Volume 1

A text-book of anatomy / by American authors ; edited by Frederic Henry Gerrish.

Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: A text-book of anatomy / by American authors ; edited by Frederic Henry Gerrish. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Two years have sufficed to exhaust the very large first edition of this work, tfnd have brought to those responsible for its existence an early and gratifying sense of professional approval. The test of success is comprehensive, and may be fairly construed as including the execution of the book, about which misgivings were pardonable, and its plan, about which there was a reasonable degree of confidence. In their work as teachers of anatomy the authors had long felt the need of a text- book presenting the essential facts of human structure, and judiciously avoiding the unimportant and exceptional. Between the extremes, represented on the one hand by pocket manuals, with their flavorless condensation, and on the other hand by encyclopedias of universal inclusiveness, there is room for a work of convenient size, sufficient to contain in systematic array those portions of ana- tomical knowledge which are necessary to the intelligent study of physiology, surgery and internal medicine. The logical limits of this field excluded the much greater collection of facts having no known practical bearing, or only the rarest application. The authors have unceasingly endeavored to facilitate the work of both student and teacher. Both are tested in every examination, and particularly in those con- ducted by State Licensing Boards. Accordingly, from the vast accumulations of anatomical science those portions have been selected which are likely to be of actual service to the student in his subsequent study, and to the practitioner in his clinical work. Emphasis has been laid upon the most important facts, obscurities have been clarified, the greatest amount of help has been given in the parts which are most difficult to learn, and everything has been illustrated by all available methods. In short no effort has been spared to promote facility of acquisition and permanence of the knowledge gained. The arrangement of the book is along familiar lines, the ordinary divisions of systematic anatomy having been followed in the main. Each author has set forth his subject in such manner as experience has shown him to be profitable. Great relative stress has been laid upon visceral structure, without neglect of other branches; surface anatomy has received attention more in proportion to its use- fulness than is usual, and the pictorial and diagrammatic illustrations (thanks to the remarkable liberality of the publishers) are phenomenally abundant and of striking artistic excellence. Wherever practicable the names of the parts have been engraved directly upon them, a method which has the great advantage of conveying at a glance their shape, position, extent and relations. It is believed that the plan of giving directions for dissection in a separate chapter will prove a marked convenience to the student. These characteristics of the work may fairly be credited with its adoption in a