Vickipedia

PA’LATE, the, forms the roof of the mouth, and consists of two portions, the hard palate in front and the soft palate behind. The framework of the hard palate is formed by the palate process of the superior maxillary bone, and by the horizontal process of the palate bone, and is bounded in front and at the sides by the alvolar arches and gums, and posteriorly it is continuous with the soft palate. It is covered by a dense structure formed by the periosteum and mucous membrane of the mouth, which are closely adherent. Along the middle line is a linear ridge or raphe, on either side of which the mucous membrane is thick, pale, and corrugated, while behind it is thin, of a darker tint, and smooth. This membrane is covered with scaly epithelium, and is furnished with numerous follicles (the palatal glands). The soft palate is a movable fold of mucous membrane enclosing muscular fibres, and suspended from the posterior border of the hard palate so to form an incomplete septum between the mouth and the pharynx; its sides being blended with the pharynx, while its lower border is free. When occupying its usual position (that is to say, when the muscular fibres contained in it are relaxed), its anterior surface is concave; and when its muscles are called into action, as in swallowing a morsel of food, it is raised and made tense, and the food is thus prevented from passing into the posterior nares, and is at the same time directed obliquely backwards and downwards into the pharynx.

Hanging from the middle of its lower border is a small conical pendulous process, the uvula ; and passing outwards from the uvula on each side are two curved folds of mucous membrane containing muscular fibres, and called the arches or pillars of the soft palate. The anterior pillar is continued downwards to the side of the base of the tongue, and is formed by the projection of the palato-glossus muscle. The posterior pillar is larger than the anterior, and runs downwards and backwards to the side of the pharynx. The anterior and posterior pillars are closely united above, but are separated below by an angular interval, in which the tonsil of either side is lodged. The tonsils (amygdalæ) are glandular organs of a rounded form, which vary considerably in size in different individuals. They are composed of an assemblage of mucous follicles, which secrete a thick grayish matter, and open on the surface of the gland by numerous (12 to 15) orifices.

The space left between the arches of the palate on the two sides is called the isthmus of the fauces. It is bounded above by the free margin of the palate, below by the tongue, and on each side by the pillars of the soft palate and tonsils.

As the upper lip may be fissured through imperfect development (in which case it presents the condition known as hare-lip), so also may there be more or less decided fissure of the palate. In the slightest form of this affection, the uvula merely is fissured, while in extreme cases the cleft extends through both the soft and hard palate as far forward as the lips, and is then often combined with hare-lip. When the fissure is considerable, it materially interferes with the acts of sucking and swallowing, and the infant runs a great risk of being starved; and if the child grows up, its articulation is painfully indistinct. When the fissure is confined to the soft palate, repeated cauterization of the angle of the fissure has been found sufficient to effect a cure by means of the contraction that follows each burn. As a general rule, however, the child is allowed to reach the age of puberty when the operation of staphyloraphy (or suture of the soft parts) is performed—an operation always difficult, and not always successful. For the method of performing it, the reader is referred to the Practical Surgery of Mr. Fergusson. who has introduced several most important modifications into the old operation.

Acute inflammation of the tonsils, popularly known as quinsy, is treated of in a separate article.

Chronic enlargement of the tonsils is very frequent in scrofulous children, and is not rare in scrofulous persons of more advanced age, and may give rise to very considerable inconvenience and distress. It may occasion difficulty in swallowing, confused and inarticulate speech, deafness in various degrees from closure of the eustachian tubes (now often termed throat deafness), and noisy and laborious respiration, especially during sleep; and it may even cause death by suffocation, induced by the entanglement of viscid mucus between the enlarged glands. Iodide of iron (especially in the form of Blancard’s Pills) and cod-liver oil are the medicines upon whose action most reliance should be placed in these cases, while a strong solution of nitrate of silver (a scruple of the salt to an ounce of distilled water), or some preparation of iodine, should be applied once a day to the affected parts. If these measures fail, the tonsils must be more or less removed by the surgeon, either by the knife or scissors, or by a small guillotine specially invented for the purpose.

Enlargement or relaxation of the uvula is not uncommon and gives rise to a constant tickling cough, and to expectoration, by the irritation of the larynx which it occasions. If it will not yield to astringent or stimulating gargles, or to the stronger local applications directed for enlarged tonsils, its extremity must be seized with the forceps, and it must be divided through the middle with a pair of long scissors.

PAIN is an undefinable sensation, of the nature of which all persons are conscious. It resides exclusively in the nervous system, hut may originate from various sources. Irritation, or excessive excitement of the nervous system, may produce it; it frequently precedes and accompanies inflammation; while it sometimes occurs in, and seems to be favored by, a state of positive depression, as is seen in the intense pain which is often experienced in a limb benumbed with cold, in the pain which not unfrequently accompanies palsy, and in the we’ll known fact, that neuralgia is the common result of general debility. Hence, pain must on no account be regarded as a certain indication of inflammation, although it rarely happens that pain is not felt at some period or other in inflammatory diseases. Moreover, the pain that belongs to inflammation, differs very much, according to the organ or tissue affected; the pain, for example, in inflammation of the lungs, differs altogether in character from that which occurs in inflammation of the bowels, and both these pains from that occurring in inflammation of the kidneys.

Pain differs not only in its character, which may be dull, sharp, aching, tearing, gnawing, stabbing, &c., but in its mode of occurrence; for example, it may be flying or persistent, intermittent, remittent, or continued. It is not always that the pain is felt in the spot where the cause of it exists. Thus, inflammation of the liver or diaphragm may cause pain in the right shoulder, the irritation caused by stone in the bladder produces pain at the outlet of the urinary passage; disease of the hip-joint occasions pain in the knee, disease of the heart is often accompanied with pain in the left arm, and irritation of the stomach often gives rise to headache. Pain is differently felt by persons of different constitutions and temperaments, some persons being little sensitive to painful impressions of any kind, while others suffer greatly from slight causes. There even seems to be national differences in this respect; and before the introduction of chloroform, it was a matter of common observation that Irishmen were always more troublesome subjects for surgical operations than either Englishmen or Scotchmen; and the negro is probably less sensitive to pain than any of the white races.

Although in most cases we are to regard pain merely as a symptom to be removed only by means which remove the lesion which occasions it, there are cases in which, although it is only a symptom, it constitutes a chief element of disease, and one against which remedies must be specially directed. As examples of these cases, may be mentioned neuralgia, gastralgia, colic, dysmenorrhoea, and perforation of the intestines; and in a less degree, the stitch of pleurisy, which, if not relieved, impedes the respiration, and the pain of tenesmus, which often causes such efforts to empty the lower bowel, as seriously to disturb the functions of the intestine, and to exhaust the strength.

For the methods of relieving pain, the reader is referred to the articles on the different diseases in which it specially occurs (as colic, neuralgia, pleurisy, &c.), and to those on chloroform, ether, indian hemp, morphia, narcotics, opium, &c.

WHI’MBREL (Numenius phœopus), a bird of the same genus with the Curlew (q. v.), and much resembling it inform, plumage, and habits, but of smaller size, and with a bill considerably shorter in proportion. The female, which is larger than the male, is about eighteen inches in length, the bill being about three inches and a half. The plumage of the W. is of a bright ash color, with streaks of brown on the neck and breast. The W. is a very widely distributed bird, being found from the north of Africa and of India to the arctic regions of Europe and Asia. It occurs also in Japan. It is a bird of passage, and visits Britain chiefly in the course of its spring and autumn migrations. A few whirnbrels breed in Shetland; but the number is diminishing, the eggs being in great request as a delicacy. The flesh is also highly esteemed.

A’NUS, THE, AND ITS DISEASES. The term anus is applied by anatomists to the lower or (in the case of animals) the posterior aperture of the intestinal canal; the rectum terminating externally in the anus. With regard to its anatomy, it is sufficient to state that it is kept firmly closed on ordinary occasions by the external and internal sphincter muscles, the former of which contracts the integument around the opening, and, by its attachment to the coccyx behind, and to a tendinous center in front, helps the levator ani muscle in supporting the aperture during the expulsive efforts that are made in the passage of the faeces or intestinal evacuations; while the latter or internal sphincter, is an aggregation of the circular muscular fibres of the lowest part of the rectum, and acts in contracting the extremity of the tube. The main function of the levator ani muscle is expressed in its name, it being the antagonist of the diaphragm and other muscles which act in the expulsion of the fasces. The integument around the anus lies in radiating plaits, which allow of its stretching without pain during the passage of the faeces; and the margin is provided with a number of sebaceous glands, which, in some of the lower animals, secrete strongly odorous matters. See ANAL GLANDS. Infants are occasionally born with an imperforate anus, or congenital closure of the rectum. In the simplest form of this affection, the anus is merely closed by thin skin, which soon becomes distended with the Meconium (q. v.). More complicated cases are those (1) in which the gut terminates some distance above the seat of the anus in a blind sac or pouch; (2) where the rectum terminates in the bladder, &c. Fortunately, the closure by a layer of skin is far the most common form of imperforate anus, and the little patient is at once relieved by a very simple surgical operation. If, however, no treatment be adopted, which is too often the case, in consequence of a popular delusion that the affection is incurable, the abdomen becomes distended and hard, vomiting comes on, the vomited matters soon assume a faecal smell, and the infant dies in a few days, either from exhaustion or rupture of the intestines.

