Physiology Lab Notebook

Quarto. 192 pages; lined notebook-style paper; handwritten throughout; illustrated with graphs and affixed photomechanical charts; tan cloth boards, partially overlaid with textured black paper, to which a stamp with handwriting has been applied. A truly unique object that details the weekly experiments of a student physiology lab at the University of Toronto in the fall of 1924. Ostensibly belonging to one G. M. Fletcher, yet written in three different hands, this highly-detailed notebook offers a fascinating account of the various muscle trials that the medical students were conducting, including each lesson's object, method and result. An especially fascinating aspect of this notebook is the photomechanical reproductions of each week's graphical results, which are affixed throughout the book within the written narrative of the experiment. To produce these, it appears that the school used a version of Augustus Waller's electromyography machine, which projected muscle movement trace from an electrometer onto a photographic plate; this allowed the movement to be recorded in real time, and for copies to be easily made for each student. These notes and graphs fill approximately half of the notebook. A sign of how arduous the lab was - and perhaps how frustrating - is evident from an amusing codicil written on the very last page, which reads in part: The Purpose of this exp. is exp. exp. exp. exp. exp. exp. exp. exp. exp. exp. experiment experiment experiment experiment. Also, The more one attempts to move the cause of dissatisfaction, The more one is impressed by the difficulty encountered in such a project. It appears that physiology may not have been these students' favorite subject. Good condition with moderate usage wear to cover, including edge bumping, smudges and abrasions, as well as overall age toning to all.…