INTRODUCTION. 



DISSECTION is best performed at a strong deal table, not 

 less than three feet long by two feet wide : it should, if 

 possible, be placed at a window, so that the operator faces 

 the light, otherwise the more delicate work will be hindered 

 by the shadows of the hands and instruments. 



In nearly every case the subject should be firmly fastened 

 down during dissection, either to the table, or, better, to a 

 soft deal board, about one foot and a half long by one foot 

 wide, with a narrow bead tacked round the edge so as to 

 convert it into a shallow tray : the advantages of this are 

 that the subject may be turned in any direction without 

 unfastening, and that the edge confines the mess caused by 

 escape of blood, &c., to a limited area. The best fastenings 

 are small awls fixed into wooden handles, about an inch 

 long, and just thick enough to be conveniently grasped : 

 these can be more easily driven into the wood than large 

 pins, are not so liable to bend, and hold more firmly. 



Care must of course be taken to thrust them through some 



b 