Spasm of the Sphincter Ani is by no means a rare affection; it is characterized by violent pain of the anus, with difficulty in passing the fasces. On attempting an examination, the muscle feels hard, and resists the introduction of the finger. It usually occurs in sudden paroxysms, which soon go off; but sometimes it is of a more persistent character. Its causes are not clearly known, and although most surgeons regard it as a special affection, some consider that the spasm is not a disease in itself, but merely a symptom of some slight excoriation or ulceration.

Suppositories containing opium or belladonna introduced during the period of relaxation, are sometimes of use; and if there are ulcers, they must be specially treated. Ulceration occurring as a breach of surface at one or more points around the anus, but not extending within the orifice, is by no means uncommon in persons who are not attentive to cleanliness, and especially in women with vaginal discharges. Strict attention to cleanliness, the patient being directed to apply warm water to the parts at least twice daily with a sponge (which after each operation should be carefully rinsed out), and one or two applications of the solid nitrate of silver, followed by black-wash, will effect a speedy cure. If the ulcer is seated partly without the anus and partly within the rectum, the distress is much more severe, and the treatment often requires the use of a knife. Fissure of the anus is a term applied to an affection consisting in one or more cracks, excoriations, or superficial ulcerations, situated between the folds of the skin and mucous membrane at the verge of the anus, and only slightly involving the rectum. They give rise to intense pain during the passage of the evacuations, and for some hours afterwards to great discomfort, smarting, and itching. The treatment to be adopted is to endeavor to procure regular and somewhat soft evacuations, and to sponge with warm water immediately afterwards, the parts being dried with a soft cloth. One or two applications of solid nitrate of silver will sometimes cure the disease; and an ointment of oxide of zinc, or one containing chloroform, will sometimes serve to allay the irritation and heal the parts.—Pruritus ani, which simply means intense itching and irritation of this part, is perhaps rather to be regarded as a symptom of certain morbid changes rather than as a special disorder; but as it is a very common affection, and is productive of much suffering it must not be passed over. It is often associated with an unhealthy state of the intestinal secretions, or with simple constipation; with a congested state of the mucous membrane; with a disordered condition of the womb; with the presence of thread-worms in the rectum, &c.; and it is peculiarly common in persons whose occupations are sedentary. The affection is often much aggravated by the patient’s being unable to refrain from scratching the parts, which leads to excoriations, ulcerations, thickening of the skin, &c. The symptoms are usually most severe when the sufferer begins to get warm in bed. If the affection arise from worms, or a loaded state of the large intestines, enemata and purgatives will give immediate relief. If unhealthy excretions exist, attention must be paid to the diet, and the occasional administration of a pill containing a grain of calomel and four grains of watery extract of aloes, together with the local application of soap and water to the parts, will often stop the itching. If there are any cracks or ulcers, nitrate of silver must be applied until they heal. To prevent the reappearance of these sores, the patient should bathe the parts night and morning with a strong solution of alum. An ointment composed of a drachm of calomel and an ounce of lard is strongly recommended by Mr. Smith of King’s College Hospital, when other means have failed; who also states that the daily introduction of a well-oiled bougie, made of black wax, will sometimes succeed in very obstinate cases. The other principal affections of the anus are Fistula, Piles, and Prolapsus, which are discussed in special articles.

ANTISEPTICS (anti, against, septikos, causing putrefaction) are substances which prevent or arrest putrefaction and analogous fermentive changes. It has been proved that Putrefaction (q. v.), fermentation of grape-juice (vinous fermentation), of milk, (lactic fermentation), and many, though probably not all other fermentations, depend upon the presence of microscopic vegetable organisms (see GERM THEORY). To prevent these processes, then, it is necessary either (1) to exclude these organisms altogether ; (2) to interfere with conditions which permit of their development; or (3) to destroy their vitality.

(1) These organisms, or their germs, are present in ordinary air; but it has been shown by Pasteur, Tyndall, Lister, Roberts, and others, that if air be filtered through cotton wool, or (if moving slowly) through a fine bent tube, it may be allowed to come in contact with putrescible substances, if these themselves contain no living organisms or germs, without causing putrefaction. This method, however, has had no important practical applications.

(2) Their growth may be arrested (a) by a low temperature. Thus large quantities of fresh meat are imported from America, and even Australia and New Zealand, in chambers cooled to near the freezing-point. Carcases of the long extinct mammoth, with the flesh still present, have been found in the ice-cliffs of Siberia. The longer time that meat, milk, &c., keep in cold than in hot weather is familiar. (b) By absence of moisture. Thus, if the contents of an egg be thrown out on a plate, and thoroughly dried in an oven, the whole becomes of a hard, horny consistence, and may be kept in this state for years. If soaked in water, it will soon begin to putrefy. In the same way meat may be kept fresh by thoroughly drying it. The preservation of fruits, &c., in strong syrup is an example of a similar action.

(3) The vitality of these organisms may be destroyed (a) by heat; e.g., meat and other eatables can be preserved for an indefinite time if they are boiled and hermetically sealed while still hot in tin vessels (see PRESERVES); (&) by various chemical substances. Some of the most important are common salt and saltpeter, used in curing fish, pickling meat, &c.; alcohol, in preserving zoological specimens, vegetable essences, fruits, &c.; sulphurous acid, boracic acid, and arsenious acid; many salts, as chloride of zinc (Burnett’s solution, q. v.), permanganate of potash (Condy’s fluid, see under MANGANESE), sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) corrosive sublimate, nitrate of silver; chlorine (given off by chloride of lime), iodine, iodoform (CHI₃), glycerine, boroglyceride (C₃H₅Bo₃), eucalyptus oil, thymol, creasote, carbolic acid, salicylic acid, tannic acid, quinine, the patent preparation ’sanitas,’ charcoal (both vegetable and animal), dry mould, used in the earth-closet system (see SEWAGE EARTH-CLOSET). All these substances act directly or indirectly as poisons to the organism-which produce putrefaction, &c.; most of them are either poisonous or very unpalatable to man, and cannot therefore be used in preserving food. Many of them are, however, used in the arts to arrest the decomposition of putrescible substances; e. g., in the manufacture of size for writing-paper from scraps of hides, sulphite of soda or antichlore, containing sulphurous acid, is added; hides are preserved by salt, or, when tanned, by tannin, a compound of tannic acid; timber is found less liable to decay if charged with an antiseptic, such as sulphate of copper, chloride of zinc, corrosive sublimate, or creasote. It is placed in a steam-box, so that the air contained in its pores is replaced by steam; the whole casing is then closed tight, and allowed to cool; the steam condenses and leaves a vacuum in and around the wood. If one of these substances is then introduced, it finds its way into the innermost pores of the timber (see also WOOD-PRESERVING). ,

But next to the preservation of food, the most important purposes for which antiseptic methods and substances are used, are the prevention of infectious diseases, and the treatment of wounds.

The properties of the infectious matter of infectious disease are closely analogous to those of the organisms that lead to putrefaction, &c.; and even in cases where its organic nature has not been proved (see GERM THEORY), can be rendered inert by a proper use of A., or by exposure to a high temperature. Thus anything that has come near the patient suffering from an Infections disease, and discharges from his person, can be made harmless by carbolic acid, chloride of zinc, or some other antiseptic; his bedding is roasted in an oven at a temperature of 212° P. or more; the room where he has been treated is fumigated with chlorine or sulphurous acid; and so the disease is prevented from spreading. This is, in fact, one of the chief aims of medical practice at the present day (see disinfectants).

Many of the evil effects which follow wounds and surgical operations are due to the presence of organisms (see PYAEMIA); and the effects of their antiseptic treatment, introduced by Mr. Lister, have been marvelous (see CARBOLIC ACID.).

AMOEBA is the name of the lowest class of Infusoria (q. v.). The animal is a jelly-like mass, without definite shape, nearly uniform in texture, but having a pulsating vesicle. The A. feeds by closing around its prey, enfolding it in its own substance, and then digesting it, any undigested portion being finally protruded. See PROTEUS.

