"The author of this monograph has rare intellectual faculties."-San Francisco Medical and Surgical Journal. "The work, standing upon its own merits, occupies a high position in the opinion of the most gifted physicians of our day."-Georgia Medical and Surgical Encyclopædia. "Dr. JOHN O'REILLY, whose original researches in Physiology, and whose untiring industry, have heretofore enriched our pages, has furnished for the present month an elaborate article, which cannot fail to awaken professional interest at home and abroad. Let not its length prevent its candid perusal, for he is one of the few men who refuses to think by proxy."—Amer. Med. Gazette. "We regard this as a curious, but able, work; having the rare merit of originality, and clearly showing that the mind which produced it is not an ordinary one."-Baltimore Journal of Medicine. "All through his book, Dr. O'REILLY proves himself a profound anatomist, as well as physiologist; indeed, we might almost say, that to the latter study he has, if possible, devoted himself the more closely. It is, therefore, that we claim for him a careful and thoughtful perusal of his theories, in which he gives the nervous system an importance and prominence not hitherto awarded it. "Dr. O'REILLY's work will amply repay perusal. It is very ably written, and we have no doubt will attract considerable attention wherever physiology is appreciated."-Dublin Medical Press. From VALENTINE MOTT, Esq., LL.D., M.D., Ex-President of the Medical Faculty of the University of New York; Emeritus Professor of Surgery in the University of New York, &c., &c. MY DEAR DOCTOR-I have read with great pleasure your views of the functions of the Placenta; as far as I can penetrate into this important organ, it appears to me that your views are original and correct. I congratulate you upon the novelties you have treated us with, not only in relation to this part, but upon the centres and functions of the nerves of organic life. It appears to me that the more we examine into your views and explanations of the phenomena of organic life, the more we shall have occasion to admire their harmony and originality. DR. O'REILLY. Yours truly, V. MOTT, 1 Gramercy Park, 21st Street. Copy of a Letter from MARTYN PAINE, Esq., LL.D., M.D., Professor of Materia Medica in the University of New York; Author of the Institutes of Medicine, &c., &c. JOHN O'REILLY, M.D.: NEW YORK, January 8, 1859. Dear Sir-I cannot express to you my grateful acknowledgment for the kind manner in which you have referred to me in your able article on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Placenta, as contained in the American Medical Gazette of the present month. I have read that article not only with great interest, but instruction; it is something that will last. What you have said of the intercommunication of nerves between the mother and fœtus is a great fundamental fact; it is probably full of physiological import; and although I have been always skeptical about the supposed influence of the mother's imagination in producing physical changes in the fœtus, yet I have not doubted that strong mental emotions may propagate upon it a temporary nervous influence, and your reference to the case of Elizabeth is a very happy illustration of the fact, while, at the same time, you have thus supplied a very forcible proof of the truthfulness of that remarkable narrative; for, in expounding that phenomenon by a great and recondite physiological principle, it carries an important weight to all the other details. Your other citation of the death of the foetus, after the mother has sustained a mental shock, is also strongly to your purpose. There is great sagacity in the inference which you have derived from your anatomical premises, that "the organic nerves effect the depuration of the blood in the placental lobule;" that is, the conversion of venous into arterial blood. Should this prove to be true, it would not only have been a great inductive process, but will contribute much towards a right philosophy of the functions of the nervous system; it is certainly well sus tained by late experiments of Bernard upon the nerves supplying glandular bodies. by which he has shown that the nerves exercise the controlling influence upon the color of the blood in those bodies which you attribute to the nerves in the "placental lobule." Very truly and respectfully yours, MARTYN PAINE. From W. H. PORTER, Esq., A.M., M.D., Professor of Surgery, R.C.S., Ireland; Senior Surgeon to the Meath Hospital and Co. Dublin Infirmary; ExPresident R.C.S., Ireland. 21 KILDARE STREET, DUBLIN, MY DEAR SIR-I have received the April number of the American Medical Gazette, which contains an interesting article on the Nervous Centres of Animal and Organic Life, written by you, and for which I suppose I am indebted to your kindness and attention. I have perused it most carefully, and can most truly say, have derived from it equal pleasure and advantage; it is a part of our professional literature that has been too much neglected; and as it now seems likely to attract attention at your side of the world, it gives me great pleasure to see the movement headed by a Licentiate of the Irish College. It is quite true "that a knowledge of these systems is what must ultimately distinguish the scientific from the superficial physician." Believe me, dear sir, very faithfully, WILLIAM HENRY PORTER. From JOHN W. FRANCIS, Esq., LL.D., M.D., Ex-Professor of the Practice of Midwifery, &c. DR. O'REILLY: NEW YORK, Feb. 25, 1859. Dear Sir-I have read with care your several papers on the nervous and ganglionic systems. They abound in interesting facts, some of which are new to me. You must have labored devotedly to bring together such a fund of material, and been an observer of more than ordinary acuteness. You have done well, in my humble opinion, to awaken interest in the Ganglionic System-too much overlooked. I hope you will prepare your several articles for an entire communication. Let me thank you, dear sir, for your polite attention. With true regard and esteem, your friend, JOHN W. FRANCIS. From WILLIAM DETMOLD, Esq., M.D. NEW YORK, August 16, 1859. JOHN O'REILLY, M.D.: My dear Dr.-Accept my thanks for your work on the Placenta and its connection with the nervous centres. I have perused it with great interest, and, I assure you, not without profit to myself. Believe me very truly yours, WM. DETMOLD, M.D. |