University of Virginia Library

AN ELEMENTARY STUDY OF THE BRAIN, BASED ON THE DISSECTION OF THE BRAIN OF THE SHEEP. By Eben W. Fiske, A.M., M.D. Illustrated with photographs and diagrams by the author. The Macmillan Company, New. York, 1913.

The study of the brain is confessedly a difficult subject, and particularly so for the elementary student. There is certainly no royal road to its conquest, but this is an added reason why an introduction to its study should be made as simple as the subject permits, and also as interesting. Dr. Fiske has attempted this task in this book, which he entitles "An elementary study of the brain." The brain of the sheep is chosen as the basis of study because of its availability, its relative simplicity of structure, and its essential similarity to that of man. It appears to the author, and we think with justice, that the subject should be approached from a biological standpoint; hence, throughout the book, there is constant reference to the evolution of nervous structure and to fundamental conceptions of a biological character. Further than this, the relations of cerebral anatomy and function, together with allied psychological considerations, demand continual reference as a supplement to purely anatomical considerations. The secret of exciting interest in any anatomical study surely lies in a consideration of the function of the organ or structure in relation to its anatomical form. Bare descriptions cannot and should not inspire interest, whereas the driest anatomical facts, if seen in their broader relationships, at once assume a significance in the student's mind which may be attained in no other way.

The first chapter is a brief statement of phylogeny, followed, as are succeeding chapters, by directions to the student regarding means of study. The second chapter concerns itself with ontogeny, and the student is wisely advised to make drawings of various stages in the development of the brain of one of the higher mammals. An actual brain is always to be preferred to a model. The third chapter gives directions of a simple and practical sort as to methods of removing the sheep's brain. Thereafter, chapters follow, descriptive of the various surfaces of the brain, of sagital, horizontal and transverse sections, and of certain of the internal structures and the brain stem.

A summary concludes the volume, and a very brief but well selected bibliography. The illustrations are thoroughly adequate, the excellent method being used of photographic reproductions, with accompanying descriptive plates done in outline. In general, the book, modest though it is, should prove a most admirable laboratory guide, not only for students of zoölogy, but

also for those who propose, as physicians, to make a final study of the human brain. It is, no doubt, more difficult to write an acceptable elementary text-book than a more complete treatise, but the author, we have no hesitation in saying, has succeeded in this object, and has added a book of positive value to the long list which has gone before. The BNA nomenclature has been adopted in part, but by no means to the exclusion of the old terminology, which is certainly a far more efficient means of introducing an ultimate uniform nomenclature than an immediate complete change to the BNA system. The text is well printed and readable, and the proof reading in general good. We note, however, on page 86, that the name Von Gudden is spelled with one d instead of two.

E. W. TAYLOR.