writings of the older physicians has not been carefully investigated until the present era in medicine.

In the volume before us Dr. Bigelow enquires into the individual diseases which belong to the class of self-limited diseases, and in how far medicines are capable of controlling morbid changes. Remarks on so important a subject, coming from one who for upwards of a quarter of a century has been such a close observer, must necessarily be listened to with attention by the whole profession.

The chief diseases which are at present considered self-limited, are measles, scarlet fever, and small pox. To these Dr. Bigelow adds of the more common affections, erysipelas and typhoid fever. The latter he considers self-limited mainly on account of its marked affinity with the class of eruptive fevers. We have, however, more than mere analogy in favor of this view. Both Louis and Nathan Smith, names intimately connected with the history of typhoid fever, affirm this to be the result of their long experience.

The great barrier to an appreciation of the effect of remedies. must always be the difficulty of distinguishing between the symptoms of diseases and those produced by the use of the medicines employed. There are, besides, other obstacles which blind our judgment, and which are so happily alluded to by Dr. Bigelow, that we will be excused for producing the passage at length.

"Independently of the common defects of medical evidence, our selfinterest, our self-esteem, and sometimes even our feelings of humanity, may be arrayed against the truth. It is difficult to view the operations of nature, divested of the interferences of art, so much do our habits and partialities incline us to neglect the former, and to exaggerate the importance of the latter. The mass of medical testimony is always on the side of art. Medical books are prompt to point out the cure of diseases. Medical journals are filled with the crude productions of aspirants to the cure of diseases. Medical schools find it incumbent on them to teach the cure of diseases. The young student goes forth into the world, believing that if he does dot cure diseases, it is his own fault. Yet when a score or two of years have passed over his head, he will come at length to the conviction, that some diseases are controlled by nature alone. He will often pause at the end of a long and anxious attendance, and ask himself, how far the result of the case is different from what it would have been under less officious treatment, than that which he has pursued; how many in the accumulated array of remedies, which have supplanted each other in the patient's chamber, have actually been instrumental in doing him any good.'

We might quote still further from this excellent little essay, replete as it is with the sound thoughts of a distinguished medical philosopher, but we have extracted enough to show its general character, and to recommend it most strongly to the attention. of every reflecting physician. Besides the discourse on selflimited diseases, Dr. Bigelow's little work contains many interesting papers, of which the Report on Homœopathy, the Remarks on the Mucuna Pruriens, those upon the poisonous effects of the American Partridge, and the Experiments on Pneumothorax, are most worthy of notice.

Phreno-Geology: The Progressive Creation of Man indicated by Natural History, and confirmed by discoveries which connect the organization of the brain with the successive geological periods. By J. STANLEY GRIMES. Boston and Cambridge: James Munroe & Co. London: Edward T. Whitfield. 1851. We have been induced to notice the work before us, although not within the legitimate field of our duties, by the fact that it has obtained a large circulation, particularly in the Western States, and is probably considered by many persons ignorant of the subjects touched upon as setting forth orthodox scientific views. We shall make no apology, therefore, for directing attention to a work which would otherwise only merit contempt and silence.

It is mainly owing to such writers as Mr. Grimes that so much dislike exists in many minds to the study of those discoveries of science which seem to be in opposition to the letter or spirit of revelation. We find, indeed, several instances where the literal interpretation of scripture is at variance with the clearly established facts of science, yet little difficulty need be found in reconciling them, when we bear in mind that the language used must of necessity have been such as could be easily comprehended by the uncultivated minds to whom it was addressed. We may be sure that no real discovery can be at variance with divine or scientific truth. Our duty is simply to prove the truth of the discovery and of the theories founded thereon, and we need not fear that in so doing we are entering upon forbidden ground.

Very different is the course pursued by the promoters of that

false philosophy founded upon groundless hypothesis and superficial learning, that finds its best security in attacking the statements of the Bible, and hides the utter want of foundation for its facts and arguments by virtually thrusting forward the proposition, that as the statements of Genesis are not apparently in accordance with some of the discoveries of geology, therefore their discoveries are true, since they contradict the book of Genesis also. To the ignorant and those who cannot obtain better information from books or persons, the false statements and idle theories that are found in works of this class appear true and just, and their minds become filled with errors that shake their faith in the religion of their youth, giving them in place thereof nothing but the nonsensical views of a charlatan.

Others, again, whose religious opinions are deeper rooted, but who are as equally unfit as the former class to judge of the truth of the so-called new discoveries, naturally look at them all in the same light, and avoid troubling their consciences with what they call the vain learning of the world."

The title that the author of the subject of our notice has chosen, phreno-geology, indicates the nature of the work. It is an endeavor to connect phrenology with the successive creative periods that the earth has passed through, and to show that each period had its corresponding development of intellectual organs in the brains of its inhabitants, which gradually became more and more elevated in their structure as the earth advanced through its changes, until at last the mind of man was the result. He endeavors to establish the following points, viz:

"1st. That the organs of the human brain are added and superadded in a manner such as they would be if they had been successively created to conform to the geological changes which took place after the first animal was created.

