This 1977 book, written as part of the celebrations of the centenary of the Physiological Society, consists of essays on the historical development of physiology. Six esteemed authors each contribute a historical essay, focusing in turn on the history of electrophysiology, muscular and neuromuscular physiology, gastrointestinal hormones, perinatal physiology and visual research. Each of the six essays in this book is skilfully executed, idiosyncratic and a pleasure to read. They can be enjoyed in their own right, or as a rounded and informative collection on both the history of physiological practice and the scientists behind this movement's advance. The book will be of immense interest to physiologists, pharmacologists and historians of science, wishing to look back at the development of this fascinating discipline.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This volume presents the site of Northton in the Western Isles of Scotland (at Toe Head on Harris). During excavations in 1965 and 1966 two early horizons were identified beneath and close to the base of the machair sands. With excavation the stratigraphically later of these horizons furnished evidence for a probable stone structure, funerary and faunal remains, and an abundance of artefacts, particularly pottery, which in turn dated the horizon to the Neolithic period. In contrast, the lower horizon lay directly above the natural boulder clay, was sealed by the machair sands, and contained a general paucity of faunal and artefactual remains. Due to the discovery of one small sherd of Neolithic pottery it was assumed, however, that this horizon might represent an earlier phase of Neolithic occupation. During a brief season of fieldwork in 2001 a seemingly comparable horizon, which also rested above the boulder clay, was identified in a section which had been exposed through coastal erosion. Following a limited investigation this basal horizon produced evidence for human activity in the form of possible stone settings, charred plant macrofossils, faunal remains and a small assemblage of chipped stone artefacts. Significantly, a series of dates obtained from the plant macrofossils indicate that this material is unambiguously of the Mesolithic period. Whilst these somewhat unexpected results have major implications for constructing the internal chronology of the site, as they appear to extend human activity at Northton back to the seventh millennium cal. BC, they are also of considerable interest at both a regional and national level, as they may represent the first direct evidence for Mesolithic activity in the Western Isles. The volume has chapters on the sites early occupation, the Beaker period, Bronze, Iron, and later periods, and a history of the Northton Machair. There are six Appendices and Catalogues of finds and data.