Physiological Chemistry: A Text-book and Manual for Students

many in which he was interested, Professor McMurrich has given us a brief resume of the historical background of Leonardo's time. Leonardo himself was probably not a classical scholar, but through the books of Mondino and Benedetti, he derived much of his basic knowledge of Galen and Avicenna. The revival of Aristotelian objectivity in the field of art found in Leonardo its expression in the field of science. This was a distinct innovation, for the preceding centuries had seen little but dogmatic presentation of threadbare tradition. Theory had been the master-key, and fact was everywhere distorted to fit the theory. In the scientific field Leonardo was the first great mind to reverse this. His constant search was for the functional activity of the things he saw. His successes and his failures in answering these questions for each of the organ systems of the body, Dr. McMurrich has clearly shown. Considering each system one by one, we are presented with a picture of the status of knowledge at the beginning of Leonardo's life and there follows the evidence of Leonardo's contribution. For example, one needs only to glance at the pictures of the skeleton appearing in manuscripts during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to recognize the enormous advance Leonardo made when he first began to draw bones. He was not content with the descriptions of his forerunners, but substituted therefor the results of his own direct observations drawn with the hand of a master. It would be possible to list the contributions which Leonardo made to Anatomy, but to do so would be folly, for really to understand, one must read this entire book. It is an inspiration to all students of Anatomy, to all who find science an absorbing matter. Professor McMurrich has made one of the great contributions to the history of science and has given us a stimulating analysis of the flowering of the scientific spirit in a man of genius. H. S. BURR.