ANA’TOMY (Gr., a cutting up or dissecting) is the science of the form and structure of organic bodies, and is practically acquired by separation of the parts of a body, so as to show their distinct formation, and their relations with each other. It is generally understood as applied to the human body, while the A. of animals is styled zootomy, and that of plants, phytotomy. The investigation and comparison of the structures of the different kinds of organic bodies is styled comparative A. Theoretical A. is divided into general and special.

general A. gives a description of the elementary tissues of which the systems and organs of the body are composed, as preliminary to an examination of them in their combined state in the various organs : it also investigates their laws of formation and combination, and the changes which they undergo in various stages of life. This branch of study may also be styled Structural or Analytical A., and has been first developed in recent times, especially by Bichat (1801) and Bordeu, who have been followed by J. Müller, Goodsir, Mayer, E, H. Weber, Schwann, Valentin, and many others. In our day, microscopic investigation has been successfully applied to the study of elementary textures. See histology.

special A. (styled Descriptive by the French writers) treats of the several parts and organs of the body in respect to their form, structure, and systematic connection or relation with each other. The arrangement of the several parts and organs in an order deduced from their similarity in structure or use, constitutes systematic A. According to this mode of study, which is essential as an introduction to physiology, A. has been divided, though not with scientific precison, into six branches of study. 1. Osteology, which treats of the bones, including the cartilages of the joints (chondrology).—2. Syndesmology, which describes the ligaments, or bands, that unite the bones of various joints. The bones, with their cartilages and ligaments, form a framework, which supports the external soft parts, and within which the vital organs are suspended and protected from injury; they are also arranged in a mechanical system as instruments of motion.—3. Myology explains the system of the muscles, which, by their contractile power, serve to impart motion to the bones and joints; while, like the bones, they contribute to form the cavities of the body, and to protect the internal organs. Their structure also serves to produce the external shape and symmetry.—4. Angeiology describes the vessels or ducts, with their complex network and ramifications, spreading over most parts of the body, and divided into two great systems : (a), the blood-vessels with the heart, a fleshy organ propelling the blood through the pulsating vessels or arteries, from which it returns to the heart, after circulation through the veins; (b), the lymphatics, by which a certain fluid (lymph) is brought into union with the blood in the organ styled lymphatic glands, and is afterwards passed into the veins.—5 Neurology, or the doctrine of the nerves, describes the nervous system, as divided into, first, the two central masses of the brain and the spinal column; second, the ramifications of nerves running from the brain and spinal column to almost all points of the surface; and lastly, the order of nerves having a peculiar structure, and styled the ganglionic system of nerves.—6. Splanchnology describes the viscera or organs formed by combination of the distinct systems of veins, nerves, lymphatics, &c., and mostly situated in the cavities of the body. These are divided into five groups, viz.: (a), the organs of sensation—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch; (b), of voice and respiration—nostrils, mouth, larynx, trachea, and lungs, with the thyroid gland, the thymus gland, and the diaphragm; (c), digestive organs—the mouth, with its salivary glands, the throat, gullet, the stomach, the intestines, with the liver, spleen, and pancreas; (d), the urinary organs— kidneys, ureter, bladder, and urethra; (e), sexual organs of both sexes.

Special A. may be treated in another mode ; by an arrangement made in accordance with natural divisions, or by imaginary lines dividing the body into several regions—as the head, the trunk, and the extremities. Again, the trunk may be subdivided into neck, thorax, and abdomen ; and in each of the main regions, several subdivisions may be made. This system of arrangement may be styled topographical A., and is also known as surgical A., on account of its importance as the basis of operative surgery. It was the eldest of the Monroes of Edinburgh University who first gave this branch of the study its due prominence. The several parts and organs of the animal body will be found described under their proper heads.

History of A.—It is difficult to determine the date at which this science began to be cultivated, but it is probable that from the earliest times some persons took advantage of favorable circumstances to acquaint themselves with it. The Druids, who were at once the priests, judges, and physicians of the people, demanded from those who came for their advice human victims as sacrifices, and were themselves the executioners ; and it is not unlikely that they availed themselves of these opportunities of acquiring anatomical knowledge. It is probable, says Galen, the Æsculapius, who excelled in the treatment of wounds, dissected animals for the instruction of his pupils. His descendants, that Æsclepiades, cultivated A., or rather zootomy, and founded the three famous schools of Cos, Rhodes, and Cnidos. The rabbins tell us that, although among the Jews the touching of a dead body involved ceremonial uncleanness, they did not entirely neglect A., which they studied from the carefully preserved bones of their ancestors, and the necessary manipulations of embalming. They counted 248 bones, and 365 veins or ligaments, which division, according to the rabbins, has relation to the 248 precepts of the Mosaic Law that command, and the 365 that forbid.

Homer exhibits a certain amount of anatomical knowledge in his description of wounds in the Iliad. Pythagoras first reasoned physiologically from observations made by him when in Egypt, where he witnessed the sacrifices, and also the Egyptian methods of embalming. Alcmeon of Crotona, a disciple of Pythagoras, first dissected animals with the view of obtaining comparative knowledge of human A. Democritus, who frequented the sepulchres, probably with anatomical views, practised zootomy, and was engaged dissecting animals when visited by Hippocrates. Hippocrates II., descended in the eighteenth degree from Æsculapius, and born at Cos in 35 a.m., was the first author who treats A. as a science. He caused a skeleton of brass to be cast, which he consecrated to the Delphian Apollo, with the view of transmitting to posterity proofs of the progress he had made, and of stimulating others to the study of A. Aristotle, who lived 384 b.c., does not appear to have dissected men ; and he states that: the parts of man are unknown to them, or that they possess nothing certain on the subject beyond what they can draw from the probable resemblance of the corresponding parts of other animals. He first gave the name aorta to the great artery.

Diocles (380 b.c.) was the first who treated of the proper manner of conducting anatomical examinations for purposes of demonstration. But no real progress in A. was made, owing to the researches being confined to animals, till the time of Erasistratus, who was born at Ceos about 800 b.c., and who was the first to-dissect human bodies. He obtained from Seleucus Meaner and Antiochus Soter the bodies of criminals, and is said to have dissected some condemned to death while they were still alive. His writings are lost, but fragments are preserved in the writings of Galen. He made many discoveries, among others, of the lacteal vessels. Herophilus, who lived about the same time, was born at Carthage, but carried on his anatomical pursuits principally at Alexandria. He also is said to have dissected living subjects. Parthenius, who lived 200 years b.c., published a book, entitled On the Dissection of the Human Body. In the first c. of the Christian era, the dissection of human subjects was forbidden, under heavy penalties. Rufus the Ephesian, who lived 112 A.D., under the empire of Trajan, taught A. in a more exact manner than had been hitherto done, and devised a more exact anatomical nomenclature. He made use of animals in his demonstrations, and mentions that ‘of old they used for that purpose human bodies.’

Galen (131 a.d.) dissected apes, as being most like human subjects, though he occasionally obtained bodies of children exposed in the fields, or of persons found murdered, which, however, he was obliged to dissect in secret. There was at this time no regularly prepared skeleton, as there was a law at Rome forbidding the use of dead bodies. Galen’s writings show a knowledge of human A. Soranus had extensive knowledge of A., derived from human subjects. Moschion had some anatomical illustrations engraved. Oribasius compiled more than 70 volumes, the 24th and 25th being on A., principally from Galen.

Nemesius, Bishop of Nemesus, a town in Phoenicia, cultivated A. at the end of the 4th c., in which also Meletius lived, who wrote a complete treatise On the Nature and Structure of Man. Theophilus, a monk, published in the 7th c. a good abridgment of the A. of Galen.

A. made small progress among the Arabs, which is accounted for by their religion prohibiting contact with dead bodies. When the great Arabian physician, Rhazes, was about to be operated on for cataract, he discovered that the surgeon was ignorant of the structures of the eye, and refused to submit to the operation. Avicenna (980 a.d.), born in the province of Khorasan, was a good osteologist, and described some structures not alluded to by Galen.

A. was now neglected for a long period, till Frederick II., king of Sicily (1194—1250), made a law forbidding any one to practise surgery without having first acquired some knowledge of A. He founded a chair at the solicitation of Martianus, his chief physician, where the science was demonstrated for five years; students, from all parts crowded to it, and some time after, a similar school was established at Bologna—these two were largely attended, but no very material progress was made in A.

The university of Montpellier was founded by Pope Nicholas IV. in 1284, and the chair of A. was filled by Bernard Gordon, with great distinction for ten years. He published a huge work,, called Lilium Medicinal.

Mundinus, born at Milan, 1815, professed A. there, and is considered the real restorer of A. in Italy. He publicly demonstrated it, and published a work which was the text-book in the academy of Padua two hundred years after its publication. Then came Guy de Chauliac, who first correctly described the humerus. Mathæus of Grado published several anatomical works about 1480. Gabriel de Zerbus, in 1495, published a confused and imperfect, work on A. at Verona. The science continued to be studied by surgeons such as Vigo (1516), Achillinus, and Berenger (Carpi), (1518), who boasted of having dissected at Bologna more than a hundred subjects. Reports were raised that he dissected living Spaniards, and he fled or was exiled to Ferrara.

Andre Lacuna (1535), Charles Etienne, Gonthier (1536), Massa, Driander (1537), Sylvius (1539), Levasseur, and Gesner, were celebrated for A.; but especially Andrew Vesalius, born 1514, who published a great work on A. before he was 28 years of age. He had the misfortune to open the body of a young Spanish nobleman whose heart was found still beating, and was obliged to make an expiatory pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In 1564, the Venetian senate recalled him to succeed, at Padua, the famous Fallopius, who had just died; on his return, he was shipwrecked on the island of Zante, where he was starved to death.

William Horman of Salisbury wrote, in 1530, Anatomia Corporis Humani (A. of Human Body); then came Ingrassias, and others of less note.

