^ ■ ’ 3

CASES AND OBSERVATIONS

ILLUSTRATING THE

HISTORY AND PATHOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF
TWO KINDS OF HYDATIDS, HITHERTO
UNDESCRIBED.

By Dr Gairdner and Mr Lee,

WITH

MICROSCOPICAL OBSERVATIONS
By Mr H. Goodsir,

( From the Edin. Med. and Surg. Journal , No. ] 6 1 .)

1. Case of Abdominal Disease , in which the substance of va-
rious viscera was destroyed by an entozoon , not hitherto
described. Read before the Medico-Chirurgical Society of
Edinburgh, on the 1st of May 1844 By John Gairdner,
M- D. F. R. C. S. E.

Early in 1843 I was consulted by a respectable tradesman,
then in his 69th year. He complained of a deficiency of power
in his lower limbs, affecting both of them equally; and also of
some slight pain or uneasy feeling in his back, about the region
of the lower dorsal or upper lumbar vertebrae. These, so far as
I remember, were his only complaints. I was, at the time, of
opinion that the loss of muscular power might be owing to some
disorder, functional or organic, of that part of the spinal cord
which corresponded with the seat of his uneasiness; and, in the hope
that it w'as only functional, prescribed that he should apply towels
dipped in very cold water to that part of the spine, evening and
morning, for some minutes each time, and that he should afterwards

A

2 'Dr Gairdner’s Case of Abdominal Disease.

rub the part with a rough dry cloth, till it was brought into a
state of warmth and of vascular reaction. For reasons which will
appear in the sequel, I greatly doubt the accuracy of the notions
I then entertained of the theory of the morbid symptoms just de-
tailed ; but the patient decidedly improved under the treatment,
the sluggishness of the limbs went entirely away, and with it the
spinal uneasiness, and he repeatedly expressed himself much satis-
fied with the results of this very simple management.

In the month of July following, he again consulted me; and
had then a new symptom, a considerable tumefaction of the abdo-
men, with obvious fluctuation.* No induration of the liver, nor
any hard tumour could be detected in any part of the cavity.
He complained of his bodily strength being a little impaired,
and was quite obviously thinner than formerly. He was also
somewhat sallower than usual, though not remarkably so, for he
had naturally very little colour when in his best health. His
urine amounted in twenty-four hours to about a quart ; in colour
and appearance it was little different from what it ought to be ;
when boiled, it presented no trace of albumen. He was remark-
ably free from pain.

The symptoms just detailed gradually increased. Diuretics
of various sorts, and more especially squill, digitalis, mercury,
acetate of potass, and nitrate of potass, were perseveringly em-
ployed, and excited only occasional and very inadequate diuresis.
At first he was able to attend to his business and to go about
the streets as usual, but towards the end of the year he became
more and more debilitated, and very seriously incommoded by the
great distension of his abdomen. His food was frequently returned,
apparently in consequence of the pressure exerted on the stomach
by the abdominal contents. I proposed to relieve him by para-
centesis, which, after some delay, occasioned by his own reluctance
to the proceeding, I performed on the last day of the year. The
puncture was made in the linea alba. On withdrawing the trocar,
not a drop of fluid followed it for some seconds. I passed a di-
rector through the canula, and a few particles of gelatinous- look-
ing matter came away, followed by some drops of liquid. I adapt-
ed a syringe to the canula for the purpose of suction, with the
aid of which I withdrew nearly a pound and a half of similar mat-
ter, and was then forced to give up, in consequence of the great
difficulty of the proceeding, and of the probability of inflamma-
tion if it had been longer protracted. The diminution of the
distension made a very considerable difference, for some days, in

* The fluctuation, when carefully attended to, was somewhat peculiar in its cha-
racter, approximating to that which is experienced on tapping with the finger one
side of a vessel of animal jelly, while the ather hand is applied to the opposite side of
the vessel. The reason of this will be apparent from the history of the case.

6

Dr Gairdner’s Case of Abdominal Disease. 3

the poor man’s comfort, and in his capability of receiving food ;
but he gradually became as bad as ever. I was therefore tempted
to make a second effort to relieve him, with the hope that I might
possibly be enabled to do so more effectually. I had not been
prepared, on the 31st of December, to expect the difficulty which
then occurred, and my apparatus for suction was consequently
less perfect than I could have wished. When I repeated the
paracentesis on the 13th of January last, I was provided with an
excellent syringe for this purpose, and was therefore much disap-
pointed to find that I was unable to get away more than ten
ounces of the gelatinous matter. He was again greatly relieved
for a short time, but again became gradually worse and worse.
His death happened on the 14th February last.

1 was permitted to examine the body the following day, about
thirty-five hours after death.

The cavity of the peritonaeum was found to be entirely filled
with the same kind of matter which had been withdrawn by ope-
ration. It consisted of a number of masses, mostly of a globular or
ovoid form, attached by pedicles (Plate V. Fig. 7,) to the inner sur-
face of the peritonaeum lining the abdominal parietes, and also to the
peritonseal surface of the intestines and other abdominal viscera.
The entire quantity of these masses amounted to about twenty-
four imperial pints. Across the epigastric region extended a massy
tumour of a dense consistence, which had been concealed dining
life by the great distension of the abdominal walls. Innumerable
masses of the gelatinous-looking matter were attached to this tu-
mour like bunches of grapes, (Plate V. Fig. 5.) When these were
artificially separated from it, the surface from which they had been
removed presented an appearance like honey-comb. It was at
first difficult to say in what organ this dense tumour had been de-
veloped ; but its connections with the surrounding parts proved it
to be the omentum. The tumour was from two to three inches
thick, very hard throughout, and, in some parts of it, almost of
cartilaginous density. On cutting through it the stomach and
colon were found imbedded in it, and firmly fixed together by it.
The place usually filled by the right lobe of the liver was com-
pletely occupied by the gelatinous bodies. The lobe itself had en-
tirely disappeared. The gall-bladder and biliary ducts still existed,
and contained some bile. The common duct was traced to its usual
termination in the duodenum. The left lobe of the liver was
greatly diminished in size, but a portion of it remained in a tole-
rably sound state. The textures of the pancreas and of the spleen,
though enveloped in the tumour already described, were not nearly
so much invaded by the disease as those of the liver. The intes-
tines had a very dark colour, resembling that of melanosis ; they
were much compressed by the distension of the belly, and had

4

Dr Gairdner’s Case of Abdominal Disease.

many of the gelatinous bodies attached to them. Besides those
■which were attached to the peritoneeal surface there were others of
small size in the subserous tissue in various situations, and more
especially in the immediate neighbourhood of the bladder. The
right kidney was natural ; the left had a considerable tubercle
within it, occupying that position in the organ where the secern-
ing part of it passes into the uriniferous. The thoracic viscera
were perfectly sound ; the lungs rather unusually dark in colour.

The remarkable substances above mentioned deserve to be
more particularly described. It is impossible to doubt that they
were real entozoa of a peculiar kind, but they differed in many
particulars from ordinary hydatids. They were contained in the
general cavity of the peritonaeum, instead of being developed, as
hydatids are, within a peculiar sac. The fluid which they con-
tained, and that in which they floated, were highly coagulable
by heat, forming a firm curd resembling in all respects the white
of a boiled egg, and, no doubt, of the same composition. The
fluid of common hydatids, as we know from Dr Marcet, (London
Med. Ch. Trans. Vol. ii. p. 376,) and from Dr Bostock, (Guy’s
Hospital Reports, No. V. p. 468-9,) is not coagulable by heat
“ except after very considerable concentration.” (Marcet.) Ordi-
nary hydatids are mere cysts or vesicles containing fluid; but
the fluid of these bodies did not flow out when they were cut into,
being retained, like the fluid part of the vitreous humour of the eye,
and that with much more tenacity, by a multitude of septa, which
were seen passing through them in various directions, and which,
besides parting them into lobules, appeared to enter by innumer-
able minor subdivisions into the composition of these lobules,
giving the whole a reticulated appearance. In colour and transpa-
rency they very exactly resembled masses of calf’s-foot jelly.
Their fluid was of a glutinous or mucilaginous consistence. A por-
tion of it, subjected to the microscope, displayed a number of
small cysts floating in it, obviously the germs of the large ones.
The larger bodies, or hydatids, if they may be so denominated,
were in some instances almost of the size of a hen’s egg ; and they
were of all sizes, from that to the minute volume of the microsco-
pic ones already mentioned. I have said that they affected the
globular or ovoid form ; but, either from compression, or other
unknown causes, they were often very irregular and unshapely,
and some of them were evidently broken and disintegrated.
Many of the more dense among them had a degree of opales-
cence. The fluid in which they floated bore a very small pro-
portion to the aggregate mass of these bodies themselves, and I
have a suspicion that it was chiefly derived from the rupture of
the larger ones. Their exterior surface was roughisb, in conse-
quence of the existence, at prettyregular intervals, of a great number

Dr Gairdner’s Case of Abdominal Disease. 5

of small points, which proved, under the microscope, to be so many
minute discs, having in their circumference apertures or stomata ,
communicating with little tubes which ran from them in different
directions in theouter coat of the hydatid. (Plate V. Fig. 8.) The
external surface of these bodies was less obviously rough in propor-
tion as they decreased in size, but even the smaller ones, under
the microscope, shewed similar roughness. Almost all those
which were not of merely microscopic magnitude were attached to
some part of the textures. Many of them had short thick pe-
dicles ; some had pedicles resembling narrow tapes. A very in-
considerable force was generally sufficient to detach them. The
few which seemed altogether free had probably been detached by
some such slight cause. The adhesion of others was more tena-
cious, and many of them appeared to be generated between the
peritonaeum and the textures immediately exterior to it. I have
said appeared, because the peritonaeum was in very many places
so altered as to make it difficult to say whether it really existed
there any longer or not.

Those who examine the records of such cases cannot fail to re-
mark, that very many histories are given of supposed hydatids,
which were not hydatids at all, but merely such cysts as Dr Hodg-
kin has described under the title of “ Adventitious serous cysts.”
(London Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, Vol. xv. p. 267.)
These are developed in the ovary, mamma, testis, and many
other textures and organs, with which they have a vascular con-
nection ; and such is the want of discrimination with which the term
hydatid has been applied to them, that much attention is neces-
sary to distinguish true cases of hydatids from false ones. There
is also to be remarked in those narratives of real hydatids, which
are to be found in the writings of physicians, a considerable want
of perspicuousness, arising from the application of the term cyst
sometimes to the hydatids themselves, and more especially the
parent hydatids, within which the young ones are generally de-
veloped ; and sometimes to those vascular capsules within which
we usually observe the parent hydatids to be contained, much in
the same way as a kernel is contained within a shell.* These
vascular capsules, which are adventitious formations from the tex-
tures of the several organs in which hydatids are imbedded, I
shall, to avoid confusion, term the nidi of the hydatids.

I shall now endeavour to discover how far the more distinctive
points in this case resemble those of similar cases to be found in
the records of past experience.

W, The absence of nidi in the case related was one of its re-

* For a very accurate account of this appearance, I refer the reader to Mr How-
ship in Edin. Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. xliii. pp. 15-16.

C Dr Gardner's Case of Abdominal Disease .

markable features. If the narratives of cases of true hydatids are
read with care, it will be found that these nidi have been al-
most universally present. Among the fifteen cases of hydatids
detailed by Dr Bright in the fifth No. of Guy’s Hospital Re-
ports, there are apparently none that were not contained in nidi.
In his second case, nidi were found in the omentum, the liver,
and the spleen. The excellent representation of the parasitic
entozoa which accompanies his description, recalls strongly the
appearance of those 1 lately saw. But they must have been es-
sentially different ; for they are described as mere vesicles con-
taining a fluid “ as pure as distilled water.”

