PREFACE 



The frog needs no introduction to the zoological labora- 

 tory, where it has assisted many generations of students in 

 acquiring their first knowledge of vertebrate anatomy. As 

 Professor Holmes writes in his Biology of the Frog, "They 

 are nice clean animals, easy to dissect and admirably fitted 

 for physiological experimentation." 



In most localities they are easily collected and may be 

 kept in the laboratory alive. All dealers in biological sup- 

 plies handle them both alive and preserved. Natural 

 sources of supply are being augmented constantly by the 

 development of frog-hatcheries to supply the commercial 

 demand. 



The literature dealing with the frog is voluminous. No 

 attempt is made in this guide to indicate more than a few 

 of the books dealing with the anatomy of the frog which 

 may be useful in supplementing this brief sketch. 



It has been held by some that the function of a laboratory 

 guide is to ask the student what he finds instead of telling 

 him what he is to find, but, in the experience of many teach- 

 ers, the "problem" type of laboratory manual is apt to waste 

 the time of both instructor and student, and wear out the 

 patience of both. It is the writer's opinion that the needs 

 of the beginning anatomist are best served by presenting 

 him with a straight-forward account of what he is to find in 

 the specimen he is dissecting. If he encounters an anomaly 

 or discovers the writer in a slip, he may be referred to 

 larger manuals and to original contributions, and taste for 

 himself the joys and hardships of research. 



