L I B R A - V \ ;« 



PART I 

 A General Consideration of the Structure of the Rabbit 



DIVISIONS AND METHODS 



BIOLOGY, the science or study of living organisms, includes 

 several related sciences, fundamental among which are: 

 Anatomy, the study of organized structure; Physiology, the study 

 of function ; and Embryology, the study of development. Anatomy 

 is an essential foundation for the other branches. Comparative 

 Anatomy, the comparative study of different organisms, and 

 Embryology are also considered either as divisions, or as practical 

 methods, of Morphology, the general science of the evolution of 

 form. 



The term 'Anatomy," originally applied to the study of the 

 structure of the human body, and still used as referring more 

 especially to this, has come to be applied to the study of structure 

 of living organisms generally. 



It has been found convenient, especially in human anatomy, to 

 distinguish as Gross Anatomy, the study of that kind of structure 

 which is displayed by dissection, or is revealed by naked-eye ap- 

 pearances, and as Microscopic Anatomy, the study of finer structure 

 through the application of the microscope; or, again, to distinguish 

 as Special or Descriptive Anatomy, the study of the particular 

 features of the organs of the body, and as General Anatomy, the 

 study of its more fundamental composition. General Anatomy is 

 practically equivalent to Histology, the latter considering the body 

 from the point of view of the structure and arrangement of its 

 cells and tissues. 



These distinctions are of interest in the present case chiefly as 

 defining more exactly the practical method and the kind of structure 

 to be considered. Thus, dissection is a method of displaying 

 structure of a gross and special kind. It consists in the orderly 

 exposure and displacement of organs with the object of observing 

 their features and their relations to surrounding parts. The plan 

 is essentially one of analysis, since conceptions of structure are 



