By Professor Dr. 0. HAAB. Fourth edition.Munich : J. F. Lehmann. 1904. Pp. 82. Price 10s.-Thisvolume is one of Messrs. Lehmann’s hand atlases of whichabout 40 have been published and which are marvels of cheap-ness and excellence. They are of convenient size, printedupon good paper, and supply trustworthy illustrations to workson almost every branch of medical knowledge. Thus threevolumes are assigned to gynaecology, two to pathology, threeto ophthalmology, and others to diseases of the skin, the

mouth, the larynx, the ear, the nervous system, the bones,and to the wider subjects of histology and anatomy. Each

volume has an essay prefixed to the plates which containsa brief exposition of the subject to which the volumes aredevoted. The plates themselves in the present atlaf, althoughnot in the highest style of chromolithography, are not coarse,have been carefully selected, and are consequently represen-tative and form collectively a very useful adjunct to anytreatise on the diseases of the eye. They would be moreuseful to English readers if the introduction and the legendsof the plates had been translated into English.

Looking Back.FROM

THE LANCET, SATURDAY, DEC. 24, 1825.

ON THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF THESPLEEN.

BY SIR A. COOPER.

The following is an abstract 1 of Sir A Cooper’s opinionson the structure and use of the spleen ; which were deliveredby him to the anatomical class a few days since, in a lectureupon that viscus.The most curious part of the structure of the spleen, he

observed, was in the veins, and here Sir A. exhibited to theclass the spleen of an ox and also of a calf, in which thedistribution and commencement of the veins were well seen.He compared the internal structure of these preparationswith a dried preparation of a turtle’s lung, and said, thatthe similarity was so great, that the lung had been thenplaced upon the table, by mistake, for a preparation ofthe spleen. The cells of the spleen Sir Astlev remarkedwere formed by the splenic vein, into which the blood is

poured from the minute capillary branches of the splenicartery. In order to illustrate the elasticity of the membrane,or proper capsule of the spleen, Sir Astley introduced a pipeinto the splenic vein and then inflated the spleen ; it readilyadmitted of distension, and its size was much increased, butit was immediately emptied by its own elasticity. By meansof an injecting syringe, Sir Astley threw water into the veinsof a spleen, upon withdrawing the syringe, and holding theviscus in the hand, it was seen to empty itself and resume itsoriginal size. The spleen upon which this experiment wasshown appeared very small, but it held twenty-four ouncesof fluid. " These were my play-things, gentlemen, (said theworthy Baronet, with a good-natured smile,) when I was illin the country last summer, and I will tell you the result ofthese investigations, or rather, the conclusion to which Ihave arrived respecting the use of the spleen ; and it isthis-The spleen is an elastio reservoir and maanufactory (Ifvenous blood."

Sir A. said the blood was conveyed into cells formed bythe splenic vein, and was there retained until a supply ofdark blood is demanded for the liver, when, by the elasticityof the investing membrane of the spleen, its contents are

propelled. The blood in the splenic veins becomes addi-tionally charged with carbon and forms dark blood, whichis necessary to the formation of bile. Sir A. remarked,that the difference between the lungs and spleen, was this,-that in the former the blood was deprived of its carbon,whilst in the latter it received an additional quantity. Inthe spleen of the reptile class, and also in birds, heobserved, there were vessels in lieu of cells, and it is

only in quadrupeds that the cells can be ascertained.Sir Astley Cooper next alluded to the hypothesis of Dr.

Haighton upon the use of the spleen, which was, that whenthe stomach was fall, it pressed upon the spleen, and thusimpeding the circulation through that viscus, the blood wasmore copioufly propelled to the arteries of the stomach, inorder that a large quantity of gastric juice might be secreted.Sir A. said if such were the use of the spleen to the stomach,it must abo serve lor a similar purpose to the pancreas ; buthe admitted, that it remained for further investigation tcprove, what other officea the spleen performed, in additionto that which he conceived to be its principal use.

1 A portion only is transcribed.