A process which is proceeding at a great rate in the embryo, in various situations, is the formation of red blood-corpuscles. In this the liver takes part. But its duty in regard to blood-formation is not sufficiently onerous to account for its size. The formation of blood-corpuscles in the liver is observed with difficulty in microscopic sections. It is therefore impossible to speak with certainty as to the extent to which it is going on, but it may be safely asserted that this function by itself cannot be held to account for the great size of the organ in embryonic life. What other office it fills at this period is a question which still awaits an answer. There is no more curious chapter in medical history than the story of the views held at various periods with regard to the functions of the liver. From being a mere mass of “parenchyma” serving as packing for the abdominal viscera, it was elevated to the rank of Grand Purifier of the “humours” of the body. Next, its excessive activity became the cause of that form of dyspepsia known as “biliousness.” Still later its want of activity was its chief vice. A “sluggish” liver was held responsible for mental perversity and moral dulness. Calomel, podophyllin, and other drugs were used as whips to stir it up; and the increased secretions of the alimentary canal were mistaken for bile. Poor patient organ! It is the still-room of the body, in which the day’s supplies are stored, and from which they are served out, without haste and without delay. And it makes urea. What else it does we have yet to find out; and it is not impossible that when physiologists have quite shaken themselves free from the explanations based upon conjecture, which their predecessors have handed down, they may discover that it has other duties which are not obvious, but of great importance. FOOTNOTE: