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Respiration" .
61
After briefly reviewing his former lectures, he discussec
the purpose of respiration in the various forms of animal and vegetable
life, showing that aeration of the blood is as important as food itself.
He then described the process of respiration in a polypus (the
hydraviridis) , in a hydatid (the monas terms) , and in insects , us ing large ,
coloured drawings of the apo llo butterfly, a caterpillar , and a pediculus
to illustrate his points .
Describing the respiration of fishes , he gave
a vivid and exciting account of the death of a whale;
the respiration of birds and the human being .
final ly he spoke of
As he lectured many large
coloured drawings were tacked to a human skeleton, to be fo llowed by the
piece de r sistance, the dissected lungs and windpipe of a kid which he
repeatedly inflated to the delight of his audience .
The lecture concluded
by emphasizing the importance of respiration to health "and gave a few
brief but forcib le rules for guidance".
According to the Courier
The lecture abounded throughout with the most interesting and
useful information on the various topics wh ich it embraced and
was distinguished by the beauty, perspicuity and energy of the
style, and the felicitous mode of expression which characterize
all the discourses of that gentleman .
As an interesting sidelight the Courier also congratulated the society on
having obtained a lecture room so much superior and more comfortab le than
their previous one , as regards seeing , hearing , light and warmth . 19
During the winter of 1841 the Bothwellans in exasperation decided
to tackle one of their biggest prob lems , the road from the township to the
high road at Cro ss Marsh , now called Melton Mowbray .
As this was their
only link with the outside world, the route by which all their farm oroduce
reached the markets, its poor state was a persistent source of irritation
and despair . A correspondent of the Co lonial Times , "Quid Nunc" ,
declared,
the internal communications of the co lony have become so
bad that a bushel! of wheat can be brought from London to
Hobart Town, a distance of 16 , 000 miles , at rather less risk
and expense than it can from Bothwell to the same place, a
distance of little more than forty .
and in more eloquent language described the state of the road itself,
.... Look down the frightful precipice , the saddle, next turn
your eyes to that steep sandy bason, the Den Hill; the
Governor has never yet been ab le to surmount it, without the
as sistance of the neighbouring settlers ' horses , which , having
been bred to the work, are the only cattle ab le to face the
difficulties of such a way . There may be seen scattered
19 Courier , Aug . 6, 1841 .