PREFACE 



This manual has grown out of a number of years' use 

 of Necturus in large classes. It was felt that a manual was 

 needed to settle the questions usually asked about the work 

 by the student. 



Necturus is desirable for dissection because of its dis- 

 tribution and availability. Its size recommends it as a 

 laboratory specimen and its more or less simple organiza- 

 tion makes it a good form to be used after the usual work 

 on the shark or other fish. 



Although extensive work has been done on Necturus, 

 much remains to be discovered by future research. Some 

 material appears here for the first time and some correc- 

 tions in procedure have been made. Full advantage has 

 been taken of all that has been done in the past and 

 acknowledgments must be made to Mivart's "Notes on the 

 Myology of Menobranchus lateralis," Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society of London, 1869; to Kingsley's "Nec- 

 turus, an Urodele Amphibian"; H. H. Wilder 's "The 

 Skeletal System of Necturus maculatus, Rafinesque." 

 Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, Volume 

 V, 1895. W. S. Miller's "Contributions from the Anatomi- 

 cal Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin," No. 33, 

 1900. Other assistance has been gathered from special 

 books and papers that have dealt wholly or in part with 

 this form. 



The nomenclature used is mixed in its origin and is 

 chosen for its clearness and simplicity. 



In general the terms used are those of the more modern 