Thomas Gemini of London, in 1545, engraved upon copper the anatomical figures of Vesalius, which had appeared in Germany upon wood. Gemini suppressed the name of Vesalius, though using his figures and descriptions. Thomas Vicary, in 1548, is said to be the first who wrote in English on A.; he published The Anglishman’s Treasure, or the True A. of Man’s Body. John Ligæus, in 1555, published an anatomical treatise in Latin hexameters. Franco (1556), Valverda, Columbus, and others, wrote works of great merit on A. In 1561, Gabriel Fallopius professed it with great distinction at Padua, and made many original discoveries.

In the 17th c., progress was rapid : Hervey, in 1619, discovered the circulation of the blood, and the microscope was employed to detect the structure of minute vessels. Aselli, in 1622, discovered and demonstrated the existence of the lymph-vessels; and his conclusions were supported by the investigations of Pecquet, Bartholin, and Olaus Rudbeck. The glandular organs were investigated by Wharton, while Malpighi, Swammerdam, and (in the following c.) the illustrious Ruysch, by the use of injections and the aid of the microscope, gave a new impulse to research in the minute structures. Eminent names in the history of A. are numerous in the 18th c. In Italy, which still retained its former pre-eminence, we find Pacchioni, Valsalva, Morgagni, Santorini, Mascagni, and Cotunni; in France, Winslow, D’Aubenton, Lieutaud, Vicq d’Azyr, and Bichat, the founder of General A; in Germany, the accomplished Haller and Meckel prepared the way for greater achievements in the 19th c.; in Great Britain, Cowper, Cheselden, Hunter, Cruikshank, Monro, and Charles Bell contributed to the progress of the science; while Holland was worthily represented by Boerhaave, Albinus, Camper, Sandifort, and Bonn. On the boundaries of the two centuries, we find the names of Sommering, Loder, Blumenbach, Hildebrand, Reil, Tiedemann, and Seller; nearly all connected with practical medicine, which was benefited by their studies in A.

The necessity of a union of theory and practice has led to that zealous study of pathological A. (the dissection and study of structures as modified by diseases) which has recently prevailed. The origin of this branch of A. maybe traced back to ancient times in Egypt, where post-mortem examinations were sometimes made to discover the seat of disease and cause of death. In the medical writings of the Greeks, some anatomico-pathological observations are found. During the general revival of science in the 16th c., many notices of pathological A. occur. In 1507, Benevieni of Florence wrote the first book on this branch of science; and Bonet, in 1679, published his compilation of numerous observations. Still, these were only fragmentary indications of a possible science, and the facts stated were often very erroneously interpreted. Morgagni (1767), who must be regarded as the true founder of Pathological A., was worthily followed by Lieutaud, Sandifort, Hunter, Baillie, and others. Meckel the Younger, in Germany, in his study of malformations &c., paid little or no attention to practical applications of the science. The recent change of direction given to the study of Pathological A., which is now properly regarded as a means towards practical improvements in medicine, must be ascribed to Bichat and the pupils of Broussais, among whom may be mentioned the names of Laennec, Cruveilhier, Louis, Andral, Lobstein, Lebert, Virchow, Bennett, &c. In London and other large towns there are societies devoted specially to the investigation of pathology.

compaRativE A. has always preceded anthropotomy, or dissection of the human subject, but was first treated systematically as a distinct science by Cuvier and his pupil Meckel the Younger. The system proposed by the latter was, unfortunately, never completed. Blumenbach, Tiedemann, Home, Blainville, Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Carus, Oken, Goethe, the German poet, Richard Owen, John Goodsir, and Huxley, must be named as eminent contributors to this branch of science; while, in late years, zootomy and comparative A. have been studied, with an especial reference to physiology, by Muller, Wagner, Siebold, Bowman, Todd, and Allan Thomson.

A. for artists is studied with reference to the effects produced by internal structure on the external form, and describes the organs, especially the muscles and tendons, not only in a state of rest, but also as modified by passion, action and posture. Consequently observation of the nude living form is required in this branch of study, which has been treated of by Errard and Genga (1691); and in modern times, by Lavater (1790), Camper (1792), Charles Bell (1806), Salvage (1812), Mascagni (1816), Koeck (1822), Gardy (1831) Fischer (1838), Salomon arid Aulich (1841), Berger (1842), Seller and Gunther (1850), &c.

practical A. includes Dissection (q. v.) and the making of Preparations. Preparation consists in dividing parts or organs, so that their respective forms and positions may be clearly shown, Organs or parts thus treated are styled Anatomical Preparations of bones, muscles, vessels, nerves, &c. For example, a bone-preparation is made by clearing away all muscular and other adhesions; the whole structure of the bones, thus prepared and bleached, when connected by wires in its natural order, forms an artificial skeleton.

For preparations of parts containing vessels with minute ramifications, injections are employed. Some colored fluid which has the property of gradually becoming solid, is gently injected into the arteries or other vessels by means of a syringe. Formerly, materials which required a certain degree of warmth to preserve their fluidity were used; but as these were attended with inconvenience, a great improvement was made by Shaw and Weber, who introduced the use of linseed-oil and turpentine, which, when mixed with certain metallic compounds in due proportions, form a fluid which, after a time, becomes solid in ordinary temperatures. Quicksilver and colored limewater are also used, for injection of the finer vessels. Preparations are either dried and varnished or preserved in spirit.

A series of such specimens, arranged in proper order, forms an Anatomical Museum. The valuable collections made by Ruysch, Eau, Loder, Walter, John and William Hunter, Meckel, Sommering, and Dupuytren, are all now public property. There is also a splendid collection in the university of Edinburgh, collected and prepared for the most part by John Goodsir. The College of: Surgeons of Edinburgh also possesses a very valuable museum of pathological preparations. As it is impossible to preserve thus all parts in their integrity for any great length of time, artificial copies in wood, ivory, and wax have been made with great exactitude, especially in Florence; and recently Anzou in Paris has employed papier-mache for the same purpose. But, apart from I dissections and preparations of the natural organs, the most general and available assistance in the study of A. is found in anatomical engravings and plates on wood and copper. This assistance was known in ancient times. Aristotle affixed to his works on A. some anatomical drawings, which have been lost. In the 16th c., the greatest artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian, and Dürer—gave their aid in designing anatomical figures; but few of their works, in this department of art, have been preserved. Lately, lithography has been employed. Among the numerous illustrations of A. which we now possess, the old works by Vasal (1543), Eustachius (1714), Bidloo (1685), Albin (1747), Haller (1743-1756), and Vicq d’Azyr (1786-1790), may be mentioned. The present century has supplied works of first-rate excellence by Caldani (Venice, 1801-1814), Mascagni (Pisa, 1823), Langenbeck (Gottingen, 1826), Bourgery and Jacob (Paris, 1832), and Arnold (Zurich, 1838). For general use, we may commend the plates of Loder (Weimar, 1803), Cloquet (Paris, 1826), Osterreicher (Munich, 1827-1830), Weber, (Düsseldorf, 1830), Bock (Leipsic, 1840), and D’Alton (Leipsic, 1848); in Surgical A., the works by Rosenmuller (Weimar, 1805), Pirogoff (Dorp. 1840), and Gunther (Hamburg, 1844), in Pathological A., Meckel (Leipsic, 1817-1826), Cruveilhier (Paris, 1828-1841), Froriep (Weimar, 1838), Albers (Bonn, 1832), Gluge (Jena, 1843—1850), and Vogel (Leipsic, 1843); in Comparative A., Carus (Leipsic, 1826) and Wagner (Leipsic, 1841). Among English works may be mentioned those by Lizars, Jones, and Richard Quain, in Special A.; by Morton and Maclise, in Surgical A.; and by Baillie and Bright in Pathological A.

ANATOMY (in Law). While the study and practice of A., or the art of dissecting the human body, were necessary to the pursuit of surgical knowledge, there were, until the year 1832, no sufficient legal means in Britain of procuring dead bodies for anatomical purposes; and the consequence was, the evasion, and sometimes even the open violation of the law by persons interested in supplying the surgical profession with subjects for dissection. The high prices, indeed, given for these subjects, may almost be said to have created a lucrative and tempting trade, which led to the most atrocious crimes; and murders, with no other object than the possession of the victim’s body for the surgeon’s knife, were frequently committed. The notorious case of Burke, tried and convicted before the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, in 1828, is a horrible illustration of the state of the law at that time, and of the position in which it placed surgical practitioners. It was believed that Burke and his associate Hare had been the murderers of sixteen persons, whose bodies they sold to the anatomists. It was their practice to inveigle poor people, generally strangers, into their houses, make them drunk and then smother them. Burke, informed against by Hare, was condemned for thus disposing of an old woman, and suffered the last penalty of the law, bequeathing a new verb, to burke, to the English language. To remedy this state of things, an act of parliament was passed on the 1st of August 1832, 2d and 3d William IV. c. 75, the preamble of which, sufficiently disclosing its necessity, is as follows: ‘Whereas a knowledge of the causes and nature of sundry disuses which affect the body, and of the best methods of treating and curing such diseases, and of healing and repairing divers wounds and injuries to which the human frame is liable, cannot lie acquired without the aid of anatomical examination; and whereas the legal supply of human bodies for such anatomical examination is insufficient fully to provide the means of such knowledge: and whereas, in order further to supply human bodies for such purposes, divers great and grievous crimes have been committed, and, lately, murder, for the single object of selling for such purposes the bodies of the persons so murdered: and whereas, therefore, it is highly expedient to give protection, under certain regulations, to the study and practice of A., and to prevent, as far as may be, such great and grievous crimes and murder as afore-said ‘—It is therefore enacted, that the Secretary of State for the Home Department in Great Britain, and the Chief Secretary in Ireland, may grant a license to practice A. to any fellow or member of any college of physicians or surgeons, or to any graduate or licentiate in medicine, or to any person lawfully qualified to practise medicine in any part of the United Kingdom, or to any professor or teacher of A., medicine, or surgery, or to any student attending any school of A., on the application of such party for such purpose, countersigned by two justices of the peace acting for the county, city, borough, or place where such party resides, certifying that, to their knowledge or belief, such party so applying is about to carry on the practice of A.