2d. Extensive invasion of the textures of the liver by hydatids
is by no means uncommon ; but I cannot find many cases of
equally extensive destruction of these textures with that which I
have related. In Mr Howship’s case, communicated to the
Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, (Edinburgh Medical
and Surgical Journal, Vol. xliii. p. 13-22,) 44 the liver was dimi-
nished in thickness almost to the peritonaeal coat ; not more than
about- half an inch of its parenchymatous substance remaining.”
The hydatids “ were connected together by extensive fibrinous
adhesions.” From this last expression, and from the description
and delineation which follow, it appears clearly that they were
contained in the usual nidi. They were the common acephalo-
cysts, and therefore differed in structure from those which I
saw.

A very remarkable case of the same sort is briefly related by
Ruysch, (Observat. Anatomicse, lxv:) in which he says that a
bold and rude surgeon perforated the abdomen in the region of
the liver, and discharged a great number of hydatids. A similar
operation has often had a successful issue ; but in this case the
woman died ; and it was found on dissection that 44 tola substan-
tia hepatis, eo in loco, in hydatides degeneraverat.”

Cheselden, in his Anatomy, relates (p. 212,) a similar case, in
which “ the gibbous part” of the liver was “ entirely wasted ,”
and contained hydatids in a proper nidus within that viscus.
Another case will be found in Sandifort’s Thesaurus, (Yol. i.
p. 347,) and one in Meckel’s Handbuch der Patholog. Anat. (Vol.
ii. P. ii. page 409.) A large collection of such cases could easily
be made, in not a few of which the hydatids were evacuated by
incision during life from the site of the liver. In some, in
which, it is to be presumed, the liver was not extensively injured,
the health of the individual was restored.*

* I would refer more particularly to an excellent case of this sort treated by
Guattani, end reported by Lassus in the Journal de Medecine et de Chirurgie,
Paris, an ix. vol. i. p. 137. Another excellent case is recorded by Dr Monro in
his Morbid Anatomy of the Gullet, Stomach, and Intestines.

Dr Gairdner’s Case of Abdominal Disease. 7

3d. I have not been able to find any case in which the omen-
tum was morbidly altered in the particular manner which I have
described. Dr Cooke, in his edition of Morgagni, (Vol. ii. p.
261, vote,) has spoken of a horny state of the omentum from
hydatids, which had fallen under his observation. This may pos-
sibly have been a similar case.

4 th. The albuminous and highly coagulable character of the
substance of the entozoon, is another point in the case which I
have sought to illustrate from the records of medicine. I shall
first of all produce a case of this sort from Bonetus (Sepulchre-
tum, Tom. ii. p. 490,) who very pertinently inquires, “ Quis
medicorum curare potest hydropem asciten limosum, membranis
inclusion ?" He says he has heard and read of many such cases,
and he gives the following as an example. “ Aperui cujusdam
virginis setate provectioris cadaver, cujus admodum distenti abdo-
minis totam cavitatem repletam conspeximus innumerabilibus ve-
sicis aut sacculis humore tenaciori et glutinoso refectis.” Here
the fluid was glutinous and tenacious, and therefore very unlike
that of acephalocysts ; and yet, I fear, the case cannot be safely
produced as an instance of hydatids, though so regarded by the
author. For he does not say whether these “ sacculi” were at-
tached or not; and as the subject was a female, it is at least pos-
sible, if not probable, that they were serous cysts connected with
the ovary.

The following case from Ruyscli is not open to the same ob-
jections, and is, besides, one of the most remarkable for destruc-
tion of the liver which I have met with. I quote his own words.
“ Anno 1696 hydropici cadaver cultro anatomico subjeci, cujus
hepar, totum quantum, erat , esc meris vesiculis constabat ,
qua materiam limosam pellucidnm continebant. — In dicto je-
cinore ne minimus quidem ramulus vena porta , cava, duc-
tus biliosi, aut arteries hepaticce videndum sese exhibebat ,
quantumvis ad illud usque tempus vixerit eeger The author
then enters into some speculations on the origin of the hydatids
which are little to my present purpose, except on account of his
characterising them as “ substantiam gelatinosam in se con-
tinentes.” The patient was a male, as is evident from the first
words above quoted; the disease was in the liver; the “ vesi-
culae” contained a matter which was not merely slimy and gela-
tinous, but pellucid ; the description of these bodies, so far as it
goes, would serve excellently for the appearances presented by
the parasites in the case which I have described ; and the exten-
sive destruction of the liver completes the parallelism. (See
Thesaurus Anatom., i. No. xii.) In a subsequent part of his writ-
ings, the author gives a plate representing a portion of this un-
usual liver. (See Thesaurus Anatom., ii. Table ii. Fig. 3.)

8

Dr Gairdner’s Case of Abdominal Disease.

Dr Crowther has presented to the profession a remarkable
enough case, in which considerable difficulty was found in tap-
ping from the presence of hydatids. After the death of the pa-
tient, a female about thirty, the peritonaeum was found greatly
thickened ; and presented, “ on dissevering its laminae,11 (such is
Dr C.’s expression,) a great variety of “ cysts, some round, some
oval, some transparent, some opaque,11 the transparent ones con-
taining “ a thick, transparent, syrupy, gelatinous fluid,11 which is
stated to have “ coagulated by the application of heat.11 The
abdominal viscera were all sound, the hydatids, if such they were,
(and I think it probable that they were such,) being altogether
external to the peritonseal cavity. There are few recorded cases
in which the effect of heat on hydatids has been mentioned, and
it is a pity that in this one, in which their coagulability was as-
certained, the structure of the “ cysts11 is not more minutely de-
scribed.* (See Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, Vol. xxv.
p. 49-50.)

5th, There yet remains one aspect of my case in which I have
endeavoured to illustrate it from the observations of others ; I
mean, as it regards the external and internal structure, and the
mode of attachment, growth, and development of the entozoon it-
self. I have endeavoured to give an accurate account of its cha-
racters in the former part of this paper, and my friend, Mr Harry
Goodsir, conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Sur-
geons, Edinburgh, whose familiarity with subjects of this descrip-
tion, so eminently qualifies him for the task, has examined it with
great minuteness, and introduced the results of his inquiries into
a paper which he has recently communicated to the Royal Society
of Edinburgh, on the structure, economy, and development of the
different species of entozoa. Mr Goodsir suggests Diskostoma
Acephalocystis as an appropriate name for this species. I have
resorted to all the most probable sources of information accessible
to me, from which parallel cases might be expected to be adduced,
and more especially to the express treatises on the natural history
and structure of entozoa in general, or of hydatids in particular,
by Rudolphi, j* * § Bremser,| Cruveilhier,§ Kerr,|| Owen, IT Lobstein,**

* A collection of cases will be found in Sandifort, 22 in number, in many of
which the seat of the parasites was similar to that of those observed by Dr C.
(Thesaur., vol. i. p. 451.)

■f- Entozoorum Hist. Nat.

J Traite Zoolog. et Physiolog. sur les vers intest. de l’homme.

§ Article “ Acdphalocystes” in Diet, de Med. et de Chirurgie Pratiques.

|l Article “ Hydatids” in the Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine.

% Article Entozoa in Todd’s Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology,

•* In his Traite d’Anat. Pathologique, t. i.

1

9

Dr Galrdner’s. Case of Abdominal Disease.

Meckel,* * * § Laennec,^ Lamarck,;]; Copland, § Monro, || and Hip-
polyte Cloquet. I have also examined those more inciden-
tal accounts of hydatids which are to be found in such patholo-
gical works as those of Morgagni, De Haen, Baillie, Abercrombie,
and many others, some of which I have quoted in this communi-
cation : finally, I have examined a very great number of those still
more casual descriptions which are connected with the details
of individual cases in the transactions of societies, and in periodical
journals, and other works. From all these sources I have not
been able to extract a single description of a parasite at all
resembling that which was fatal to my patient. I am therefore
warranted in asserting that it is a rare one ; and that if it has been
seen, which it very probably may have been, it has at least never
yet been described with that precision which is necessary to its
identification.

2. Description of the Hydatid found in Dr Gairdners Case »
By Harry D. S. Goodsir, Conservator of the Museum of
the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.

The hydatids found in this case were globular, of various
sizes, (PI. V. Fig. 7, also preparation 2241, Mus. R. C. S. E.,)
and were connected together in groups or masses, each group
resembling the ovaria of birds in an active state of develop-
ment ; they were of a bright straw-colour. Each group was
covered externally by a membrane, (PI. V. Fig. 8,) which was
formed by the hydatid. At first this membrane, from its ap-
pearance, was thought to have been the result of inflammatory ac-
tion, but a more minute examination proved it to be a tissue sui
generis , and one which intimately belonged to the hydatid. Its
external surface was rough, in consequence of a number of striae,
which ran at irregular intervals across one another, so as to form
interspaces of an irregular angular shape, (PI. Y. Fig. 7.) This
membrane not only covered the surface of the group, but also dipped
deeply between the hydatids and in those specimens which were
altogether isolated, the membrane covered them entirely, even to
the base of the pedicles, and generally passed from the hydatids to
the surface of the peritonaeum, where it became gradually thinner
and thinner, as it receded from the parent stock.**

When magnified this membrane presented a very peculiar struc-

* In his Handbuch der Patholog. Anat. v. ii.

+ In the Bulletin de l’Ecole de Medecine, &c. de Paris, an xiii.

i I-Iistoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertebres, t. i., Paris, 1816.

§ In his Dictionary of Practical Medicine, Art. “ Hydatid.”

|| In his Morbid Anatomy of the Human Gullet, Stomach, and Intestines-
In the Dictionnaire de Medecine, Articles “ Aeephalocyste,” “ Cysticerque,*
“ Polycephale,” and “ Ditrachyceros.”

*' Transactions of R. S. E., Vol. xv.

10

Dr Gairdner’s Case of Abdominal Disease.

ture, (PI. V. Fig. 5) ; numerous disks of various sizes were seen
scattered over its external surface, and larger disks were sometimes
seen with two or three smaller ones upon them. Numerous tubuli
ramified through the membrane, and opened on its surface, by means
of small stomata, which were generally arranged round the edges
of the disks, (PI. V. Fig. 8.) Immediately underneath the mem-
brane already described, there was a layer of cellular substance
which connected it with another of a much more delicate texture.
From observations made upon another, and also new form of ace-
phalocyst,* I have been led to suppose that a third membrane ex-
ists in this hydatid, which probably lies internal to the two others,
and from which the delicate septa which traverse the gelatinous
mass of the body arise.-^ The stomata and tubes which were ob-
served in the external membrane could not be traced into the
deeper parts of the body of the animal.

When a small portion of the external or tubular membrane was
placed under the microscope, its internal surface was found to be
studded with numerous small shining bodies or cells. In ge-
neral these cells were compound, containing from one to four, or
more young cells in their interior.:): These I looked upon as the

gemmules of this hydatid, which, like the other acephalocystic
entozoon, is gemmiparous. The younger or contained cells were
sometimes seen free and detached from the parent cell, floating in
the gelatinous contents of the parent hydatid. The tubular mem-
brane, as it extends over the peritonseal surface, after arriving
at a certain stage of growth, throws off cells similar to those just
described from its attached surface, and invariably from spots in
the neighbourhood of the large tubes.§

These cells enlarge, not by any apparent cellular development,
but, like those of the common acephalocyst, by simple dilatation
from the addition of new matter in the interior. As this increases,
the tubular membrane in the neighbourhood becomes thicker,
owing to the increased number of tubes necessary for the nourish-
ment of the young cell.

In this entozoon there are two modes of propagation, one for in-
creasing the size and extent of its own individual group ; the
other for the purpose of extending the species to as yet uninfest-
ed portions of the infested animal.

The first mode of propagation we have just described ; the se-
cond would appear to proceed in the following manner : — The gem-
mules, by some means or other, escape from the parent acepha-
locyst, reach the uninfested tissues at some distance from the ge-
neral parasitic mass,|| and thus in time form new groups, which,

* Vide, p. 279.

* Ibid.

+ Transac. R. S. E., vol. xv. p. 503.
§ Ibid. vol. xv. pi. xv. fig. 2, C.

Mr Lee’s Case of Ascites.

11

in their turn, throw off geinmules also. This goes on for a longer
or shorter period, until at length the whole surface of the perito-
naeum is completely occupied and covered. So soon as this is ef-
fected the succeeding gemmules are forced into the deeper tisues.
As they increase in size, they tend always towards the surface of
the infested cavity, and at length burst from their confinement,
adhering, at the same time, to the bottom of their former, con-
taining cellules by pedicles, (PI. V. Fig. 5.) In this manner a
peculiar honey-comb appearance was produced in consequence of
the breaking up of the tissues surrounding them, (PI. V. Figs. 5
and 6, also preparation 2242 in Museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons, Edinburgh.)

3. Case of Ascites connected with a peculiar Parasite within

the Peritoneeal Sac. (Read before the Medico-Chirurgical

Society of Edinburgh on the 5th June.) By Thomas M.

Lee, Esq.

Jane Robertson, aged 53, had been twice married ; first fifteen
years ago, and a second time six years afterwards ; had had two
children, both by her first husband ; the elder died while teeth-
ing, the other is now 12 years old. She had lived in Edinburgh
till she was last married, but since then had resided in different
parts of the neighbouring country, wherever her husband, who is
a labourer, could obtain employment, but had returned to town
about fifteen months before her death. Her first husband died of
cholera when that disease prevailed in this city. Her father and
her only sister died paralytic, and her mother died of consump-
tion. She had two brothers, one is still alive, the other died
when a child of small-pox, or soon after having that disease.
She is said to have been remarkably stout and healthy up to the
time of her second marriage, soon after which her health began to
decline, and since then she has had to endure many privations, and
has suffered much from mental anxiety caused by domestic diffe-
rences. She at first complained of drowsiness, and soon after-
wards began to lose flesh and colour.

About five years ago, after labouring for some time under a
disease of the knee-joint, which, however, yielded to repeated blis-
tering, she had a spitting of blood, which left her very weak ;
but it does not appear that she was troubled at any time with
cough. She has apparently had more or less of ascites for the
last three or four years, and during that time has complained of a
disagreeable sensation at her stomach, as if there were something
in it, the removal of which would have given her relief, and of an
inclination to vomit after eating, along with a dread at being
touched about the abdomen. I saw her for the first time on the
19th of February last; the symptoms at that time were, anorexia,

12

Mr Lee’s Case of Ascites.

globus, a bruised feeling along the lower border of the ribs, pain
in the back, tenderness in the left hypochondriac region, pain at
stomach immediately after food, with sweetish regurgitation, bread
and tea being the sort of nourishment after which she experienced
the least uneasiness : the abdomen was considerably distended,
and fluctuation could be felt all over it ; percussion on the abdo-
minal parietes, while she lay on her back, produced a dull sound
except over a small space in the umbilical region. She occasion-
ally sweated at night after rigors, and had sometimes a disagree-
able feeling of heat about the soles of the feet. She had been
troubled with bowel complaint, but not for the last six weeks ;
her pulse was 80, her tongue clean, and her bowels regular ; her
urine, of which she made scarcely four ounces daily, was some-
times passed involuntarily, and was not coagulable by heat. Dur-
ing the next week, I have marked the state of the pulse once, when
it was 68 ; the urine increased to twenty-four ounces under the
use of digitalis, squill, and blue pill ; she continued to take a blue
pill every night until she had taken nine, when her gums became
slightly affected. On the 26th of February she was a little fe-
verish, and had had some shivering the night before ; her skin
was hot ; tongue clean ; pulse 88 ; urine twenty ounces. On the
1st of March she complained of a jagging pain at the epigastrium,
of a feeling as if something heavy fell in her abdomen when she
turned, and of a hot ball rising up her throat; she had no appetite
and no thirst ; her tongue was clean ; pulse 68, of fair strength ;
skin cool ; urine ten ounces. On the 11th of March, her mouth,
which had been very slightly affected by the mercurial pills for
about a week, was well ; she still complained of pain, or rather
heat after eating ; a good deal of pain was excited by pressure on
a spot a little below and to the right of the ensiform cartilage ; no
tumours could be felt in the abdomen ; her bowels were regular,
but her urine was very scanty and drained away involuntarily, and
was said to have a very disagreeable odour ; she complained of
downbearing, which she had had sometimes before to a very unplea-
sant degree ; she had had no discharge of any kind from the va-
gina for many years, but had sometimes pain in the region of the
uterus and bladder ; the cervix and os uteri felt healthy, but an
irregular, hard, and moveable body, about the size of a hazel nut,
could be felt through the upper part of the anterior wall of the va-
gina ; (at a subsequent examination two or three of these bodies
were felt in this situation) ; the uterus was not very moveable es-
pecially on the left side, and the lower extremity of the cervix
was inclined to that side. March 15, had vomited some dark-
brown fluid having a sweet taste, which is said to have resembled
strong tea, and afterwards had lancinating pain in the right shoul-
der; tongue clean ; pulse 60, of good strength; stated that she

13

Mr Lee’s Case of Ascites.

«

never had any headach or bad taste of mouth. On the 25th of
March, she still complained of heat and ball in the throat, abdo-
minal distension had increased ; her feet were a little swelled, and
pitted when pressed ; she felt very weak, but thought she would
be well enough if she could live without eating. On the 20th of
April she had retched much the night before, and had vomited a
little fluid resembling thin mucilage with a little snuff dissemi-
nated through it ; her tongue was slightly furred, and she com-
plained of pain to the right of the epigastrium ; her skin was
warmer, and her pulse firmer than usual ; she had taken a little
wine a few minutes before I called. On the 21st she vomited
some more of the brown fluid, and complained much of pain ; her
pulse was 76, of fair strength, and her tongue was white. After
this she was kept pretty easy by large doses of morphia, but sunk
rapidly, and died much emaciated on the 11th of May. For the
last three weeks of her life, her bowels, which, for sometime had
been getting less regular, were almost unmoved, — enemata, which
could be administered only in very small quantities, having had
a slight effect but once during that time ; she had a good deal of
thirst, but whatever she swallowed seemed to stick at the lower
part of the oesophagus until it was rejected ; for the last four or
five days, however, she could swallow water freely. The conjunc-
tiva became inflamed a few days before her death. Her mind
continued calm to the last.

Dissection , May 13.— Present, Mr John Goodsir, Mr
Harry Goodsir, Dr Gordon, and myself. When the cavity of
the abdomen, which contained four or five gallons of a greenish
yellow fluid, having an oily or ale -like consistence, was exposed,
none of the abdominal viscera could be seen, except part of the
colon, distended with flatus, and projecting over the spine between
the kidneys. The intestines were found to be firmly bound down
to the posterior part of the abdominal cavity, by a mass of gela-
tinous-looking matter of a structure somewhat similar to that of
cooked tapioca, interspersed with irregularly rounded cysts of
various dimensions, one or two fully three inches in their longest
diameter, but for the most part about the bulk of the largest
sizes of small shot. The peritonaeum of the abdominal parietes
was also studded with the same bodies, the larger ones being at-
tached by a peduncle generally so slight, that when they were
pulled away no trace of their attachment could be distinguished.
The larger and many of the smaller cysts were covered by a
strong membrane, of a dingy colour, having somewhat the ap-
pearance of intestine, but sufficiently transparent to allow of its
being seen that they were filled with other cysts of a smaller size.
One of the largest of these cysts was found loose in the abdomen,
and one or two of a smaller size, which were also loose, were

14

Mr Lee’s Case of Ascites.

probably broken from their attachments by my hand coming
against them. The smaller cysts were apparently attached more
firmly to the peritonaeum than those of a larger size. A con-
siderable part of the peritonaeum was also covered with a yellow-
ish gelatinous-looking matter, of a globular structure, but without
the dingy membranous covering, similar to the contents of the
larger cysts. The intestines were so firmly matted together, that
an accurate examination of them could not have been made
without more time and care than the circumstances would allow ;
hardened faeces were found in some parts of them, and the ver-
miform process was inverted, and lay within the gut. The
uterus, exclusive of the cervix, was not much larger than a good
sized filbert, and lay imbedded in a mass of the gelatinous mat-
ter, which was impacted in the pelvic part of the abdominal
cavity, and which apparently prevented the bladder from con-
tracting. The peritonaeum was a little wrinkled in some parts,
from the effusion and subsequent contraction of lymph, doubtless
the result of the irritation caused by the presence of the parasite.
No omentum could be seen. The liver, which was bound by a
firm layer of gelatinous matter to the back part of the diaphragm,
was small, flattened, and of a soft consistence. The stomach
was apparently healthy ; but some patches of ulceration were ob-
served on the mucous lining of the lower part of the oesophagus.
The only kidney examined was small, but was not remarked to
present any morbid appearance. The substance of the heart
was soft, and there was some slight osseous deposit about the
aortic valves. There were some calcareous tubercles at the apices
of both lungs, but they were otherwise healthy.

4. Description of the Hydatid found in Mr Lee's Case. By

Harry D. S. Goodsir, Conservator of the Museum of the

Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.

This aeephalocyst is very different from the Acephalocystis sim-
plex and the species already described under the name of Disk-
ostoma acephalocystis. It differs, however, from the species al-
luded to in points of considerable importance, and of such a na-
ture as to require the constitution of a new genus for its recep-
tion.

It will be remarked, by those who are acquainted with these
animals, that the Acephalocystis simplex is much less complex in
its structure than the Diskostoma, on which account there can be
no real affinity between them, a connecting link being awanting.
In the aeephalocyst under consideration we have what is deside-
rated ; and it will be the object of the following remarks to point
out its structure, functions, and relations.

In its rudimentary state, the Astoma acephalocystis is of a glo-

Mr Lee’s Case of Ascites.

15

bular form ; but in the parent this form is to a great extent
lost, owing to the young cysts within it increasing irregularly in
size, and presenting a nodulated appearance. In the larger spe-
cimens, the external surface is quite smooth, an appearance
which seems to arise from distension, the small or young ones
being rough, and corrugated externally. The parent cyst is
very strong, fibrous, and dense, and is composed of three mem-
branes, the outermost of which is the strongest, the remaining
two being much more attenuated, though at the same time of con-
siderable strength. On stripping the external layer from off the
two others, and placing it under the microscope, it presented a pe-
culiar reticulated appearance, with a few indistinct masses of
ovules on its internal surface, (PI. V. Fig. 1,) separated by acci-
dent from the succeeding or middle layer of membrane, which
appeared to be the seat of developement of the gemmae. At
the same time the internal membrane and the septa which
arose from it, and ran into the gelatinous body of the hydatid, ap-
peared to be matrices for these cellules. The structure of the
middle membrane was more fibrous than the external one, (Plate V.
Fig. 2.) The innermost of these three membranes was very pe-
culiar in its structure, and differed altogether from the other two.
When placed under the microscope it was transparent and colour-
less, with an immense number of fibrous-looking bands running
through it in all directions, which ramified in a manner simi-
lar to the extreme capillaries of blood-vessels. A number of ovules
were attached to this membrane, but there were few when compar-
ed with those in the middle one. In this membrane also nume-
rous reticulated circular masses of considerable size were seen.
These were the ovules in an advanced state of growth, (Plate V.
Fig. 3.)

The great mass of the body of this animal consisted of the
same gelatinous-looking substance of which the Diskostoma was
composed, but it was not in such abundance. At the same time
numerous septa or fibrils, similar to those observed in Diskostoma,
traversed the gelatinous mass. Several distinct ovules were seen
attached and apparently growing from the septa in this part, and
in the jelly a number of small filaria was frequently observed,
(Plate V. Fig. 4.) The middle part of the body of these thread-
worms was rather large, and tapered gradually to so fine a point
from this to the extremities, that the eye lost all trace of them even
under a strong power. The middle part of the body was black,
but both the extremities were colourless. The filaria were some-
times seen single, but generally they were lying in masses, twisted,
and contorted with one another. They were much more common
in some specimens of the acephalocyst than in others.

