cal library might possibly be questioned; 

 however, I can only repeat my conviction 

 that primate biology in the future will be- 

 come even more intimately bound up with 

 teaching and research in the medical 

 sciences. 



To select the primate group as the sub- 

 ject of a monographic bibliography requires 

 no apology; many, if not most, vertebrate 

 and invertebrate groups have been so 

 treated. One need mention only a few out- 

 standing works such as Dean's Fishes, 

 Strong's Birds and McCoy and McClung's 

 Anaerobic bacteria. The magnitude of the 

 literature of the primates is surprisingly 

 small when compared with these com- 

 pendia. The number of authors who have 

 studied the primates from the point of view 

 of anatomy, physiology and behavior is 

 little more than two thousand, and the 

 total number of papers dealing in whole and 

 in part with the primates does not reach 

 five thousand, a figure which may be set 

 against the fifty thousand papers on fishes 

 listed by Bashford Dean for the years up 

 to 1914. 



After the time of Linnaeus, the literature 

 of the primates increased slowly but stead- 

 ily until some twenty years ago, when — 

 owing possibly to the rather sudden and 

 widespread use of primates for studies in 

 experimental medicine — the output of pub- 

 lished works rose sharply. This literature 

 has never before been brought together in a 

 systematic manner, and in view of the in- 

 creasing importance of a biological knowl- 

 edge of manlike creatures, it has seemed to 

 Dr. Ruch worth while to devote several 

 years to the formidable problem of collect- 

 ing and classifying this diverse body of ma- 

 terial. He has done it methodically and in 

 accordance with a prearranged plan that 

 has made for completeness, accuracy, con- 

 sistency, and, I believe, for great usefulness 

 to many branches of biology and medicine. 

 To those who seek fresh concepts and new 

 experience Dr. Ruch's classification of the 

 literature will serve as a navigator's chart 

 for a sea which has countless hazards, as 

 well as every conceivable fascination. 



New Haven, February, 1941 



[xiii] 