The act provides for the appointment of inspectors of schools of A., and directs them to make a quarterly return to the Secretary of State, or the Chief Secretary, as the case may be, of subjects removed for anatomical examination to every place in the inspector’s district where A. is carried on, distinguishing the sex, and, as far as is known at the time, the name and age of each person whose body was so removed. The inspectors are further required to visit and inspect places within their respective districts where A. is practised; and for the performance of all these duties, the inspectors are each to have an annual salary not exceeding £100, with a further reasonable sum for their official expenses. By section 7, it is enacted that it shall be lawful for any executor or other party having lawful possession of the body of any deceased person, and not being an undertaker or other party intrusted with the body, for the purpose only of interment, to permit the body of such deceased person to undergo anatomical examination, unless, to the knowledge of such executor or other party, such person shall have expressed his desire, either in writing, at any time during his life, or verbally, in the presence of two or more witnesses, during the illness whereof he died, that his body, after death, might not undergo such examination; or unless the surviving husband or wife, or any known relative of the deceased person, shall require the body to be interred without such examination: while, by section 8, it is declared that the wishes of persons who had expressed a desire that their bodies should be subjected to anatomical examination shall be respected, unless the deceased person’s surviving husband or wife, or nearest known relative, or any one or more of such person’s nearest known relatives being of kin in the same degree, shall require the body to be interred without such examination. Bodies are not to be removed for examination until forty-eight hours after death, and without a certificate by the medical attendant, stating, according to the best of his knowledge or belief, the manner or cause of death. The act contains a number of provisions intended to secure its sufficient administration; but by section 15, it is provided that it shall not extend to or prohibit any post-mortem examination of any human body required or directed to be made by any competent legal authority; and it repeals an enactment in a previous statute, 9 George IV. c. 31, which directed the bodies of murderers after execution to be dissected.

This act of parliament is understood to have met the evil it was designed to obviate; and under it the supply of bodies of persons dying friendless, in poor houses, hospitals, and elsewhere, is stated to have proved sufficient for the wants of the profession.

WEA’NING, and FEEDING IN INFANCY. The propriety of mothers nursing their own children is now so universally acknowledged, that it is the duty of the physician less frequently to urge maternal nursing than to indicate those cases in which it becomes necessary to substitute another mode of rearing the infant. ‘ Women,’ says Dr. Maunsell, ‘who labor under any mortal or weakening disease—as phthisis, hæmorrhages, epilepsy—are obviously disqualified from the office of nurse. Some who are in other respects healthy, have breasts incapable of secreting a sufficient supply of milk. In other instances, the breast may perform its functions well, but the nipple may be naturally so small, or may be so completely obliterated by the pressure of tight stays, as not to admit of its being laid hold of by the child. These are actual physical hindrances to nursing. Again, women may, and, in the higher classes, frequently do, possess such extremely sensitive and excitable temperaments, as will render it imprudent for them to suckle their own children. Frightened and excited by every accidental change in the infant’s countenance, and inordinately moved by the common agitations of life, such persons are kept in a state of continual fever, which materially interferes with the formation of milk both as to quantity and quality. Women, also, who become mothers for the first time at a late period of life, have seldom the flexibility of disposition or the physical aptitude for the secretion of milk, required to constitute a good nurse.’—A Treatise on the Management and Diseases of Children, 4th ed., 1842, pp. 39. 40.

In ordinary cases, the child should be put to the breast as soon as the latter begins to contain anything; and when the secretion of milk lias fairly commenced, it will require no other food until the seventh or eighth month, provided the mother be a good nurse. During the first five or six months, the infant should be put to the breast at regular intervals of about four hours; afterwards, when the teeth are beginning to appear, the child need not suck more than four times in the twenty-four hours, some artificial food being given to it twice during the same period. This at first may consist of soft bread steeped in hot water, with the addition of sugar and cow’s milk; and subsequently a little broth, free from salt and vegetables, may be given once a day. The spoon is now the best medium o£ feeding, as the food should be more solid than could be drawn through the sucking-bottle. The time of weaning should be that indicated by nature, when, by providing the child with teeth, she furnishes it with the means of obtaining its nourishment from substances more solid than milk. If the infant has been gradually accustomed to a diminished supply of maternal and an increase of artificial food, weaning will be a comparatively easy process; and much of that suffering both to parent and child will be spared, which commonly ensues when a sudden change is made. In ordinary cases, the period of weaning varies from the seventh to the twelfth month; sometimes the child is kept at the breast for a much longer period, from the popular idea that lactation prevents pregnancy, but such unnaturally prolonged lactation is usually injurious to both mother and child.

In those cases in which it is inexpedient or impossible for a mother to suckle her own child, the choice of a wet-nurse becomes a subject of much importance. Upon this subject, Dr. Maunsell lays down the following important practical rules: ‘The great thing we have to look to is to ascertain that both the woman and her child are in good health; and of this we must endeavor to judge by the following signs: The woman’s general appearance and form should be observed, and they ought to be such as betoken a sound constitution. Her skin should be free from eruptions; her tongue clean, and indicating a healthy digestion; her gums and teeth sound and perfect; the breasts should be firm and well formed—not too large or flabby—and with perfect, well-developed nipples. We should see that the milk flows freely, upon slight pressure; and we should allow a little of it to remain in a glass in order that we may judge of its quality. It should be thin, and of a bluish-white color; sweet to the taste; and when allowed to stand, should throw up a considerable quantity of cream. A nurse should not be old, but it is better that she should have had one or two children before, as she will then be likely to have more milk, and may be supposed to have acquired experience in the management of infants. Having examined the mother, we must next turn to the child, which should be well nourished, clean and free from eruptions, especially on the head and buttocks. We should also carefully examine its mouth, to ascertain that it is free from sores or aphthæ. If both woman and child bear such an examination, we may with tolerable security pronounce the former to be likely to prove a good nurse.’—Op. cit., pp. 44, 45. In one respect, we differ from this eminent physician. He holds that ‘ the more recently the nurse’s own confinement has taken place, provided she has recovered from its effects, the better.’ Supposing a nurse is required for a new born infant, this rule holds good; but provided a nurse is required for an infant of three or four months old (for example), it is preferable to obtain a nurse whose milk is of that age. We believe it to be a general physiological law that the age of the milk should correspond to the age of the infant; that is to say, that an infant taken at any given age from its mother, before the normal period of weaning, should be provided with a nurse who was confined about the same time as its own mother.

A wet-nurse should be very much preferred to any kind of artificial feeding; but peculiar cases may occur in which it is impossible to procure a nurse; or an infant whose mother is incapable of nourishing it may be the subject of a disease that may be transmitted through the infant to the nurse. In these cases, a food must be provided as nearly as possible resembling the natural food; and this is naturally sought for among the food of animals. The milk of the cow is most commonly used, in consequence of its being the most easily obtained; but ass’s milk more nearly resembles human milk, as is shown from the following comparative analyses by Professor Playfair :

The most important difference between cow’s milk and woman’s milk is the great excess of casein in the former. The former fluid may, however, be made to resemble the latter in composition in either of the following ways : (1) On gently heating cow’s milk, a membrane of casein forms on-the surface; by removing two or

three of these membranes as they form, we can reduce the quantity of casein to the desired extent; or (2) we may dilute cow’s milk with twice its bulk of pure water, and add a little sugar. This food should be administered at a natural temperature (of about 98°) through a sucking-bottle; and as the child grows older, it will soon be able to take natural cow’s milk without inconvenience. The nature and importance of the mixture of milk and farinaceous food known as Liebig’s Soup for Children, are described under SOUP.