The free or parent Astoma varied in size from a millet-seed to

1G

Mr Lee’s Case of Ascites.

that of a large orange, and was of a lightish brown or sand colour.
Those that were not larger than a filbert were globular; as
soon, however, as they became larger, they assumed the nodu-
lated appearance, which gradually increased with the size of the
animal.

When a small portion of the middle membrane was put un-
der the microscope it was found, as already observed, to be filled
with small ovules, most of which were of a similar size. Some
of these, however, were observed to be larger than others, but
it was npt till they reached, or came in contact with the inner
membrane that the ovules began apparently to increase much
in size. As the ovule increases in size it projects into the ca-
vity of the parent cyst, sometimes carrying before it a layer of
the internal membrane of the parent ; and it is to be observed that,
as this process is going on, the secondary animal, or hydatid, is also
being distended with young, which again throws off another or
fourth series, so that there is a constant formation of young, —
one within the other, the parent or original cyst containing all the
formations within itself (Plate VI. Fig. 1, preparation 2243, Mu-
seum Royal College of Surgeons.) When a parent cyst,, therefore,
is divided, the internal structure will be found to be very complicat-
ed, consisting of cells within cells of all sizes. The parent cyst, after
arriving at a certain state of distension, bursts, whereby the young,
which had been formerly confined within it, are exposed, and as
the original cyst is now useless, it is absorbed, the young in the
meantime becoming attached to the peritonaeum. (Plate V. Fig. 3,
also preparation 2244, Museum Royal College of Surgeons.)

In this species, as in the Diskostoma, there are two modes of
propagation, viz. one for the extension of the group, and another
for the extension of the species to the portions of the body as yet
uninfested. The former of these, which takes place at the expense
of the parent cyst, is that which we have just described, the lat-
ter is exactly similar to the analogous mode in the Diskostoma.
The younger cells, which have become detached from the mem-
branes, and are seen suspended in the gelatinous fluid, escape,
by some means or other, from the parent hydatid, and reach the
parts of the body which have hitherto remained uninfested, where,
forming a nidus, and, gradually increasing in size, they become
independent animals, and in time throw off ovules also. (Plate
V. Fig. 2.)

This species, like the Acephalocystis simplex, is without any
apparent organs of nutrition, unless the ramifications which are
seen very slightly in the external membrane, and more strongly
in the twointernal coats, are looked upon as vessels, — a point which
cannot be determined with accuracy.

It was suggested by Dr Gairdner that the cysts might be sup-

Mr Lee’s Case of Ascites.

plied with blood from the body of the infested being, which
would, he thought, prove their affinity to the morbid and ad-
ventitious cysts found in the ovaries and other parts of the body.
With the view of deciding this point, I had the vessels of a
large portion of the intestines, which was infested with the hyda-
tid, filled with minute injection, when I found that, although the
intestines were most minutely injected in all parts, the hydatids
which were attached to them were perfectly free of blood-vessels.
In many instances, also, the peritonaeum, round the base of the
parasite, where we would naturally look for inflammatory appear-
ances, was found to be most minutely injected, while there was
not the slightest vestige of injection on the parasite itself. (See
preparation 2245, Museum of Royal College of Surgeons, Edin-
burgh.)

The propriety, however, of classing these bodies along with the
Acephalocysts, or even looking upon them as having any degree of
affinity, has been questioned. In a paper read before one of the late
meetings of the Royal Society, I proved that the common Acepha-
locyst and Diskostoma were independent animals.* Now, the Ace-
phalocyst under consideration, as regards both its structure and
functions, has a great affinity to Acephalocystis as well as Diskos-
toma, so that if the animality of these two is granted the like
must be granted to Astoma also.

In investigating the nature of adventitious cysts, and compar-
ing them with the bodies under consideration, it cannot but strike
the observer, that a remarkable difference exists between them.
In the former, we have a thick, highly-vascular coat, with a num-
ber of large vessels permeating it ; the minute structure of which
consists always of apparently compressed cellular substance, being
in this respect exactly similar (and formed in a like manner,)
to the vascular coat which surrounds the external cyst of the Ace-
phalocystis, which has no connection with the hydatid, being en-
tirely composed of the tissues of the infested person. In the
latter, the minute structure of the tissues is very different and
decidedly non-vascular. The mode of propagation, however, is
perhaps the most specific mark of difference which we have for the
distinguishing of these two very different bodies.

* Transactions Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. xv. p. 561.

EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY STARK & COMPANY, OLD ASSEMBLY CLOSE.

■

.

77V“ MED & SCm JOUR

'p.zfig VOL TJVT Ff,.V

I*J*MED. &SURG.JOUR

3

{T ion

THE

PRESENT SYSTEM OF PUBLISHING

BEING AN

EXAMINATION OF A PROPOSED PLAN
FOR SUPERSEDING IT ;

CONTAINED IN A PAMPHLET ENTITLED “ REASONS FOR ESTABLISHING
AN AUTHORS’ PUBLICATION SOCIETY, BY WHICH LITERARY LABOUR
WOULD RECEIVE A MORE ADEQUATE REWARD, AND THE
PRICE OF ALL NEW BOOKS BE MUCH REDUCED.”

“ The patronage of English literature lias long since been devolved on our booksellers, and the
measure of their liberality is the least ambiguous test of our common success.”— Gibbon.

LONDON:

RICHARD GROOMBRIDGE, PATERNOSTER ROW.

1844.

CONTENTS,

I. On the two leading objects contemplated by the establishment of an
Authors’ Publication Society.

II. Remarks on certain introductory statements contained in the Pamphlet.

III. Proposed Constitution of the New Society.

IY. The Plan of the Society shown to be not new, and to have been unsuc-
cessful when formerly tried.

Y. Strictures on the Publication Societies in current operation, and on the
warrant which their success holds out for the success of the New Society.

VI. Special Objections to the Society.

1. Extent of Operation.

2. Reduction in prices, and consequent suppression of Bookselling

Agency.

3. Scheme for Mutual Division of Profit.

VII. Brief Suggestions for the Remedy of Evils really existing.

PRESENT SYSTEM OF PUBLISHING, &c.

The success attending the Percy, Shakspeare, Parker, Wodrow,
Calvin, Spottiswoode, and other similar Societies of limited opera-
tion, taken in conjunction with the occasional failure of authors
in their literary undertakings, has led to the belief, in some quar-
ters, that the whole business of publishing could be more advan-
tageously conducted by an Associated Body of Literary Persons,
than if left, as at present, to the management of individual book-
sellers. Being of opinion that this conclusion has been come to
hastily, and without due inquiry into the nature and efficiency
of the existing system, we shall take the liberty of submitting a
few remarks for the consideration of authors, as well as of the
public generally, in which we shall attempt to prove that an
institution, of the extent and character proposed, would not be
practically workable ; or that if carried into effect, would not
be productive of the contemplated results.

I.

ON THE TWO LEADING OBJECTS CONTEMPLATED BY THE ESTAB-
LISHMENT OF AN AUTHORS’ PUBLICATION SOCIETY.

In a pamphlet entitled ‘ Reasons for Establishing an Authors’
Publication Society,’* we find that the two grand objects proposed
* London : Petheram.

6

to be realized by the organization of this institution, are “ more
adequate rewards to literary labour,” and “ a great reduction in
the price of all new books.”

At the very threshold of his subject, the author connects two
antagonist elements — a large remuneration to the author, and a
low selling price to the public. We are quite aware that he
contemplates an increased demand from cheapness of price, and
in the case of meritorious publications, undoubtedly this result
would follow ; but as regards those which would not take the
market, — and, as we will afterwards show, the Society will not
likely be infallible in its speculations any more than individual
publishers, — in such cases, we would no doubt have cheap books ;
but so far from the literary labourer receiving a “ more ade-
quate reward ,” he would receive no reward at all, except his
share of the income of the Society, which would, of course,
be an abstraction from the profits of some more successful mem-
ber. That which is not the direct result of one’s own labour Js
misnamed when it is called “ reward ;” and, therefore, the “ major
proposition” should run thus : “ by which the literary labour
of some would receive a more adequate reward ” at the expense
of others. And then, as regards high prices, they do not act
so very perniciously, either on authors or the public, as may
at first sight appear. So far as authors are concerned, — and
it is presumed that their interests have been prominently kept
in view in proposing the new Society,’ — high prices are positive
advantages. If an author sells his copyright to a publisher, the
higher that the selling price is, the greater will be the sum
given ; if an author retains the copyright in his own hands, and
takes on himself the risk of publication, and the book sells well,
then again the higher the selling price, the greater will be the
proceeds accruing to the author ; and if it should not sell well,
surely limited sales at a high price are better than limited sales
at a low price, especially as after working the high price, a low
one can be tried as a farther source of revenue, — whereas, if
fixed low at first, a “ lower still” begets suspicion as to the value
of the work, — as, reversing John Bunyan,

He that’s low need fear a fall.

Then, as to the public, there is a self-adjusting principle con-
nected with the selling of books which prevents them from being
high priced long, or even at first to an inconvenient extent. A

7

work, if of a valuable or an interesting character, and published
at a high rate, sells for a time as a necessary of life. Lady Sale’s
Journal, for example, would have sold well had it been offered
at a higher rate than it actually was. It belongs to that class
of works which readers in the higher and middle walks of life
will purchase despite of cost ; and in publishing at higher rates
in order to avail themselves of this disposition, publishers are
no more to blame than any other class of traders, who act on
a well-known principle in political economy — that of carrying
their goods to the best market. But let it be borne in mind,
that this profitable market can be taken advantage of only in
the case of a limited number of customers, and so soon as
their wants are supplied, a crisis arrives in the price of the
book. Whether good or bad, it must now fall, — the self-regu-
lating principle to which we have referred, operates in this way.
If the work has “ not taken,” then it must be reduced in price,
in order to command a sale, and also to put the publisher in
possession of new capital, with which he can embark on fresh
enterprises ; as it is self-evident that, with funds locked up in
unsaleable paper and print, a publisher cannot for any length
of time carry on his trade, any more than the aeronaut can float
a sinking balloon without a diminution of ballast. The “ remain-
der bookseller,”* therefore, becomes purchaser, who lowers the
price with a witness ; and if still possessed of too much gravity,
the work must then be consigned to darkness and the trunk-
maker. But, on the other hand, if the work be meritorious, and
has sold well at a high price, every publisher of sagacity will at
once perceive the propriety of reducing the price in order to com-
mand a more extended sale. If a body has momentum enough to
run along a level line, it will advance with accelerated speed on
an inclined plane ; and so, in like manner, if a book sell well at
20s., it will sell infinitely better at 5s. It was on this principle
that Mr Murray, senior, acted with regard to Byron’s Life and
Works, reducing them to a guinea each ; and similarly, and
with greater boldness, was it, that Mr Murray, junior, reduced
Borrow’s Bible in Spain, from 28s. to 6s. We, therefore, come

* The author confounds "second-hand” with "remainder” booksellers,
(p. 4.) Literally he is right, but technically wrong. A second-hand book-
seller deals in used books ; a remainder bookseller in the unsold copies of new
works lying on the hands of the original publisher.

8

to the conclusion, that books, whether superior or inferior, never
continue long at a high price.

This enables us to dispute one of the leading positions of
the author of the ‘ Reasons.’ We deny that the works con-
stituting the national literature of Britain are sold at a high
price. Instances there may be where class books, which in usual
circumstances can command a limited number of purchasers,
may either be declined by individual publishers, or, if taken up
by them, may be sold at a high rate ; and which class, as we
shall afterwards prove, afford legitimate scope for the exertions
of Publication Societies ; but we deny that the poorest are shut
out from buying those works essential to form and regulate the
general intellect of the country. If we are wrong, it will be
very easy to refute us by quoting instances in point.

