The Sun. — 1848-03-03 (London, England)

ANATOMICAL LECTURES. Br JOHN STRICKLAND, EsQ• On Saturday evening last, the 25th ultimo, the lectures on artistic anatomy recently delivered by Mr. Strickland, in the Gallery of the Society of British Artists, Suffolk-street, Pall Mall, were brought to a conclusion. Tie subject of the final lecture was the " Foot," one of the most exquisite portions of the human frame, whether considered in regard to its adaptation for the support of the entire body, to the infinite ingenuity of its construction, or to the incomparable beauty of its form. Throughout the whole course of these interesting and remarkable lectures Mr. Strickland displayed a perfect familiarity with his profession, and an originality of thought worthy of the nephew of a man whose name is for ever illustrious in science—we mean the celebrated Major Ca right. With the exception perhaps of the elgeenTtion of the structure of the brain, tle • discourse upon the " foot" was among the most able of the series—it conveyed an abundance of information very happily grouped together and illustrated by appropriate diagrams. It was clearly demonstrated by the lecturer that of all parts of our anatomy, the foot was not only one of the most admirable, but the most cruelly treated by the preposterous fashions engendered by civilisation. lleformities had become so universal in consequence in this member that they were unconsciously copied by sculptors and painters I but what was visible in the limnings of Murillo or Rubens, were not so in the antique statues discovered among the ruins of Babylon, where the models of the ancient workers in marble were not distorted by boot-leather—where, in short, those models were not the fianeurs of Bond-street, but the huntsmen of Nimrod. Speaking of the shoe, the lecturer very happily observed—" Finally," said he, " the shoe is a symmetrical coffin •in which the grace, variety, and beauty of nature, being first assassinated, is then buried." These absurd consequences of the formalities introduced by artificial life suggested a panegyric upon the pristine vigour and nobility of the Redmen. In his enthusiasm upon this topic Mr. Strickland appears to coincide with the intelligent and adventurous Mr. Catlin, and in the admiration of both for the aborigines of North America we sympathise to the very uttermost. We have listened ourself to Catlin when he has been depicting the glorious race of the Redmen among whom he has wandered so long—we have heard him tell of their grace, of their agility, of their strength, of their eloquence, of their probity, of their virtues, and of their heroism, and, warming with his subject, we have heard him lament over the havoc made among that splendid family by the insidious advances of the white man. We were therefore able to appreciate the more truly the feelings of Mr. Strickland, when he broke out into the following beautitul and impassioned exclamations : " What was it," said he, "that inspired Catlin with a zeal and enthusiasm to undergo unknown privations and hardships ? It was the beholding the stately march, the noble step of nature's untutored gentleman. Whose mind dared to contemplate some other scene of existence where no fiends torment, nor Christian thirsts for gold. Upon whom the European has stoles a march, as in the dead of the night of his simple and honest mind; and, having conceals d his tigerfeatures under the lamb-like mask of religion and propri. ty, has arisen as a highway robber and a murderer, and swept his race and people into one common grave. Lo! the consuming fire of the wilderness having arisen at the Atlantic has reached the Pacific shores, scarcely able to scorch up the tears that have watered that land, or the innocent blood that has been shed in it. The sins of a people possessing no written language, have been eagerly seized on to palliate the refined iniquity of civilisation which has made use alter• nately of poison, the bayonet, and the bullet. While, to save the trouble of slaughter, the little children of the Redman—the joy and hope of his manhood— have been thrown to be torn in pieces by the bloodhound as a reward for his sagacity in tracing them to their hiding place iu the desert swamps of Florida. Our watch fires are gone out, say they ; our bows are unstrung; our arrows are broken; and we travel to the land of our forefathers at the setting sun!" As a fragment of these very elegant and striking lectures—lectures which have proved profound in anatomical research—the foregoing is not unworthy of remembrance; it is a passage selected almost at random, and one of peculiar fervour, passion, and humanity. We may add that the lecturer was listened to throughout with marked attention by a numerous and cultivated audience.