The rules regarding the times &c. of feeding are similar to those laid down for suckling. Assuming that the infant, whether brought up at the breast or artificially reared, has been safely weaned, we have to consider what rules should be laid clown regarding its food subsequently. For some months after weaning the food should consist principally of semi-fluid substances, such as milk thickened with baked flour, or pap, to which a little sugar should be added. Light broth’s may also be administered, especially in the occasional cases in which milk seems to disagree; and bread and butter may be tried in small quantity. We shall con-elude this article with the following ‘ model of a suitable diet for children,’ which cannot be too strongly impressed upon the minds of all young mothers. ‘A healthy child, of two or three years old, commonly awakes hungry and thirsty at five or six o’clock in the morning, sometimes even earlier. Immediately after awaking, a little bread and sweet milk should be given to it, or (when the child is too young to eat bread) a little bread-pap. The latter should be warm; but in the former case, the bread may be eaten from the hand, and the milk allowed to be drunk cold, as it is well at this meal to furnish no inducement for eating beyond that of hunger. After eating, the child will generally sleep again for an hour or two; and about nine o’clock it should get its second meal, of bread softened in hot water, which latter is to be drained off, and fresh milk and a little sugar added to the bread. Between one and two, the child may have dinner, consisting, at the younger ages, of beef, mutton, or chicken broth (deprived of all fat), and bread. When a sufficient number of teeth are developed to admit of chewing being performed, a little animal food, as chicken, roast, or broiled mutton, or beef, not too much dressed, should be allowed, with a potato or bread, and some fresh, well-dressed vegetable, as turnips or cauliflower. After dinner, some drink will be requisite; and a healthy child requires, and indeed wishes for nothing but water.

Light, fresh table-beer would not be injurious to a child of four or five years old, but it is unnecessary. Between six and seven o’clock, the child may have its last meal of bread steeped in water, &c., as at nine o’clock in the morning. A healthy child which lias been in the open air during the greater part of the day, will be ready for bed shortly after this last supply, and will require nothing more till next morning. Similar regimen and hours may be adopted throughout the whole period of childhood; only as the fourth or fifth year approaches, giving, for breakfast and supper, bread and milk without water, and either warmer cold, according to the weather or the child’s inclination. The supply of food upon first awakening in the morning may also be gradually discontinued, and breakfast be given somewhat earlier.’ —Op. cit., pp. 80, 81.

TASTE, organ and sense of. The principal seat of the sense of taste is the mucous membrane of the tongue, in which dissection reveals a cutis or chorion, a papillary structure, and an epithelium. Of the cutis, it is sufficient to remark that it is tough, but thinner and less dense than in most parts of the cutaneous surface, and that it receives the insertions of the intrinsic muscles of the tongue, which will be described when we treat of that organ generally. The papillary structure differs from that of the skin in not being concealed under the epithelium, but in projecting from the surface like the villi of the digestive canal, and it thus gives to the tongue its well-known roughness. The Epithelium (q. v.) is of the scaly variety, as on the skin, but is much thinner on the tongue than on the skin. It is most dense about the middle of the upper surface of the tongue, and it is here that, in disordered digestion, there is the chief accumulation of fur, which in reality is simply a depraved and over-abundant formation of epithelium. The papillæ on the surface of the tongue are either simple or compound. The former, which closely resemble those on the skin, are scattered over the whole surface of the tongue in parts where the others do not exist, and they likewise participate in the formation of the compound papillæ, which, from their forms, are respectively termed (1) the circumvallate or calyciform, (2) the fungiform, and (3) the conical or filiform.

The circumvallate papillæ are not more than eight or ten in number, and are situated in the form of a V at the base of the tongue. Their function seems to be to secrete mucus, as well as to take part in the act of tasting. They consist of ‘ a central flattened projection of the mucous membrane of a circular figure, and from 1/20th to 1/12th of an inch wide, surrounded by a tumid ring of about the same elevation.’—Todd and Bowman, Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man, 3d ed. vol. i. p. 437. They are shown in the figure of the surface of the tongue given in the article on that organ.

The fungiform papillæ are scattered over the surface in front of the circumvallate papillæ, and about the sides and apex. They are usually narrower at the base than at the apex, where they are about 1/30th of an inch in diameter. They are covered with simple or secondary papillæ, and their investing epithelium is so thin that the blood circulating in them gives them a red color, which is not seen in the conical papillæ amongst which

they are distributed. They contain nerves terminating in loops. The shape of the conical or filiform papillæ is indicated by their names; and even if they take little part in the sense of taste directly, it is convenient to describe them here. Their average length is about 1/10th of an inch. The structure of these papillæ will be better understood from the accompanying diagrams than from any verbal description. They terminate in long pointed processes, which are bathed by the mucus of the mouth, and are capable of moving in any direction, although they are generally inclined backwards.

Some of the stiffer of these epithelial processes enclose minute hairs, of which several forms are depicted by Messrs. Todd and Bowman, from whose Physiological Anatomy all the figures in this article are borrowed. These authors surmise, on structural grounds, that the filiform papillæ ‘ can scarcely share in the reception of impressions which depend on the contact of the sapid material with the papillary tissue.

The comparative thickness of their protective covering, the stiffness and brushlike arrangement of their filamentary productions, their greater development in that portion of the dorsum of the tongue which is chiefly employed in the movements of mastication, all evince the subservience of these papillæ to the latter function rather than to that of taste; and it is evident that their isolation and partial mobility on one another must render the delicate touch with which they are endowed more available in directing the muscular actions of the organ. The almost manual dexterity of the tongue in dealing with minute particles of food is probably provided for, as far as sensibility conduces to it, in the structure and arrangement of these papillæ.’—Phys. Anat. and Phys. of Man, vol. i. p. 441. Notwithstanding the difference in their outward form and mode of arrangement, the simple papillæ, which have been detected by Todd and Bowman as scattered over the whole dorsum of the tongue (although concealed under the common sheet of epithelium), and those clothing the circumvallate and fungiform papillæ, do not seem to present any structural difference; and their epithelium, which is very thin, readily permits the transudation of sapid substances dissolved in the mucus of the mouth. With regard to the use of the singular configuration of the circumvallate and fungiform papillæ, ‘ it may be conjectured that the fissures and recesses about their bases are designed to arrest on their passage small portions of the fluids in which the sapid materials are dissolved, and thus to detain them in contact with the most sensitive parts of the gustatory membrane.’ —Op. cit-, p. 441.

There has been much discussion regarding the precise seat of the sense of taste and the true nerves of taste. Although the surface of the tongue is the special seat of gustative sensibility in man, the sense of taste is by no means restricted to that organ, being diffused, in a less degree, over the soft palate, the arches of the palate, and the fauces. Moreover, the gustative sensibility varies on different parts of the surface of the tongue. It is generally allowed that acute taste ‘ resides at the base of the tongue, over a region of which the circumvallate papillæ may be taken as the center, and also on the sides near the base. These parts are supplied solely by the glossal twigs of the glosso-pharyngeal nerves. Some writers, amongst whom are Valentin and Wagner, believe the middle and anterior parts of the dorsum of the tongue to be usually incapable of appreciating flavor; while numerous others hold the contrary opinion, with which our own careful and repeated experiments, on other persons as well as ourselves, quite accord. Sour, sweet, and bitter substances applied to the sides, and especially to the tip of the protruded tongue, we find to be at once distinguished; though, when placed on the middle of the dorsal region, they make little or no impression till pressed against the roof of the mouth. This region of the tongue is supplied almost solely by the lingual branch of the fifth nerve. We conclude generally, with regard to the tongue, that the whole dorsal surface possesses taste, but especially the circumferential parts, viz., the base, sides, and apex.’—Op. cit., pp. 442, 443. The investigations of Messrs. Todd and Bowman further show that the soft palate and its arches are endowed with taste in some persons, but not universally, while they got no evidence in any case of gustative sensibility on the pharynx, gums, or elsewhere. The soft palate and its arches are supplied by palatine brandies from Meckel’s ganglion, and sparingly by the glosso-pharyngeal nerves. Prom (1) the evidence afforded by the anatomical distribution of the nerves to parts enjoying the sense of taste, (2) the evidence of experiments, in which the various nerves of the tongue were divided, and (3) the evidence afforded by disease, it may be safely inferred that the glosso-pharyngeal and the lingual branches of the fifth pair of nerves respectively participate in the sense of taste; and there is also reason to attribute a share to the palatine branches of the fifth.

Impressions of taste may be produced by a mechanical or chemical excitement of the gustatory nerves. A quick light tap of the finger on the tip of the tongue causes a taste, sometimes acid, sometimes saline, which lasts for several seconds; and galvanism acts similarly. If the surface of the tongue, near the root, be touched with a clean dry glass rod, or a drop of distilled water be placed upon it, a slightly bitterish sensation is produced; and if the pressure be continued, a feeling of nausea ensues. If a small current of cold air be directed against the tongue, it excites a cool saline taste like that of saltpetre. From the experiments of E. H. Weber, it appears that one of the conditions requisite fertile due exercise of the sense of taste is a temperature not departing far on either side from the natural standard. Thus, if the tongue be immersed for a minute in water at a temperature of 125°, or in iced water, the taste of sugar, &c., is no longer perceived. In order that sapid bodies should cause taste, it is necessary that they should be dissolved, and made to permeate the tissue of the papillæ, so as to come in contact with their nerves. This is proved by the two following facts: 1st, that every substance, whether solid, fluid, or gaseous, which possesses a distinct taste, is more or less soluble in the fluids of the mouth, while substances which are perfectly insoluble are only recognized by the sense of touch; and 2d, that if the most sapid substance be applied in a dry state to a dried part of the surface of the tongue, no sensation of taste is excited. Bitters and acids appear to be the most sapid bodies, since they may be diluted to a greater extent than any other known substances without ceasing to excite sensations of taste. Thus, according to Valentin, 1 part of extract of aloes, or of sulphuric acid, in 900,000 of water, and even 1 part of sulphate of quinia in 1,000,000 parts of water, may, with ease, be distinguished from perfectly pure water.