We also dispute the general truth of the statement, that
literary labour does not in this country receive its adequate
reward. We have nothing to do with what took place in former
days regarding the remuneration of authors ; our business is
with present times. We regret, as much as any body can do,
the scanty sums received by De Foe, Gray, Milton, &c. ; but
whilst sympathy is so generally extended to authors on this
score, it would only be justice to bestow a portion of it on those
publishers who have suffered by over-liberality. Mr D’lsraeli,
who cannot be charged with lukewarmness in the cause of
authorship, states, that “ a book might be written on authors
whose works have ruined their booksellers.”* Inadequate re-
muneration to literary men is an accidental result, not a neces-
sary consequence of the present system of publishing. No
bookseller in his senses will give a niggardly payment to a good
author, for the very plain reason, that if he does so he runs the
risk of losing that author’s next publication. Most of the cases
of shabby payment will be found to have been authors’ very
first publications, or else their first publications of a popular
cast ; and when an unknown author applies to a bookseller, is
it any miracle that he should sometimes make mistakes as to
the real value of the proffered work? Dr Johnson was more
reasonable on this point than the author of the ‘ Reasons’ ap-
pears to be, as he candidly said to Boswell, — “ My judgment, I
have found, is no certain rule as to the sale of a book.”-f- And
* Curiosities of Literature, p. 369. f Boswell, by Croker, viii, 100.

9

equally humble was the admission of Dr Robertson regarding
the monetary value of a first publication. “ Henry,” says the
historian, “ erred in not selling his first volume at a moderate
price to the booksellers, that they might have pushed him on
till he had got reputation. I sold my ‘ History of Scotland’ at
a moderate price, as a work by which the booksellers might
either gain or not. I afterwards received a much higher price
for my writings. An author should sell his first work for what
the booksellers will give, till it shall appear whether he is an
author of merit, or, which is the same thing as to purchase-
money, an author who pleases the public.”* One all-important
point in this matter has been noticed by Sir Joshua Reynolds,
but almost universally kept out of view by literary men, which
is, that “ in estimating the character of a work, one must have
two judgments — the first as to its real value, the other as to what
may please the general taste at the time.”*]- This at once
transfers the responsibility from the publisher to the public.
He is but the mechanical indicator of “ the age and body of the
time” — the angle of reflection, not of incidence. He does not
profess to judge of abstract merit, — he simply regards a work
as a marketable commodity ; and for the most part, when a fault
is committed, the blame should rest not with him, but with the
public, whose representative he is. He may, occasionally, mis-
interpret the public mind, but we are persuaded he does so
oftener to his loss than to his gain ; and if it be said, that this
elevation of a bookseller to the office of expositor of public
opinion has a capricious influence on the interest of authors, we
quote, in reply, the opinion of Gibbon on this very point, who
states, that “ the measure of a bookseller’s liberality is the least
ambiguous test of common success.” J

Literature is a profession as well as law, medicine, or divinity,
but unfortunately it is too often the last resource of the mem-
bers of all other professions ; and the immigratory process
which thins the avenues of other callings only tends to throng
the crowd of aspirants in this precarious mode of life. Author-
ship is frequently the last shift of a learned man, and it is as
frequently the first of the uneducated genius. Where all run,
all cannot win the race. And while theology has its lawn

* Boswell, iii. 297. + Boswell, iii. 289.

X Gibbon’s Autobiography.

10

sleeves and its starved curates, law its ermine and its shrivelled
attorneys, and medicine its gold- headed canes and its physicians
writing “ Diaries” in garrets, — is it wonderful that authorship
should have its lights and shadows ? What is there in it by which
to secure an agrarian distribution of temporalities ? But let us
turn to the actual state of matters. What eminent author of the
present day has been “inadequately remunerated?” Scott,
Byron, Moore, Southey, Campbell, Rogers, &c., have all been well
paid ; the editors of all our reviews, magazines, and periodicals
are well paid ; and if the principles we have laid down be in any
measure correct, it will not be the mere transference of publish-
ing from booksellers to authors that will effect a material change.
J ust now, the author maintains the high position of writing for
public instruction ; in the matter of money he deals only with
the publisher in his “ back room,” and it is the latter that is the
trafficker ; but exclude the publisher, and then you bring lite-
rary men in direct contact with the world, as the hucksters of
their own wares, — a consummation not likely to be favourable to
their interests.

II.

REMARKS ON CERTAIN INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS CONTAINED IN

THE PAMPHLET.

We have disposed of the title-page of the ‘ Reasons,’ and
shall now proceed to investigate such portions of its contents as
we may not already have answered by anticipation. The con-
sideration of the general plan of the proposed Society we shall
not take up until we have gone over some of the other points
touched upon by the author, which, although not all directly
bearing on the question of the Society, are yet treated of in
such a style as to call for special comment.

He complains that “ the size of a book, as well as its price,
are equally subject to accident or caprice,” — “ that an author
has no standard by which to judge of the value of his work be-
fore publication” (page 1), — “ that there is a want of some means
by which to guage public opinion in relation to any given book
or books announced for publication” (page 2) ; and the remedy
proposed for this is, —

“ A subscription list, with a short abstract of the contents of

the books, in addition to their titles.” — “ A large advertising
sheet, containing the titles of books to be published, and, if ne-
cessary, a short abstract of their contents, with an alphabetical
index, would admit of a chronological order, and being kept
constantly standing in type, books could be added, and others
taken away, at a trifling cost in the composition, until the neces-
sity of a new list should arise.” *

This plan is also offered as a substitute for advertising — the
evils of which are summed up as follows : —

“ 1 stly, All books are not advertised ; 2 dly. There is no unity
in the present plan, even if they were, because the advertisements
are distributed over the whole of the London and Provincial
press ; 3 dly. The newspaper is the creature of a day, and, use-
ful as it may be for advertising goods lost and found, and other
things of a temporary nature, the continual repetition of adver-
tisements, attended as it is with so much expense, entails a very
great additional cost to the buyer, which he must pay, or the
publisher cannot, in common justice, be expected to adventure
his capital in the speculation.”-!*

The author here shows that he does not fully comprehend the
rationale of advertising. A literary register, such as he describes,
is to a small extent already to be found in the Publishers’ Cir-
cular ; but supposing that work to be remodelled on the plan
suggested, and that it alone became the sole announcer of new
books, the immediate result would be a great falling off in the
demand for books. The exclusiveness of character possessed by
a book-list would at once restrict its dissemination to the literati.
John Bull looks on book-buying as a branch of expenditure on
which the axe of retrenchment should, in all times of pressure,
first fall, and as a precautionary measure, costing him no effort
of self-denial, he would never open such a list, lest temptation
should come upon him ; whereas, in the present way of adver-
tising in the newspapers, “ creatures of a day ” as they are, and
“ very great as is the additional cost,” yet book advertisements
catch the eye of John as he reads the fund list, or as he doses
over “ accidents and offences,” and they catch the eyes of his
daughters as they simper over the marriage list ; and the con-
sequence is, that in spite of themselves, they become purchasers
of books.

The author apparently belongs to the aristocratic class of
* Reasons, pp. 5, 10. + Reasons, p. 10.

n

authors, as he cannot speak from personal knowledge of the
hardships of literary life ; and this is a class from whom, as in
the case of Lord Chesterfield, literature can expect little sym-
pathy.

“ I have been assured that no little of our literature is manu-
factured by persons, who are hired by publishers, at some twenty
or thirty shillings per week, to do the job-work of the house for
that consideration. If this be the case, a glance behind the
scenes would afford both amusement and instruction.” *

We shall only remark, and we do it with regret, that there
are thousands of meritorious individuals in London alone, to
whom “ twenty or thirty shillings ” a-week would be a great
boon ; and if the new Society give a few of these employment, it
will do a service to literature for which many will be grateful.
Let the author consult the records of the Literary Fund Society
before he again write on this point. In the meantime, it is
gratifying to observe, from the correspondence between her Ma-
jesty and the Secretary of that admirable Institution, that the
Queen on the throne is more conversant with the “ calamities
of authors ” than some of her subjects.

Again, he is opposed to popular literature.

“ The high price of books, and the increased demand for them,
occasioned by the spread of education, and the gradual change
in the habits of English society, have led to the production of a
host of cheap publications, many of them of inconvenient shape,
printed in small type, of great pretension, and of most wretched
fulfilment ; their contents too often purloined from more valu-
able works, somewhat altered to destroy identity. But let us
hope that the age of Useful Knowledge Society’s Tracts, Penny
Magazines and Cyclopaedias, Chambers’ and Saturday Journals,
is nearly at an end. It was probably the hopelessness of obtain-
ing any thing better than these ephemeral publications at a
reasonable price from the publishers, that led to the formation
of Publication Societies.”

We do not join issue with the author in wishing the extinc-
tion of the “ ephemeral publications ” mentioned ; our opinion of
their character is higher than his, and we deny that their “ wretch-
ed fulfilment” was the cause of Publication Societies being form-
ed. We believe that the publications sneered at have created
a love for literature where it did not before exist, which will
survive for a long time, and one fruit of which has been the projec-

* Reasons, p. 4.

13

tion of those very Societies which have suggested to him the great
institution still in embryo. We shall only further remark, that
if that institution is to consist of “ known and acknowledged
authors of both sexes,” he will find that in this category will be
compi’ised a goodly number of the contributors to the ‘ Penny
Cyclopsedia,’ and to the ‘ Useful Knowledge Society’s Tracts’
[Volumes].

The author’s remedy for American piracy is short and sum-
mary.

“ There is no contending with a matter of fact ; the Ameri-
cans pirate our books, because they want what we produce
cheaper than we will sell it to them, and those who are acquainted
with the American character, will be satisfied that so long as a
dollar is to be got in that way, nothing can stop them ; but as
soon as we send our books into his market at a cheaper rate
than the American publisher can produce them, his profitless
occupation will be abandoned. All this appears like a stale
truism, doubtless, but it is not the less forgotten in practice.” *

“ Those who are acquainted with the American character,”
know that J onathan reprints our best works on the inside sheets
of newspapers, and those who attempt to cut lower than him at
that game will hazard a “profitless speculation” indeed.

But assuming that the class of readers in America, who thus
use what may emphatically be termed “ People’s Editions,” do
not comprehend the whole population, and that there is a large
body who would prefer having their literature in a book form,
we have yet to learn that paper-making, type-founding, printing,
and book-binding, are all cheaper in Britain than they are in the
United States. From all th&t we have seen of British reprints
of American works, we are inclined to think that our Transat-
lantic brethren can manage these matters cheaper than we can
do ; but supposing the prices to be equal, the expense of transit
must be added, which would at once turn the scale against us.
Publishers may, and do speculate in American wares, but how
an Author should think of looking to that country for profit,
after it has hesitated to legalize international copyright, and
after it has repudiated the lawful debt of one of the best-known
authors in the Old World, does certainly greatly surprise us.

* Reasons, p. 8.

14

III.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION OP THE NEW SOCIETY.

We now proceed to the consideration of the plan of the
Society ; and to enable our readers fairly to judge of it, we shall
quote its proposed constitution at full length.

“ First , That a Society be formed of known and acknowledged
authors of both sexes, and of others, who, not being authors by
profession, may wish to find a medium of publication less expen-
sive than is now to be met with.

“ Secondly, That to constitute a member, a small subscription
shall be required on admission, which, if necessary, shall be con-
tinued annually.

“ Thirdly , That the objects of the Society shall be the follow-
ing : ls£, The publication of original works of living authors in
every department of literature, science, and art. 2 dly. The re-
printing and editing of various works, foreign as well as English.
3 dly. The publication of translations from other languages. 4 tidy,
The publication of works in which a union of labour and talent
is required, such as Encyclopaedias, Dictionaries, Biographical
collections, weekly, monthly, or other Reviews, &c.

“ Fourthly , That to promote good feeling, and to encourage
the production of works in the continental languages, all
foreigners becoming members of the Society shall be entitled to
equal advantages.

