INTRODUCTION. 



The unit of procedure adopted in this manual is the ex- 

 periment. Each experiment is, as a rule, complete within 

 itself, although in many instances an orderly sequence pro- 

 ceeding from the simple to the more complex, from the 

 known to the unknown, has been introduced. The writer 

 has at all times tried to hold in mind the fact that the in- 

 structor is not only teaching pharmacology but that he is 

 also teaching medical students. And the mental and tech- 

 nical abilities and limitations of these students are quite 

 as significant from the standpoint of the teacher as is the 

 wide extent, the complexity, and the importance of the sub- 

 ject which he practically invariably has a too limited time 

 to cover. It is constantly necessary for the teacher of 

 pharmacology to bear in mind that the knowledge which 

 his students possess of the fundamental principles of anat- 

 omy, neurology, physiological chemistry, pathology, and 

 especially of physiology, is by no means complete, and much 

 of the instructor's time must of necessity be consumed in 

 again bringing to the attention of the students fundamental 

 and often exceedingly elementary facts involved in the 

 nature of subjects prerequisite to the course, in pharma- 

 cology. And it will not infrequently severely tax the in- 

 genuity of the teacher of pharmacology to determine by 

 what means he can, within a brief period of time, best 

 recall to the student's mind some fundamental principles, 

 e. g., of physiology or neurology, without a knowledge of 

 which further progress in pharmacology is totally impos- 

 sible. The author has kept these points carefully in mind 

 in preparing this manual, and many of the experiments, 

 illustrations and tracings have been introduced quite as 

 much with the object of teaching certain fundamental prin- 



