Mr. Turner, the respected President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, by a series of physical experiments very much resembling some of mine, but preceding those, came to the definite conclusion that coagulation occurs from the escape of volatile matter from blood. Mr. Turner's labours were independently conducted; and I have sincere pleasure in claiming for him a successful and original place in this interesting inquiry. At the same time, as has been shown, Scudamore and Polli had already taken a similar position. Reading, some months since, one of Lancisi's papers, I was surprised to find him speaking of the volatile spirit of blood, and referring to the works of the Honourable Robert Boyle as his authority on this subject. The observation led me to Boyle's Essays, and to the perusal of his remarkable papers on the "Natural History of the Humane Blood; especially the Spirit of that Liquor." This "spirit" was ammonia; and although the mode in which Boyle obtained the volatile alkali, viz. by distillation of blood, is not in accordance with modern chemical knowledge, and although he never refers to coagulation, yet it is fair to him to say that he was acquainted with the facts that the addition of an ammoniacal salt to blood preserved it from putrefaction, and sustained its fluidity; and that, had his labours been carefully followed up, a much greater advance would have been made in the physiology of the blood. In writing this work, I owe especial thanks to the labours of Mr. Ancell. To his papers I am indebted for many historical references, and for a masterly epitome of the whole subject up to the time when his labours were concluded. To Mr. Gulliver's edition of "Hewson" I am equally H H indebted. Gulliver's "Hewson" may, indeed, be compared to Pope's "Homer"; in it the expositor equals, and in some points surpasses, the master. If Hewson could for a moment look into the world of science as it is in these days, he could have no greater happiness than to see his able works brought before the age by so great a commentator and advocate as Mr. Gulliver. I write this without any knowledge whatever of the author of Gulliver's "Hewson," and with no other impulse than such friendly admiration as the study of his writings has inspired. From Dr. John Davy's "Original Researches" many important facts have been gleaned. What he and his immortal brother Sir Humphry have each (and, as I think, equally in their respective spheres) done for science needs no note from me, except in an inadequate recognition of the extent to which I have been personally assisted by their experimental works. The paper on "Ammonia evolved in Respiration," by Professors Latini and Viale, referred to in the Table of Authors, is of moment, as corroborating many of the views adduced in this work. These gentlemen, by a series of independent labours, arrived at the fact that ammonia is thrown off in the expired air. I need scarcely say, that their labours, original as far as the authors were concerned, were many years before fully anticipated by the researches of our countryman, the Reverend J. B. Reade. Lastly, to the labours of Scudamore, Polli, Remak, Franz Simon, and the learned Lehmann, my deepest obligations are expressed. THE END. T. RICHARDS, 37, GREAT QUEEN STREET, "It would be unjust to conclude this notice without saying a few words in favour of Mr. Churchill, from whom the profession is receiving, it may be truly said, the most beautiful series of Illustrated Medical Works which has ever been published."-Lancet. "All the publications of Mr. Churchill are prepared with so much taste and neatness, that it is superfluous to speak of them in terms of commendation." - Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. "No one is more distinguished for the elegance and recherché style of his publications than Mr. Churchill."-Provincial Medical Journal. "Mr. Churchill's publications are very handsomely got up: the engravings are remarkably well executed."-Dublin Medical Press. "The typography, illustrations, and getting up are, in all Mr. Churchill's publications, most beautiful."-Monthly Journal of Medical Science. "Mr. Churchill's illustrated works are among the best that emanate from the Medical Press."-Medical Times. "We have before called the attention of both students and practitioners to the great advantage which Mr. Churchill has conferred on the profession, in the issue, at such a moderate cost, of works so highly creditable in point of artistic execution and scientific merit."-Dublin Quarterly Journal. MR. 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