“ Fifthly, That a council of management shall be chosen from
the whole body of the members, annually ; from which body a
certain number shall be elected, as a Publication Committee, to
whom all works offered by their respective authors or proprietors
shall be referred. —

“ Sixthly , That a very great reduction, amounting to one half
at least, shall be made in the usual publication prices ; and to
ensure certainty in the sale, a subscription list of the books pro-
posed for publication shall be printed and extensively circulated,
before any work goes to press ; but that after a work has been
accepted for publication, the author shall not, unless by his own
consent, be held responsible for the expenses of publication.

“ Seventhly, That a separate account shall be kept of each
work, and after its sale has been effected, all positive charges to
be deducted, such as for paper, printing, binding, advertising,
&c., and the profits paid to the author, he paying out of the same
a per centage towards the general expenses of the Society.

1,4 Eighthly, That the council be empowered to rent the neces-
sary shop or warehouse to carry on the Society’s ti’ade, appoint

15

a superintendent and other officers, and agents at home and
abroad ; pay on account of books in progress, &c.” *

IV.

THE PLAN OF THE SOCIETY SHOWN TO BE NOT NEW, AND TO
HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL AVHEN FORMERLY TRIED.

Our first remark is, that the plan is not new. From the
Bishop of Gloucester’s Life of Dr Bentley, we learn, that a simi-
lar society was formed in London in 1736, and was given up in
1748.

“ In the year 1736, an association was established in London
for the ‘ Encouragement of Learning,’ consisting of numerous
personages distinguished for rank and genius; who subscribed
to assist authors by publishing their works under the auspices and
in part at the cost of the Society. It was an important object
for this institution to start with eclat, by printing the work of
some great author ; and accordingly they offered to commence
with the publication of Dr Bentley’s Manilius, which was known
to be ready for the press. The Doctor, to their surprise and
mortification, instead of gratefully accepting the proffered honour,
started certain objections to the tendency of such a society,
which had never occurred to its liberal supporters, and con-
demned with great freedom the whole undertaking. Piqued at
this unexpected rejection of their offer, they addressed a similar
proposal to Bentley’s old enemy, Conyers Middleton, who was at
that time engaged upon his Life of Cicero, which they solicited
his permission to publish. He however preferred the more
lucrative method of printing by subscription ; and the Society
were obliged to content themselves with authors of less celebrity.
The experience, however, of a few years proved the justice of
Bentley’s exceptions ; the design of the Society, liberal and
spirited as it undoubtedly was, could not be executed without
interfering with the interests of the booksellers, who are in reality
the most efficient patrons of literature : it became therefore the
policy of that whole fraternity to oppose the success of their
general rival. In a short time, it was found necessary to take
in the co-operation of some booksellers, as partners ; but even
then the liberality of the Society to its authors left for the
traders such small profits, that they felt no interest in the cir-
culation of its books : and after twelve years’ perseverance, it
was found that the whole funds of the Society, consisting of about
<£*2000, had been expended, without any effectual advance to-
wards compassing its public-spirited objects.” *}*

* Reasons, p. 11. + Monk’s Life of Bentley, ii. 395-6.

16

y.

STRICTURES ON THE PUBLICATION SOCIETIES IN CURRENT OPERA-
TION, AND ON THE WARRANT WHICH THEIR SUCCESS HOLDS OUT
FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE NEW SOCIETY.

Our second remark is, that there is nothing in the state of
literature at present, which holds out the prospect of more suc-
cess now, than attended the scheme a hundred years ago. The
flourishing state of the Parker, Wodrow, and similar Societies,
is the most plausible sign of the times, and to that we shall
direct our attention. There is a temporary eclat attending such
bodies, which must not be mistaken for a love of letters. The
Wodrow has 2000 members, but had Wodrow’s Correspondence
been published by a bookseller at the very same rate as it has been
issued by the Society, not 500 members would have bought it.
Besides, those Societies are organized for the specific purpose of
reprinting a particular kind of works, known and approved of by
the parties subscribing; but it does not follow, that a similar plan
would succeed, which has for its subject the indiscriminate pub-
lication “ of all books.” A man may trust the committee of an
institution to furnish him with one or two books in a year, but
to suppose that he will leave the furnishing of his whole library
to “ a council,” although they should be “ the first men of the
age,” is a proposition so absurd that we are surprised how it
should have been deliberately entertained for one moment.
There is indeed a glimmering given of a plan whereby the works
will, in some measure, be announced before parties are to be
asked to subscribe ; but, as we shall subsequently explain, the
machinery of the club will not be adequate to effect this object
to any successful extent. The master-evil in the Wodrow and
other similar Societies is, that the public must go to them, and
not they to the public. They are not aggressive, but passive ;
and hence they offer no adaptations to the ever-changing state
of society in its cravings for intellectual food. If one wishes a
set of their publications, he finds that the lists are filled up, or
if he obtains the current volume, he finds that its predecessors
are at a premium ; and if he happens to be a day behind with
the next subscription, he forfeits his right of membership, — and
so on continually will he be exposed to petty annoyance, unless
he observe with military exactness the laws of the Institution.

IT

And supposing that he obeys all the regulations with the most
rigid punctilio, he never gets a complete book at a time, — all
that his yearly payments bring him are the two first volumes of
two different authors, and the fourth and fifth of some third
worthy. People will not buy a cheap lot of shoes if all for the
right foot, nor of gloves if all for the left hand ; and neither
will they long continue to buy books after a fashion so absurd.
If Societies are to cope effectually with booksellers, they must
lower their rules a peg or two, and accommodate themselves to
public wants, as do all regular traders.

But the author quotes, as favourable cases, the Religious Tract
Society and similar boards, as “ in some respects analogous ” to
his plan, inasmuch as they are, or were intended to be, “ inde-
pendent of the general publishers.” Here he connects together
matters which have no common principle of identity, and, of
course, draws a false conclusion ; and, therefore, before going
farther, we must assist him in adjusting a correct classification
of facts, from whence inferences can legitimately be drawn. His
object is to organize a Society which

(1.) Shall reward authors more liberally.

(2.) Shall sell books at one-half of the present prices ; and
which in effecting these objects intends

(3.) To adopt new methods of making its works known ; and
(4.) Proposes new methods of putting them into the hands of
the public.

Now, from the experience of the past, what proofs have we as
to the practicability of the scheme ? The Bannatyne and the
other Antiquarian Clubs merely professed to publish rare
books, and without giving any pledge about the conditions we
have specified ; the Parker and W odrow profess to act on
the 2d and 4th conditions, — they never promised, and we ai’e
not aware that they have given large sums to authors, nor
have they proposed any change in advertising, but, on the
contrary, have liberally used it in dunning their dilatory mem-
bers ; the Useful Knowledge Society professed the 2d, in con-
nection with scientific treatises ; the Religious Tract Society
also professed the 2d, in connection with evangelical treatises.
But neither of the two latter, it will be observed, professed high
scales of remuneration ; and in conducting their sales, they have
no more been “ independent of the general publishers ” than any

B

18

one of these publishers are of each other. Under certain re-
strictions, subscribers to the Tract Society get its books at re-
duced prices ; but otherwise it has not altered the rate of usance
on the Row Rialto ; and we question very much if, in conduct-
ing its operations, the Society would willingly forego the co-ope-
ration of booksellers. In leaving this point, we should be sorry
to be understood as pronouncing a sweeping denunciation against
Publication Societies. As we hinted at an early stage of our
inquiry, they are most useful for the purpose of issuing class
publications, — by which phrase we mean, works on such techni-
cal or abstract subjects as, from the limited number of readers,
could be produced by individual publishers only at high rates.
To this class belong specimens of early English literature, Pro-
vincial Antiquities, Oriental Translations, Recondite Treatises in
Science, &c. ; in fact, this field is almost endlessly wide, and
might be cultivated to the full, without in any degree trenching
on the province of the booksellers ; and as “ book openeth book,”
so the more extensive that Societies carry on operations of
this kind, the more will habits of reading be fostered, and the
more extensively will books be disposed of through other chan-
nels. To this extent such institutions are beneficial, but beyond
that they are unworkable.

YI.

SPECIAL OBJECTIONS TO THE SOCIETY.

I EXTENT OF OPERATION.

We now proceed to an examination of the Rules, and we break
ground with the 5th. All works offered for publication are to
be referred to a committee. As every department of literature,
science, and art, is to be taken up, this committee must needs
be very large, or else its members must be omniscient, in order
to discharge the cosmopolitan task that lies before them. The
Times has ridiculed the British Association for undertaking so
many subjects, and yet, comprehensive as its sphere undoubtedly
is, it adventures but a fraction of the universal whole. The As-
sociation’s cycle is as follows : —

Section a Physics and Mathematics.

... B Chemistry.

c Geology, and Physical Geography.

19

Section D Natural History.

E Anatomy and Medicine.

F Statistics.

... G Mechanical Science.

To this meagre list we may add Civil and Ecclesiastical His-
tory, Theology, Ethics, Political Economy, Polite Literature,
Languages, and Law ; and, without making the subject ludic-
rous, we have, in the two lists, such a variety of topics as, in
their endless ramifications, would be beyond the management of
any committee, however large. But supposing that question
settled — such are the varieties in human taste, that no body of
men of homogeneous calling would, as a public board called to
discharge such duties, give public satisfaction.* Wre shall prove
this from the working of the Royal Academy of Painters. In
that respectable body no offending bookseller, wholesale or re-
tail, steps in between genius and a generous public, and there-
fore, so far the case is favourable for comparison ; and yet, how
do they manage amongst themselves? We shall not multiply
instances, as it is matter of notoriety that artists, whom poste-
rity has placed in the niche of fame, either never were admitted
fellows, or, when elected, were so after cruel delay. When we
find Hogarth laughing at the rules of all his brethren, — and
then Fuseli, an academy professor, branding Hogarth as a vul-
gar caricaturist ; when we find Barry, another professor, calling
Reynolds’ lectures “poor flimsy stuff1” in his own presence, —
and then Reynolds depreciating Wilson ; — what confidence can
we have in the decisions of men of genius regarding each other ?
Take the department of History : could any committee decide
in such a way as to please Dr Lingard, the Roman Catholic ;
Mr Tytler, the Episcopalian; and Dr Vaughan, the Independ-
ent ? Take Theology : would the Council of Trent itself have
undertaken to please the public with their fiat regarding publi-
cations offered by Dr Pusey, Dr Wardlaw, Archbishop Whately,
and Jabez Bunting? And in the matter of ‘ Reviews,’ which
are gravely proposed to be taken up, would the Quarterly, Edin-
burgh, Westminster, and Dublin, all be embraced in the plan?

But supposing a committee of literary men were obtained,
which should be eligible in point of number, and workable in

* D’Israeli’s Quarrels of Authors, passim. — Literary Character, chap, xiii,,
xiv., xv.

20

point of unanimity, we have no hesitation in avowing our opinion
that they would be unskilful publishers. Most undoubtedly
they would be better able to judge as to the abstract merits of
the works submitted to their consideration, and it is quite pos-
sible that, under their surveillance, we should have fewer super-
ficial or inaccurate literary performances ; but, on the other
hand, we should have a greater number of unsaleable produc-
tions. If any authority were needed to prove this point, we
could quote that of the author of the ‘ Reasons 1 himself, who
states at p. 4, that when “ authors are so unfortunate as to pub-
lish on their own account, the balance rarely returns them any-
thing but annoyance and loss.” Now, in the vast majority of
cases wherein authors publish on their own account, they do so
simply because booksellers, distrustful of success, decline pur-
chasing the copyrights. Publishing, it must be remembered, is
a profession, and a very difficult one ; it should be ranked
amongst what Dr Abercrombie designates as the “ uncertain
sciences ; ” and, like every other profession, there is no royal
road to it, — success is the result alone of earnest and long-con-
tinued application. But experience in this calling does beget
considerable dexterity in deciding as to the marketable character
of a book ; and, in coming to a decision, a publisher exercises
what may be called an instinctive sagacity, which does not reason
so much on the matter, but rather, as Locke has it, “jumps to a
conclusion.”