‘ The contact of a sapid substance,’ says Dr. Carpenter, ‘much more readily excites a gustative sensation when it is made to press upon the papillæ, or is moved over them. Thus there are some substances whose taste is not perceived when they are simply applied to the central part of the dorsum of the tongue, but of whose presence we are at once cognizant by pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth. The full flavor of a sapid substance, again, is more readily perceived when it is rubbed on any part of the tongue, than when it is simply brought in contact with it, or pressed against it. Even when liquids are received into the month, their taste is most completely discriminated by causing them to move over the gustative surface : thus, the ‘ wine-taster’ takes a small quantity of the liquor in his mouth, carries it rapidly over every part of its lining membrane, and then ejects it."—Principles of Human Physiology, 6th ed. p. 621. Most sapid substances affect the nerves of smell to a greater or less degree, as they pass down the throat; and it is this compound of taste and smell that constitutes flavor. It is a common habit to hold a child’s nose when he is taking a nauseous draught, with the view, as is supposed, of deadening the taste. The efficacy of the process depends upon the exclusion of smell, and the reduction of the flavor of the medicine to its mere taste. The agreeable sensation produced by sipping good wine is due to what is termed its bouquet, or, in other words, to its flavor, or combined taste and smell. Some substances leave a taste in the mouth very different from that which they first produced. This after-taste is usually bitter; but in the case of one of the most bitter substances known, namely, tannin, it is sweet. This connection seems, in a degree, to correspond to the complementary colors in vision.

DARWIN, CHARLES, F.R.S., an English naturalist of the highest eminence, was born at Shrewsbury, February 1.2, 1809. He was the son of Dr. Robert W. Darwin, F.R.S., and grandson of Erasmus Darwin (q. v.). His mother was a daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, the famous manufacturer of pottery. After attending a public school at Shrewsbury, he studied at Edinburgh University for two sessions, and thence proceeded to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he took his degree of B.A. in 1831.

He now volunteered to go as naturalist in H.M.S. Beagle, commanded by Captain Fitzroy, R. N-, and started for a survey of South America, and a circumnavigation of the globe, Dec. 27, 1831, returning to England Oct. 2, 1836. His entire life, so far as his health permitted, was afterwards devoted to scientific researches. D., who was a fellow of the principal scientific societies, obtained the Royal Society’s medal, and the Wollaston medal of the Geological Society.—His earliest well-known work, The Voyage of a Naturalist (2d ed. 1845), is a most interesting and beautifully written work. In 1839 was published his Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the various Countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle; in 1840—1843, the Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, published by government, to which D. contributed the introduction and many of the notes; in 1842, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Beefs; in 1844, Geological Observations on Volcanic Islands; and in 1846, his Geological Observations on South America. He also wrote many papers in the Transactions of the Geological Society. In 1851—1853, appeared his valuable Monograph of the Cirripedia; and in 1859, D.’s name became ‘ familiar as a household word ‘ to the mass of educated and semi-educated Englishmen, through the publication of his work, The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle of Life- In the Origin of Species, D. contends that the various species of plants and animals, instead of being each specially created and immutable, are continually suffering change through a process of adaptation, by which those varieties of a species that are in any way better fitted for the conditions of their life survive and multiply at the expense of others. So potent and universal does this process of natural selection seem to be, that D. considers it capable, with other less important causes, of explaining how all existing species may have descended from one or a very few low forms of life. This theory excited fierce controversies, but it has been embraced by many of the ablest naturalists, and has induced great changes in the method of biology and kindred sciences. See DARWINIAN THEORY; also SPECIES. Other works are : Fertilization of Orchids (1862); Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication (1867); The Descent of Man and Selection in relation to Sex (1871); Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1873); Insectivorous Plants (1875); Climbing Plants (1875); The Effects of Cross and Self-fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom (1876); Different Forms of Flowers in Plants of the same Species (1877); The Power of Movement in Plants (1880), a work in which it was proved that every growing part of every plant is always moving round or ‘ circumnutating,’ as D. calls it: The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881). The latter work, which excited great popular interest, showed that part of the mould which covers the globe is the work of earth-worms, having been voided by them as worm castings. D.’s knowledge was not less remark^ able than his caution’ in statement. He received many high distinctions, such as the Prussian order Pour le Merite (1871), degrees from Leyden and Cambridge, and the membership of the French Academy (1878). He died April 19, 1882, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

TURKEY (Meleagris), a genus of gallinaceous birds of the family Pavonidæ, or, according to some ornithologists, of a distinct family, Meleagridæ, both, however, being included by others in Phasianidæ. The head is bare, the neck wattled, and the bill of the male surmounted with a conical fleshy caruncle, sometimes erected, sometimes elongated and pendulous. A curious tuft of long hair springs from the base of the neck of the male, and hangs down on the breast. The bill is rather short, strong, and curved; the tail is broad and rounded, capable of being erected and spread out, as the male delights to do when he struts about in pride, with wings rubbing’ on the ground, uttering his loud peculiar gobble. The COMMON T. (M. gallo-pavo), the largest of gallinaceous birds, well known as an inmate of our poultry-yards, is a native of North America. It appears to have been introduced into Europe in the beginning of the 16th c., and is naturalized in some places; as it may be said to have been in the royal park of Richmond, near London, in the first half of the 18th c., when that park contained about two thousand turkeys; but in consequence of the frequent fights between poachers and keepers, it was thought proper to destroy them. Fewer attempts have been made than might have been expected to introduce the T. in parks and woods in Britain, where it might probably be expected to succeed as well as the pheasant. In a domesticated state, the T. varies much in plumage; in its wild state, this is not the case. The plumage of the wild T. is also richer, and its power of wing greater; but the wings even of the wild bird are short, scarcely extending beyond the base of the tail. The darkest-colored of domesticated turkeys most nearly resemble the wild T. in plumage. In its native woods, it seems to attain even a larger size than in the poultry-yard.

Turkeys were once plentiful in the forests of the Atlantic states of North America, and as far north as Lower Canada, but have disappeared as cultivation has advanced, and have become rare even in the eastern parts of the Valley of the Mississippi, where their numbers were once very great. The T. is found as far south as the Isthmus of Darien, but does not occur to the west of the Rocky Mountains. It inhabits the woods of the larger islands of the West Indies. In warm climates, it is said to produce two or three broods a year; but in colder countries it produces only one. The males associate in flocks of from ten to one hundred, and seek their food during great part of the year apart from the females, which go about singly with their young, or associate in flocks, avoiding the old males, which are apt to attack and destroy the young. At the pairing-time, desperate combats take place among the males. Wild turkeys roost on trees. They feed on all kinds of grain, seeds, fruits, grass, insects, and even on young frogs and lizards. They make their nests on the ground, merely gathering together a few dry leaves, and often in a thicket. The eggs are usually from nine to fifteen in number, sometimes twenty. They spread themselves in summer over the higher grounds; but in winter, congregate in the rich low valleys. The sexes mingle in winter, and form larger flocks than in summer.

On account of its size, and the excellence of its flesh and eggs, the T. is one of the most valued kinds of poultry. The management of it differs little from that of the common fowl. The young are tender for the first few weeks, and require care, particularly to keep them from getting wet by running among wet grass, or the like; but afterwards they are sufficiently hardy. Nettles are excellent food for turkeys, and are often chopped up for them, to be given in addition to grain, bran, boiled potatoes, and other such food.

The only other known species of T. is Meleagris ocellata, a native of the warmest parts of North America. It is not quite so large as the Common T., and has a smaller tail. The neck is less wattled, but the head has a number of fleshy tubercles. The plumage is beautiful, rivaling that of the peacock in metallic brilliancy : blue, green, bronze, red, and golden hues being intimately and finely mingled, and forming eyes on the tail; whence the specific name.

AMANI’TA, a genus of Fungi, nearly allied to Agaricus, but bursting from a volva. A. muscaria, which is pretty common in woods, especially of fir and beech, in Britain, is one of the most dangerous fungi. It is sometimes called FLY AGARIC, being used in Sweden and other countries to kill flies and bugs, for which purpose it is steeped in milk. The pileus or cap is of an orange-red color, with white warts, the gills white, and the stem bulbous. It grows to a considerable size. Notwithstanding its very poisonous nature, it is used by the Kamchatkadales to induce intoxication, and it imparts an intoxicating property to the urine of those who swallow it, of which they or others often avail themselves, when abundance of the fungus is not at hand.