"2d. That the convolutions of the brain are arranged as they would be if caused gradually by the pressure of the brain during birth.

"3d. That the pous and the callosum are added to hold the two hemispheres together.

"4th. That the physiognomy of man was created and caused by his habits while he was yet below the standard of modern humanity.

"5th. That instead of the earth being created for the animals which it contains, and adapted to them, man and all other animals have been created by the agency of the infinite variety of stimulating circumstances which have been brought to bear upon organized bodies during the immense periods of time indicated by geology."

The author adopts Lamark's view, that man is the product of a progressive development from the lowest form of animal life into a higher type, the changes being induced by the necessities of the creature and propagated in its descendants. It is needless to attempt a refutation of so absurd a doctrine. Its advocates have utterly failed in adducing a single instance of a transformation among even the lowest types into one more elevated, nor can they even produce a more plausible hypothesis in favor of it. than that, because the lower forms of animal life existed before the higher, therefore the lower forms are developed into the higher. With as much propriety might we watch the gradual growth of vegetation upon a rock in its process of disintegration into soil, and exclaim, behold! the oak is but the development of the lichen, for on this rock we found, first, the lichen, then the mosses, next the creeping wood plants, and now, here is the oak. A few extracts will show the learning, logical skill, modesty, and high religious tone of the author.

"A modification of the theory of Lamark has been brought forward lately in a work entitled the 'Vestiges of Creation.' The truth of this doctrine is, however, denied by many geologists and naturalists, among whom is Mr. Lyell, Cuvier, and most of the great European and American naturalists. But history teaches us to receive the published opinions of popular and salaried philosophers upon such subjects with much allowance for the delicate circumstances in which they find themselves placed. It is dangerous to advocate important truths in advance of the age. Diana of the Ephesians is still too great to be approached without prudence and respect."

The world at large should be grateful that Mr. Grimes's position as a lecturer upon phrenology does not place him within the ranks of trammelled philosophy.

Another of his remarks is the following:

"It is a startling announcement, that our ancestors once inhabited the mighty deep, and, sustained on broad extended fins, roved through the vast ocean. But if our theory is admitted, such is the inevitable tendency of the arguments, and nothing but the intervention of a miracle can prevent this conclusion."

How beautiful Trinculo's description of Caliban meets the above view. "What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive? A fish! he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-like smell a kind of, not of the newest poor john; a strange fish!"

The argument (?) principally relied upon appears to be the following:

"By the will of God, the increasing coldness of climate produced the principal circumstances that produced animals and man. The earth was once too hot to allow of the existence of animals; they were not produced until it had cooled down to a certain point. Plants, infusoria, radiates, molusks, trilobites and fishes were then created. I do not mean to assert that these animals were created in the order named; they may have originated and progressed simultaneously. If the earth had continued at the same temperature which it then possessed until the present time, it is certain that man never would have existed in his present form. We should now have all been fishes or nothing,-aut pisces, aut nullus. We could not even have advanced to the dignity of reptiles, enjoying the privilege of crawling occasionally out of the water into the mud on swampy islands of the sultry ocean. Stili colder must it have been when our great reptile parents left the ocean altogether, stood upon the solid earth, fed upon its herbage, and breathed with lungs instead of gills. It must have been colder, or such an atmosphere could not have existed. I doubt not that the atmosphere was the agent under Providence that created the lungs-the solid earth created the feet-the food created the teeth and digestive organs-the temperature of the air created the skin, hair, and feathers of land animals, and the light created and modified the eyes. It may have been millions of years in doing this, but geology does not restrict us in regard to time. Only admit, as every one must, that some slight change in organization can be produced in a thousand years exposure to some powerful influence, and the whole argument is at once surrendered, for geology instantly steps in with its vast period of time to accomplish any amount of transformation which organization is capable of undergoing without destruction. It should also be considered that organization is capable of gradually assuming any form whatever that can be conceived, provided circumstances require it, and sufficient wholesome food, air, and protection can be obtained by the change, and not otherwise. The point that I am now insisting upon, is, that by the will of God, cold produced the circumstances which created man. Admitting that the vile race from whom we sprang' once inhabited the water, it is plain that when primeval man in reptile form first left his native ocean, bade it farewell, and established himself upon the land, feeding exclusively upon its productions, if the temperature of the earth had remained stationary from then until the present time, man in his present form would not have existed." p. 19.

"There is no scientific evidence that a single organic thing on earth was ever created suddenly. Every thing is formed by the aggregation of many atoms, and always under circumstances favorable to such aggregation. The aggregation of chemical atoms formed minerals, the minerals composed mountains, but were an immense number of years in doing so. Just so chemical elements combined to form vegetables, and the vegetable organisms, aggregated and arranged in a peculiar manner, compose animals. The first elements that were created, had certain