“ Slow reason walks, swift instinct leaps.”*

The promptitude thus evinced in deciding, must not be con-
founded with precipitancy, — it is simply taking a shorter road to
a result which others might reach by protracted reflection ; and
as we are claiming for it no higher intellectual character than that
of a mere instinctive principle, acquired from long practice, we
trust that literary men will not so far misunderstand us as to sup-
pose that we wish to ascribe to the trade a parity with them in men-
tal power. We might indeed, in many instances, claim for book-
sellers the possession of higher calibre than we have contended
for, and might specify illustrative cases, such as their having
suggested ‘ Johnson’s Lives of the Poets,’ or as their having
discovered genius when literary men failed to perceive it, as
when the late Mr Blackwood inserted the ‘ Diary of a late

* Young.

21

Physician ’ in his Magazine, after the editors of the different
London Magazines had refused it ; but we prefer arguing their
superiority on the alone footing of adroitness arising from ex-
perience. And the reality of the superiority of this principle
may be illustrated in a way which will make it at once palpable
to men of letters. For example, how very few authors are there
who can be trusted with the punctuation of their own MS. ?
They will make their sentences too long or too short — they will
misplace capital letters — they will use commas for semicolons,
and vice versa , — and, in fine, set all laws of pointing at defiance,
and that not only to the offending of a printer’s eye, but to the
embarrassment of an ordinary reader. Now, a common journey-
man compositor, with little and sometimes no knowledge of gram-
mar, will be able to remedy all this, just by the influence of the
instinctive habits acquired in the practice of his business. And
if the principle be successful in the one case, we can see no good
reason why it should not be so in the other.

II. — REDUCTION OF PRICES, AND CONSEQUENT SUPPRESSION OF
BOOKSELLING AGENCY.

From Rule sixth, we learn that the Society intends selling
its books “ at one-half at least under the usual publication prices.”
This is a consummation which cannot be accomplished without
renouncing all connection with booksellers, both wholesale and
retail. But before entering into any discussion as to the hazard-
ous character of this step, we shall quote the opinion of Dr
Johnson on the subject of booksellers’ profits, and under the
shadow of his colossal authority, we shall be better able to pro-
pound our views on this much misunderstood topic. Boswell’s
remarks will at once explain the circumstances under which his
judgment was delivered.

“ The heirs of Lord Chancellor Clarendon presented the Uni-
versity of Oxford with the continuation of his History, and such
other of his lordship’s manuscripts as had not been published,
on condition that the profits arising from their publication
should be applied to the establishment of a manege in the uni-
versity. The gift was accepted in full convocation. A person
being now recommended to Dr Johnson, as fit to superintend
this proposed riding-school, he exerted himself with that zeal
for which he was remarkable upon every similar occasion. But,

22

on inquiry into the matter, he found that the scheme was not
likely to be soon carried into execution ; the profits arising from
the Clarendon press being, from some mismanagement, very
scanty. This having been explained to him by a respectable
dignitary of the church, who had good means of knowing it, he
wrote a letter upon the subject, which at once exhibits his extra-
ordinary precision and acuteness, and his warm attachment to
his Alma Mater.

* To the Reverend Dr Wetherell, Master of the University

College, Oxford.

‘ Dear Sir, — Few things are more unpleasant than the
transaction of business with men who are above knowing or
caring what they have to do ; such as the trustees for Lord
Cornbury’s institution will, perhaps, appear, when you have read
Dr ******* ^ letter.

‘ The last part of the doctor’s letter is of great importance.
The complaint * which he makes I have heard long ago, and did
not know but it was redressed. It is unhappy that a practice
so erroneous has not been altered ; for altered it must be, or
our press will be useless, with all its privileges. The booksellers,
who, like all other men, have strong prejudices in their own favour,
are enough inclined to think the practice of printing and selling
books by any but themselves, an encroachment on the rights of
their fraternity ; and have need of stronger inducements to cir-
culate academical publications than those of one another ; for,
of that mutual co-operation by which the general trade is carried
on, the university can bear no part. Of those whom he neither
loves nor fears, and from whom he expects no reciprocation of
good offices, why should any man promote the interest but for
profit ? I suppose, with all our scholastic ignorance of mankind,
we are still too knowing to expect that the booksellers will erect
themselves into patrons, and buy and sell under the influence of
a disinterested zeal for the promotion of learning.

‘ To the booksellers, if we look for either honour or profit
from our press, not only their common profit, but something more
must be allowed : and if books printed at Oxford are expected
to be rated at a high price, that price must be levied on the
public, and paid by the ultimate purchaser, not by the inter-
mediate agents. What price shall be set upon the book, is, to
the booksellers, wholly indifferent, provided that they gain a pro-
portionate profit by negociating the sale.

* “ I suppose the complaint was, that the trustees of the Oxford press did
not allow the London booksellers a sufficient profit upon vending their publica-
tions.— Boswell.”

23

‘ Why books printed at Oxford should be particularly dear,
lam, however, unable to find. We pay no rent; we inherit
many of our instruments and materials ; lodging and victuals
are cheaper than at London ; and, therefore, workmanship
ought at least not to be dearer. Our expenses are naturally
less than those of booksellers ; and, in most cases, communities
are content with less profit than individuals.

‘ It is, perhaps, not considered through how many hands a
book often passes, before it comes into those of the reader ; or
what part of the profit each hand must retain, as a motive for
transmitting it to the next.

‘ We will call our primary agent in London, Mr Caddell,
who receives our books from us, gives them room in his ware-
house, and issues them on demand ; by him they are sold to Mr
Billy, a wholesale bookseller, who sends them into the country ;
and the last seller is the country bookseller. Here are three
profits to be paid between the printer and the reader, or, in the
style of commerce, between the manufacturer and the consumer ;
and if any of these profits is too penuriously distributed, the pro-
cess of commerce is interrupted.

‘ We are now come to the practical question, what is to be
done? You will tell me, with reason, that I have said nothing,
till I declare how much, according to my opinion, of the ulti-
mate price ought to be distributed through the whole succession
of sale.

‘ The deduction, I am afraid, will appear very great : but let
it be considered before it is refused. We must allow, for profit,
between thirty and thirty-five per cent., between six and seven
shillings in the pound ; that is, for every book which costs the
last buyer twenty shillings, we must charge Mr 'Caddell with
something less than fourteen. We must set the copies at four-
teen shillings each, and superadd what is called the quarterly
book, or for every hundred books so charged, we must deliver
an hundred and four.

£ The profits will then stand thus : —

‘ Mr Caddell, who runs no hazard, and gives no credit, will
be paid for warehouse room and attendance, by a shilling profit
on each book, and his chance of the quarterly book.

‘ Mr Hilly, who buys the book for fifteen shillings, and who
will expect the quarterly book if he takes five and twenty, will
send it to his country customer at sixteen and sixpence, by
which, at the hazard of loss, and the certainty of long credit, he
gains the regular profit of ten per cent., which is expected in the
wholesale trade.

‘ The country bookseller buying at sixteen and sixpence, and

24

commonly trusting a considerable time, gains but three and six-
pence ; and if he trusts a year, not much more than two and
sixpence ; otherwise than as he may, perhaps, take as long
credit as he gives.

‘ With less profit than this, and more, you see, he cannot
have, the country bookseller cannot live ; for his receipts are
small, and his debts sometimes bad.

‘ Thus, dear sir, I have been incited by Dr * * * * * * * ’s
letter, to give you a detail of the circulation of books, which,
perhaps, every man has not had opportunity of knowing : and
which those who know it, do not, perhaps, always distinctly
consider. I am, etc.

‘ Sam. Johnson,*

‘ March 12, 1776.’ ”+

In contrast with this, we shall give the opinion of the author
of the ‘ Reasons 1 on university prices : —

“ The practice adopted by the University of Oxford, with the
publications of the Clarendon Press, which are always sold at
the same prices as at first fixed upon, is much to he commended.'1'' $

Except in some matters of detail, the bookselling system is
essentially the same now with what it was in Dr Johnson’s time ;
but as our inquiry refers to the publishing system also, it will be
necessary, for the more clear elucidation of the subject, that we
take a complete survey of the history of a new book, from its
first appearance in MS. down to its being placed on the table
of the purchaser.

We shall suppose that an author indites a good publishing
book, by which we mean a work answering to one or other of
the following conditions : —

1. That the author possess reputation.

2. That the subject be of permanent interest.

3. That at the time of publication the public mind be strongly
directed to the topic treated of.

His first object is to find a publisher, and having found one,

* “ I am happy in giving this full and clear statement to the public, to vin-
dicate, by the authority of the greatest author of his age, that respectable body
of men, the booksellers of London, from vulgar reflections, as if their profits
■were exorbitant ; when, in truth, Dr Johnson has here allowed them more than
they usually demand Boswell.”

t Johnson, ii. 372-375.

$ Reasons, p. 13.

one or other of the following arrangements will be entered
into : —

1. The publisher will give a definite sum for the entire
copyright.

2. He will give a definite sum for the copyright of the first
edition.

3. He will give a certain proportion of the selling price for
every copy sold.

4. He will give a certain sum, provided the expenses of publi-
cation be cleared.

5. He will publish at the half-risk and half-profit of the
author.

6. He will publish at the exclusive risk of the author.

A bargain being concluded, the publisher sets about the work
of printing, binding, and advertising ; and when ready, he
scribes , i. e., offers for sale, the volume or volumes to the other
booksellers. To one class, the ordinary bookseller, it is offered at
a reduction of 33 per cent., in order to induce them to take a quan-
tity at the outset, but afterwards the rate of supply is raised 8 per
cent. To the wholesale houses (the Dillys of Johnson’s time) the
allowance is 43 per cent. ; and as they are expected to purchase
largely, and to supply retail booksellers at 25 per cent, off, and
more in particular cases, we think we shall be able to show that
this allowance is not too much, either to the one or to the other.
It is notorious, that the retail bookseller’s profit is only nominally
25 per cent. ; for to such an extent has reduction taken place
in the price of books to the retail customer, that Protection
Societies have been formed amongst the booksellers in large
towns, for the purpose of making the maximum discount to one
class of purchasers 16 per cent., and to another 10 per cent.
Here, then, we have the retail bookseller exposed to a reduction
of his profit to 9 per cent.,— out of this he has to pay rent,
taxes, shopmen’s wages, and carriages (which come oftener to
him than they do to any other profession) — to run the risk of
bad debts, slow sales, and of depreciation of value in stock,
arising from books getting soiled,' or from their being superseded
by newer editions or newer works on the same subject. We put
it to the candid reader, whether, when all these things are taken
into account, retail bookselling be a very lucrative calling ? Dr
Johnson knew it, in early life, by painful experience; and it is

26

highly creditable to that great and benevolent man, that he has
so strongly recorded his testimony on the subject. But it may
be said, that if the retail bookseller be pinched, the wholesale
trader is too liberally dealt with. This is also a mistake. He
has an expensive establishment to maintain ; his stock must be
large ; he has to send out travellers to collect orders, each at
an annual expense of several hundred pounds a-year ; and he
has to print catalogues and book-lists at all seasons. More-
over, whatever pressure is made by the public on the retail
bookseller, is borne back to the latter by him. As

“ The mountains look on Marathon,

And Marathon on the sea,”

So does the country trader, on finding his profit stripped of its
fair proportions, try the contracting principle with his metro-
politan correspondent ; and his application has its effect, especi-
ally if a given quantity be taken, because it is obvious, that when
a party speculates in a large number of copies of a book, he is
entitled to an additional bonus for his enterprise.

But we have hitherto been considering cases in which the
retail bookseller can go direct to the wholesale house, which
keeps stock of the publications which he wants ; but it is obvious
that, large as these emporiums are, they cannot keep every
book, and therefore, when the party in London, from whom the
book is ordered, has to get it from some other establishment,
two profits are charged before it reaches the retail bookseller.

