The Elements of the _Anatomy and Physiology of Man. By
G. G. P. Bale, M.A., St. John's College, Cambridge. (Remington and Co.)— " The aim of this small work is to give, with the greatest brevity con- sistent with clearness, as much of the elements of human anatomy and physiology as would present to the early student a fairly accurate reflection of the exact state of this field of science, abounding, as it yet does, with conflict of evidence and authority." The book is de- scribed as a text-book for students and schools, and it is well adapted for its purpose. The author has supplied a want which is much felt. He asserts that, up to the present time, there has not existed any elementary scientific précis Oa the English language) of anatomy, histology, or embryology, and but one very elementary (scientific) one, which combines in a single volume both anatomy and physiology. The works on physiology are, for the most part, too large and too fall of detail to be generally useful for schools,—hence the raison 4'4tre of this work. The book has evidently been compiled with great -care, and the most recent and reliable authorities have been consulted, although the author has wisely refrained from overcrowding the pages with a multiplicity of names. The illustrations are, for the most part, prepared by the author, who pleads this fact as an apology for any want of artistic effect. The apology seems to be needless ; the woodcuts are remarkably clear and good, equal to any that we have seen in more elaborate works. The chapter on repro- duction and embryology, which, in the abridged form of the book, had been—though contrary to the author's better judgment—omitted, i3 retained in this edition, and is one of the most interesting in the volume, of which we may say, as a whole, that it would be difficult to compress a larger amount of information into a treatise occupying a space of less than three hundred pages.
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