Such a work is invaluable to the student; for, independently of imparting sound surgical knowledge, it does more to form his judgment, and to qualify him for the practical duties of his profession than all the compilations in Christendom. Velpeau, with all his learning and all his patience, has never furnished anything equal to it. His "_Medicine Operatoire_" is nothing but a vast storehouse of research, to which pompous doctors may resort for ancient lore, and prosing teachers for materials for instruction. It details with endless minuteness the operative methods of every surgeon, great or little, from the age of Hippocrates to the present period, with their various modifications and improvements, not forgetting the "appreciations" and labours of the able professor himself. Such productions are well enough in their way; they serve to give us an idea of the rise and progress of surgery, and form good books of reference. Beyond this, however, they are of comparatively little utility; the great mass of the profession is no more benefited by them than if they had never been written; few read them, and still fewer understand them. This attempt at erudition pervades, if I mistake not, almost every recent publication on surgery in the French language. Dupuytren is alone free from it. His writings breathe throughout a different and more independent spirit: he speaks like one accustomed to act and to think for himself; and the result is, that he has accomplished more for French surgery than any other Frenchman since the days of Ambrose Paré.