'St Ronan's Well?' Yes, assuredly, 'St Ronan's Well.' It has defects; it is not such a masterpiece as 'The Bride.' The elements, comic and tragic, are not so well accommodated; and Scott, alas! was persuaded, almost compelled, by his publisher, to sacrifice the very base of his tragedy to the conciliation of the vulgar, who were not won nevertheless. But the story is fine, and the strong scenes-chapter 23 for example, or chapter 35-very strong. And they will supply instances of the power and dignity which Scott, when he chooses, can put even into the artificial, super-literary English, which he inherited from the eighteenth century. So here:

"There is a Heaven above us, and THERE shall be judged our actions towards each other! You abuse a power most treacherously obtained-you break a heart that never did you wrong-you seek an alliance with a wretch who only wishes to be wedded to her grave. If my brother brings you hither, I cannot help it-and if your coming prevents bloody and unnatural violence, it is so far well. But by my consent you come not; and were the choice mine, I would rather be struck with life-long blindness than that my eyes should again open on your person-rather that my ears were stuffed with the earth of the grave than that they should again hear your voice."

Or here:

"Oh! no-no-no!" exclaimed the terrified girl, throwing herself at his feet; "do not kill me, brother! I have wished for death-thought of death-prayed for death-but, oh! it is frightful to think that he is near-Oh! not a bloody death, brother, nor by your hand!"

'She held him close by the knees as she spoke, and expressed in her looks and accents the utmost terror. It was not, indeed, without reason; for the extreme solitude of the place, the violent and inflamed passions of her brother, and the desperate circumstances to which he had reduced himself, seemed all to concur to render some horrid act of violence not an improbable termination of this strange interview.

'Mowbray folded his arms, without unclenching his hands, or raising his head, while his sister continued on the floor, clasping him round the knees with all her strength, and begging piteously for her life and for mercy.

"Fool!" he said at last, "let me go!-Who cares for thy worthless life?-Who cares if thou live or die? Live, if thou

canst-and be the hate and scorn of everyone else, as much as thou art mine."

Extreme solitude, inflamed passions, improbable termination-the movement of the narrative is cumbrous and wordy. But it is strong; and the stronger notes of the speeches are relieved against it with discretion and temperature.

In conclusion let it be said, though it is perhaps needless, that I do not here pretend to estimate, as a whole, the merits of Scott's work as a romancer. Of many aspects, and these the most important, we have said little or nothing. In 'Guy Mannering' the variety and coherence of the topics, in 'Old Mortality' the subtle distinction of similar idiosyncrasies, in 'Rob Roy' the picturesque backgrounds, in 'Redgauntlet' vigour of caricature, in the 'Heart of Midlothian' a perspective of society, humour in 'The Antiquary,' horror in 'St Ronan's Well,' and all together in the tragedy of 'Lammermoor'-these and other qualities are doubtless more vital than style. But without style, they would not have achieved the end. Scott, in his way and at his hours, is a very great stylist, supreme and hardly to be surpassed. His manner of working, his profusion, the nature of his faults, give room for mistake and misrepresentation about this aspect of his genius. And for this reason it may not have been amiss to bespeak attention to the form, as well as the matter, of his prose.

A. W. VERRALL.

Art. 3.-SOME RECENT STUDIES IN THE PROBLEM OF CANCER.

1. The Scientific Reports of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. London: Taylor and Francis, 1904, etc.

2. The Reports from the Cancer Research Laboratories of the Middlesex Hospital. London: Macmillan, 1902, etc. 3. Le Problème du Cancer. By A. Borrel. In Bulletin de l'Institut Pasteur. Vol. v. Paris: Masson, 1907. 4. The Natural History of Cancer. By W. Roger Williams. London: Heinemann, 1908.

5. The Geographical Distribution of Disease in England By Alfred Haviland. Second edition. London: Sonnenschein, 1892.

6. Cancer. By P. Menetrier. (Vol. XIII in Brouardel, Gilbert and Thoinot's Traité de Médicine.') Paris: Baillière et fils, 1908.