ARTIFI’CIAL LIMBS. With the exception of the celebrated’ artificial hand of the German knight, G�tz von Berlichingen* [* The iron hand of this knight, who has been immortalized by Goethe, it preserved at Jaxthausen, near Heilbronn, and a duplicate of it is in the Schloss Erbach, in the Odenwald. It is stated in Scott’s Harder Antiquities, vol. ii,p. 206, that the family of Clephane of Carslogie ‘have been in possession from time immemorial of a hand made in the exact representation of that of a man, curiously formed of steel,’ which was conferred by one of the kings of Scotland on a laird of Carslogie, who had lost his hand in the service of his country.�See Notes and Queries for July 17, 1867, p. 35.] �who flourished in the early part of the 16th c. (1513), and who was named The Iron-handed � which weighed 3 pounds, was so constructed as to grasp a sword or lance, and was invented by a mechanic of Nuremberg, our knowledge of artificial limbs dates from the time of Ambrose Pare whose (�nures de Chirurgie were published in 1575. The twelfth chapter of that volume, as translated by Thomas Johnson in 1605, shows ‘ by what means arms, legs, and hands may be made by art, and placed instead of the natural arms, legs, and hands that are cut off or lost.

The accompanying figures are copies of his drawing of ‘ an I made artificially of iron (fig. 1),’ and of ‘ the form of an arm made of iron verie artificially (fig. 2).’ He also gives a drawing of ‘a wooden leg made for a poor man’ (fig. 3), which is simply the common wooden leg with bucket receptacle still in use. No improvements worthy of record were made from the time of Abrose Pare to the beginning of the present century, when Baillif of Berlin constructed a hand which did not exceed a pound in weight, and in which the fingers, without the aid of the natural hand, not only exercised the movements of flexion and extension, but could be closed upon and retain light objects, such as a hat and even a pen. ‘Artificial hands,’ says Mr. Heather Bigg, ‘ are now constructed, by means of which a pin may be picked up from the ground, a glass raised to the lips, food carried to the mouth, and a sword drawn from its scabbard, and held with considerable firmness; while a combined arm and hand is fabricated, which is equal to the ordinary requirements of histrionic declamation.’�Orthopraxy, 1865, p. 157. The utility of an artificial arm depends much on the nature of the stump. A stump above the elbow is best suited for an arm when it gradually tapers to its lowest end, and terminates in a rounded surface. When an arm is removed at the shoulder-joint, and there is no stump, an artificial arm can still be fixed in its proper place by means of a corset. In amputation below the elbow joint, the best stump is one which includes about two-thirds of the fore-arm; while a stump formed by amputation at the wrist is very unsatisfactory. The simplest form of artificial arm intended to be attached to a stump terminating above the elbow, ‘ consists of a leathern sheath accurately fitted to the upper part of the stump. The lower end of the sheath is furnished with a wooden block and metal screw-plate, to which can be attached a fork for holding meat, a knife for cutting food, or a hook for carrying a weight.’�Op. cit. .p. 160. The arm should he so carried as to represent the position of the natural arm when at rest. It is retained in its position by shoulder and breast straps, and forms a light, useful, and inexpensive substitute for the lost member. More complicated, and therefore more expensive pieces of apparatus are made, in which motion is given to the fingers, a lateral action of the thumb is obtained, and the wrist-movements are partially imitated; and a degree of natural softness is given to the hand by a covering of gutta-percha and India-rubber. Such a hand, says Mr. Bigg, is often more symmetrical in aspect than the natural hand, but it possesses no efficient grasping power. Hence provision has to be made for attaching various instruments to its palm, such as special hooks, which can be removed at pleasure, for driving, shooting, &c.; apparatus for using the knife and the fork, for grasping the pen, &c.: indeed, the number and variety of instruments capable of being applied to an artificial hand are extremely great. Nothing has tended so much to the very highest development of artificial arms and hands, as an accident which happened more than a quarter of a century ago to the celebrated French tenor, M. Roger, who lost his right arm above the elbow.

It was necessary, for his future appearance on the stage, that he should have an artificial limb, which would serve the purposes of histrionic action, and permit him to grab a sword and draw it from its scabbard. Such a contrivance was invented in 1845 by Van Petersen, a Prussian mechanician, and the French Academy of Sciences commissioned MM. Gambey, Rayer, Valpeau, and Magendie to report upon it. For a history of the nature of the limb, the reader is referred to the report which appeared in the Comptes Rendus for that date, or to Mr. Bigg’s Orthopraxy, pp. 176�181. The apparatus, which weighs less than 18 ounces, was tested upon a soldier who had lost both arms. By its aid he was enabled to pick up a pen, take hold of a leaf of paper, &c.; and the old man’s joy during the experiment was so great, that the Academy presented him with a pair of these arms. Van Petersen’s conceptions have been extended and improved by Messr. Charriere, the celebrated surgical mechanics of Paris, aided by M. Huguier, the well-known surgeon. A very marvelous arm has also been almost simultaneously constructed by M. Bechard, which,’ by means of a single point of traction, placed in pronation, executes first the movement of supination, next in succession the extension of the fingers and abduction of the thumb: the hand is then wide open.’ -Bigg, op. cit. p. 190.

Artificial legs having fewer requirements to perform than artificial arms, are comparatively simple in structure. We borrow the description of our figure of the ordinary bucket leg in common use amongst the poorer classes from Mr. Bigg’s Orthopraxy. ‘ It consists of a hollow sheath or bucket, A. accurately conformed to the shape of the stump, and having�in lieu of the more symmetric proportions of the artificial leg�a ‘ pin,’ B, placed at its lower end to insure connection between it and the ground. This form of leg is strongly to be recommended when expense is an object, as it really fulfils all the conditions excepting external similitude embraced by a better piece of mechanism. It is likewise occasionally employed with benefit by those patients who, from lack of confidence, prefer learning the use of an artificial leg, by first practicing with the commonest substitute.’ As, when the body rests on a single leg, the center of gravity passes through the tuberosity of the ischium, it is essential that the bucket should be so made as to have its sole point of bearing against this part of the pelvis.

Of the more complicated forms of artificial leg three are especially popular. The first of these is of English origin, and owing to its having been adopted by the late Marquis of Anglesea, is known as the Anglesea leg. For a description of it, the reader is referred to Gray’s work on Artificial Limbs, one of the firm of Grays having been the constructor of the legs used by the marquis. This was for a long time the fashionable artificial leg. The second leg worthy of notice is that invented by an American named Palmer, and called the Palmer leg. From its lightness and the greater ease of walking with it, it has long superseded the Anglesea-leg in America. In the third of these legs, also invented in America, and known as Dr. Bly’s leg, the principal faults of the two other legs have been completely overcome. The advantages of this leg are thus summed up by Mr. Bigg, who has fully described and figured its mechanism: (1.) Adaptation to all amputations either above or below the knee. (2.) Rotation and lateral action of the ankle-joint. (3.) Power on the part of the patient to walk with ease on any surface, however irregular, as, owing to the motion of the ankle-joint, the sole of the foot readily accommodates itself to the unevenness of the ground, which is an advantage never before possessed by any artificial limb. (4.) The ankle-joint is rendered perfectly indestructible by ordinary wear, owing to its center being composed of a glass ball resting in a cup of vulcanite; thus it never gets out of repair, as the Anglesea leg but too frequently does, and the original cost is almost the only one the patient incurs. (5.) The action of the ankle-joint is created by five tendons, arranged in accordance with the position assigned to them in a natural leg. These tendons are capable of being rendered tight or loose in a few instants, so that the wearer of the leg has the power of adjusting with precision the exact degree of tension from which he finds the greatest comfort in walking, and also of giving the foot any position most pleasing to the eye. (6.) There is a self-acting spring in the knee-joint, urging the leg forward in walking, and imparting automatic motion, thus avoiding the least trouble to the patient, who finds the leg literally and not metaphorically walk by itself. (7.) The whole is covered by a beautiful flesh-colored enamel, thus avoiding the clumsy appearance of the wood, as is always found in an Anglesea leg, admitting of its being washed with soap and water like the human skin. (8). At the knee-joint there is a mechanical arrangement representing the crucial ligaments, and affording natural action to that articulation by which all shock to the stump in walking is avoided. This leg is patented, and as might be expected, is somewhat expensive.

In cases of arrested development of the lower limbs, short-legged persons may be made of the ordinary height by the use of two artificial feet placed twelve or more inches below the true feet, and attached to the legs by means of metallic rods, jointed at the knee and ankle.

Other parts not entitled to be called limbs, can also be replaced by mechanical art�such as the nose, lips, ears, palate, cheek, and eye. In the present advanced state of plastic surgery, deficiencies of the nose, lips, and palate can usually be remedied by an operation; cases, however, may occur where an artificial organ is required. Artificial ears are molded of silver, painted the natural color, and fixed in their place by a spring over the vertex of the head. Loss of an eye causes sad disfigurement; but the artificial eyes of Boissonneau (see his Renseigements G�n�raux sur les Yeux Artiftciels, leur Adoption et leur Usage), which have been shown in all the recent public exhibitions, completely throw all others in the shade, and cannot be detected without the closest inspection. For further details on all these subjects we must refer to Mr. Bigg’s volume, which is a complete encyclop�dia on these and allied topics.