We shall illustrate this by an example. Mr , a gentleman

resident in Edinburgh, writes, and afterwards publishes at his
own risk, a Treatise on Glass-Blowing, which he puts into the
hands of A., a bookseller in that city, for sale, at a retail price of
say 10s. 6d. A bookseller in Cardigan receives an order for the
work, and writes B., his usual London wholesale correspondent,
for a copy. He has none, but procures one from C., who supplies
it probably at 8s. 9d. B. will charge it at least 9s. 6d. The retail
bookseller is thus cut down to Is. ; and for this he has to pay
carriage from London, give twelve months1 credit to his customer,
and in all likelihood allow a discount at settlement. But the
case may even be worse than this. It is perfectly possible that
neither B. nor C. may keep copies of a work not adapted for
general sale ; and if it require to be specially commissioned from

27

Edinburgh, the charges will amount to nearly full price before
it reaches Cardigan.

At this stage of the question, the advocates of an Authors1
Publication Society may step in and say that all this system of
primary, secondary, and tertiary profits is cumbrous and burden-
some,— that it has increased, is increasing, and must be put down.
To this we have simply to say, that however complicated the
machinery maybe, it is indispensable; and seeing that the same
results could not be obtained by the adoption of any other method,
we must regard these matters as necessary evils. Let any per-
son, not of rigidly literary habits, look at his book-shelf, and say
how many of the volumes which it contains would have been
bought by him, had his only inducement been the occasional
perusal of a dry book- catalogue. Let him think what portions of
them have found their way there from the insinuating advertise-
ment which met his eye in the county newspaper, and what ad-
ditional portion of them became his property from their having
been attractively displayed in the windows or counter of the
village bookseller, or from their having been sent to him on in-
spection by that respectable person.

We are afraid the contemplation of this picture will be too
much for the most sanguine innovator, and the next shift will
probably be to retain the services of the retail bibliopoles, but to
dispense with those of the ursce major es of Paternoster Row. This,
however, will, on the Society’s principles, be more easily proposed
than carried into effect. We go back on the statement that
it was to produce new books at “ one-half at least of the pre-
sent publishing prices.” Well, by our explanation of the system
of bookseller’s commissions, allowances, discounts, and long
credits, together with advertising, which is one of the antiquated
usages to be swept away, we reckon that one-half of the nominal
selling prices of books is consumed, the other half, then, must be
reserved for printing, binding, and remuneration to the author*
Printing and binding are not squeezible items, for, to keep up
appearances, the Society’s books must look well, and conse-
quently the retail bookseller’s allowance must come off the author;
and as that allowance cannot, from the explanations which we
have given, be less than ten per cent., “echo” must “answer
where” the “more adequate rewards to literary labour” are

to come from. It will not do to say that the Society cannot be
worse off than publishers, because publishers will swim where
authors would sink, — there being scarcely a publisher in Britain
who is not a wholesale or a retail bookseller, and who can, from
these branches of trade, supplement deficiencies in his publishing
speculations.

III. — SCHEME FOR MUTUAL DIVISION OF PROFITS.

But another and fatal objection to the Society is to be found
in this same rule. It is stated, that unless an author expressly
wishes to take the risk of publication on himself, the Society will
relieve him of this responsibility ; and hence the principle of a
“mutual participation in the profits” is established, — a principle
which, when based on the Carlisle Bills of Mortality, answers
very well for Fire and Life Assurance Companies, but which we
are afraid would not answer in this body. A Republic of Letters,
in a financial sense, would not long work well, — “ the separate
account” which is proposed to be kept of each book would soon
reveal who the unsuccessful authors were, and the more fortu-
nate writers declaring off without delay, the mouvement would
speedily end in the absorption of the general fund.

We shall now recapitulate our argument. We have attempted
to show that books in this country never, for any length of time,
remain high-priced to an extent that is felt to be generally incon-
venient. That the pecuniary remuneration to literary men,
derivable from the publication of their works, is for the most
part as liberal as the nature of things will admit of. That the
sphere of action of the Publication Societies, presently in opera-
tion, is limited, and cannot efficiently admit of such expansion as
to overtake the publication of all new books. But, in particular,
that in organizing a Board to decide on new publications, a suffi-
cient numberof persons could not conveniently be obtained, — that
unanimity in their decisions would not be practicable, — or, if
these difficulties were overcome, that their selections would not
be of such “ exchangeable value” as if made by professional pub-
lishers. That the proposed suppression of promiscuous adver-
tising and of bookselling agency would greatly diminish the sale
of books in the country, and that the contemplated reduction

29

in selling prices would prevent any increase of allowance for
literary labour. And finally, that the plan of equally dividing
the revenue of a Publication Society would, by making the un-
successful writer a burden on the fortunate author, soon result
in the disruption of the scheme.

VI.

BRIEF SUGGESTIONS FOR THE REMEDY OF EVILS REALLY
EXISTING.

In conclusion, we have to admit that there are many instances
where literary labour does not receive its due reward, and some
where books might be advantageously lowered in price. Both
are important ends , and as such we have not opposed them ; it is
only with means inadequate to promised results that we have had
any quarrel. For the first evil, therefore, we would suggest, —

1 . The more general introduction of Government pensions for
services rendered to literature, and the employment of literary
men in civil and scientific offices.

2. The extension of copyright to 100 years, or in perpetuity,
to an author and his family. Publishers need not be afraid of
this, as they could, if necessary, buy up copyrights ; and the
public need not be afi’aid for suppression, as the new law of
copyright provides against that. And there would be no danger
of high prices, as copyright books are as good and cheap as those
which are open to the appropriation of all and sundry. The
works of Scott, Byron, Campbell, and Rogers, in poetry, and of
such as George and Andrew Combe, in science, are all copy-
right ; and yet, although the copyrights expired to-morrow, they
could not be produced in the same style at a cheaper rate.

For the second object, it might be advisable, —

1. To reduce the nominal selling price of books 10 or 12 per
cent., and then introduce, as far as practicable, the practice now
obtaining in the sales of other commodities,— that of “ ready
money, and no abatement.”

2. To cancel old back-titles when reductions are made, and
substitute in their stead new ones, containing the lowered rates,
— the same alterations being made on catalogues and lists.

3. To procure endowments from the patriotic and benevolent

30

for the stereotyping of works calculated to be of material use
in particular branches of knowledge.

4. The institution of Publication Societies for class books, as
before described.

APPENDIX.

Since the foregoing was in type, an admirable article has appeared in the Spec-
tator newspaper, on the subject of certain pecuniary grants made by her Majesty
to destitute literary persons, recommended by the Literary Fund Society ; and
we quote it (slightly abridged), first, in order to show that the class of indivi-
duals whom the author of the * Reasons ’ sneers at as “ job-writers ” (p. 4), are
of higher intellectuality than he supposes ; and, second, because it confirms,
with much force, what we have advanced regarding the hopelessness of sup-
porting some descriptions of authors otherwise than by Government aid.

This is a class of which little notice has been taken amid all the noise that has
lately been made about the rights of literature. The writers and speakers and
would-be legislators about copyright, have had exclusively in view our great popu-
lar authors — in particular, the poets and novelists, and the secondary imaginative
writers, who pass for belonging to this class — as mongrels and trundle-tails are
designated by the general’appellative dog. "Whether a perpetual or indefinitely
prolonged lease of copyright in their own works, would benefit this class and
their families, may be doubted ; but that it would be of no use to this class is
certain.

It is one in which a very high order of talent is sometimes found, but rarely
talent of an originating or commanding character. They are your workers to
order for booksellers and others. They are sometimes possessed of extensive
learning, sound discrimination, a vein of felicitous occasional remark, a talent
for lucid arrangement and elegant finish. They compile books which obtain
currency because they bring into a focus information scattered through many
different works, and convey it in a pleasing style ; or, perhaps, because they
facilitate reference. They are your manufacturers of Universal Histories and
Popular Compendiums of Science, your contributors to Cyclopaedias and Lib-
raries of Useful Knowledge, your makers of Indexes, Digests, and Dictionaries.
They take what, in theatrical phraseology, is termed “ the heavy line ” in ma-
gazines, reviews, and other periodicals. They are an industrious, if not always
a provident and regular race. They are gregarious for the most part. In old
times, in this country, they were to be found in the garrets of the great pub-
lishers for whom they worked : Fielding has immortalized Curll’s garret.

Now-a-days, they frequent public libraries. The Reading-room of the British
Museum is their great resort in London ; on the Continent, every public library
swarms with them. Sometimes a solitary specimen occurs. Johnson’s adven-
tures during his early London career, while in waiting upon Cave, illustrate the
life of suchyi one : Johnson, with his amanuensis in his own house, compiling
his Dictionary, is a specimen of the gregarious.

They are not without their use. A poem is the work of an individual mind,
but a science is the work of society. The author of a scientific treatise must
take many observations and experiences on trust from others ; many of his in-

3 2

ferences have been drawn for him by his predecessors ; even the errors of those
who went before him may, by a principle of antagonism, suggest truths upon
which he would never otherwise have stumbled. The litterateurs we have been
describing place facts and opinions in new combinations ; they modify the ex-
pression of them. In short, by pillaging the ideas of older authors and each
other, by digesting and assimilating them into their own system, they keep up
a kind of literary gossip on a large scale, and help inventive minds to materials
to work upon. The history of this class of drudges, in Paris, Amsterdam,
Leipzic, and London, is a curious and too much neglected chapter in the his-
tory of the progress of opinion.

As they are a hard-working, so they are mostly an under-paid class ; the
slopseller’s sempstresses scarcely more inadequately remunerated, — the factory
children scarcely more in need of a short-hours bill. This is unavoidable, if
they can only be employed as bookmakers. The useful compilations and com-
pendiums which afford them employment can only be undertaken by publishers,
with any hope of profit, in a state of the literary body-corporate in which popu-
lation presses hard on the means of subsistence. The useful literary drudges
are, in general, not in a condition to refuse any wages however inadequate.
They are composed of dreamy speculator’s, whose youth has been wasted in
poetical or philosophical reveries — of briefless barristers, clergymen who cannot
get livings, and physicians who cannot get patients — of all kinds of educated
men who have failed to get any other means of livelihood. Though their gains
are scanty, they are thankful for them, since without them they must starve
outright.

The gains of the most fortunate among them can rarely afford any surplus to
lay by, and the best copyright-law imaginable could do nothing for these un-
fortunate persons. Most frequently their individual productions are swamped
amid the miscellaneous mass of the volumes to which they are contributors.
Often they are of too ephemeral a nature to retain their interest beyond the
day of their appearance. Even the compilers of independent volumes suffer
from the mutability of fashion. In our days, Continuations of Hume and Smol-
lett, and Russell’s Modern Europe, have been displaced by Pictorial Histories
and Cabinet Cyclopaedias. They are not of the works that live, but of the
works which do good service in their day and then give place to others.

There is no help for our literary drudges in the benevolence of the age. But
the State has the power to make them useful, and enable them to earn a live-
lihood. They cannot sti’ike out means of making fortunes for themselves :
they are of the kind of men who can only get on by executing task-work for
salaries ; they are the operatives of literature, of which the booksellers are the
capitalists. An old established newspaper or review is a pasture on which a
limited number can graze. The offices of librarian or curator to public libraries
and museums, and of secretary to literary societies, are means of providing for
others. Well- organized universities would find employment for some more.
In this country little is done for them in that way, except by voluntary asso-
ciations of individuals : in France, a great number are thus provided for by the
State, both to its advantage and theirs. Both the Republic and the Constitu-
tional Monarchy wisely adopted the policy of the Absolute Monarchy which
preceded them, in organizing “ the University,” and the public libraries,
museums, botanical gardens, &c., in a way to make literature a profession
nearly on the same footing as the Church. Literary men can best be aided in
this way ; not by reluctant grants of pensions to a few, but by cutting out use-
ful work for a good many.