7. Lectures on the Pathology of Cancer. By C. P. White, M.D. Manchester: University Press, 1908.

IN the study of cancer, as in most other sciences, the results obtained are already of such complexity that they can only be understood, and their importance grasped, by the specialist in the subject. The problem has been attacked from all sides, histologists, cytologists, chemists, embryologists, bacteriologists, protozoologists, and statisticians having each and all attempted to solve it in different ways. The result has been the acquisition of an enormous mass of information, if not of knowledge; but we are bound to confess, with regret, but without shame and without despair for the future, that the solution of the mystery is still to seek, and that the work accomplished so far is merely a solid foundation for a building the first brick of which has yet to be laid, and the nature and form of which no man can prophesy. The study of cancer is in a state which may be compared with that of tuberculosis in the days just before the discovery of the tubercle bacillus by Koch. The disease had been studied both on a large and a small scale with the greatest care, results of much value had been obtained, and had been

*

The comparison is employed by Borrel ('Bulletin de l'Institut Pasteur

v. 497).

pondered by some of the ablest men of the age. The result had been the production of a crop of theories, some demonstrably false, some improvable, some mere verbiage and a darkening of counsel, and some mere platitudes. Then came Koch's masterly paper, making the whole nature of tubercle clear at a glance, and converting the great mass of undigested facts into a scientific system : it was like the effect of dropping a crystal into a saturated solution, causing each molecule to fit instantly into its appointed place. In cancer research the pioneer studies have been made, all the false issues (and these in great numbers) that have presented themselves have been exposed, and the time seems ripe for the discovery of the road that leads straight to the heart of the maze. In this essay we propose to give a brief account of some of the more important points that are being investigated at the present time, dealing more especially with the questions which appeal to the layman as well as to the medical man or pathologist.

Let us first explain briefly what a cancer is. Plants and animals are built up mainly of cells, which are to be regarded as the units of life, and which build up living beings as atoms build up chemical substances. These cells are highly complex bodies. The painstaking researches of the cytologists, especially those engaged in the subject in connexion with the study of heredity, discover almost daily new complexities in the structure of even the simplest cell; and when we consider that the ovum or egg-cell, from which all living beings develope, contains within itself such endless potentialities, such manifold and various hereditary characters for good and evil, this high degree of organisation need not surprise us. In the normal healthy adult the cells that make up the body are engaged in various functions, differing in each tissue and organ, and have almost ceased to grow. Growth and subdivision of the cells does indeed take place, especially amongst certain cells, but it is a comparatively subordinate process, occurring in an orderly manner and only when the needs of the body demand it. For example, the cells which make up the outer layer of the skin have for their function the defence of the more delicate tissues of the body. They are constantly being rubbed or washed off, and any non-living tissue would

soon be worn away if exposed to the wear and tear to which, for instance, the skin of the hand of a workman is exposed. To make up for this constant loss, the cells in the lower layer divide, each into two, which gradually grow to the full size and go to form the normal thickness of the skin. This takes place in an orderly and regular manner, resulting in a layer of perfectly formed cells which form a beautiful mosaic, and which gradually become hard, horny, and exquisitely adapted for their duties, as they are traced towards the surface. In most other tissues cell-division takes place to a much less extent, but here also it is orderly and regular and takes place only in response to a need for fresh cells in the region.

In cancer a similar cell-division takes place, but in a wild, capricious, and unnecessary manner, and the cells thus formed do not organise themselves into those which make up the normal structure of the organ in which they develope, though they may imitate it to a certain extent. The resulting mass of cells discharges no useful function in the body, on which it lives just like a parasite; indeed, the physiological analogy between a parasite and a tumour is extraordinarily close, only it must be a parasite which increases in size continuously and relentlessly and burrows deeper and deeper into the tissues of its host. An illustration may make this clearer. Imagine a house the walls of which are built of living bricks, which grow in such a way as to repair the weathering and erosion of the surface, so that as each brick is dissolved or removed from the outside it is replaced by one newly formed from below. This is exactly what occurs in the healthy skin. Now suppose one or more of the bricks to cast off all restraint and to start growing and dividing rapidly and in an entirely purposeless fashion; imagine the bricks thus produced to be badly formed, variable in size and shape, and useless in every way; and imagine them growing inwards instead of outwards, invading the house, occupying it with a constantly increasing mass of irregular brickwork which slowly but surely fills up the interior and renders life within impossible. This is what takes place in cancer; and the problem of its nature is to find out what causes this anarchy in the naturally well-ordered hierarchy of cells, and why a cell which had for years discharged its