VIII NOTICE OF THE TRANSLATOK AND EDITOR. 



Hence, that part of the work treating of the anatomy of the 

 Invertebrata, bj Von Slebold, is rich in the results of microscopi- 

 cal researches ; and their Value in the elucidation of the subject 

 will be readily appreciated. This plan of procedure has not the 

 same urgency with the higher animals, where the character of an 

 organ or part can generally be ascertained from its position, &c. ; and, 

 in the second part of the work, on the Anatomy of the Vertebrata, 

 by Stannius, details of microscopical structure are comparatively 

 little insisted upon. But, within a few years, the histological compo- 

 sition of organs, even though their character and function is well 

 known, has become of great and increasing interest ; and details of 

 this kind, as far as they would be understood without the aid of 

 figures, I have sought \o add in their regular order and place. 



As to the notes and additions generally, they stand by themselves 

 with Ed. aiBxed, and almost invariably refer to some point treated of 

 in the text or notes of the original, and for the most part relate to the 

 correction, confirmation, or extension of some statements there made. 

 These notes were drawn from all the sources accessible to me; but 

 from the many difficulties in the way of the early receipt of foreign 

 works in this country, they are not as complete a record of the recent 

 progress of the science as would be desired. 



As to the translation, I may say, that not being a German scholar, 

 but having read the German language chiefly for scientific purposes, 

 I trust that any inelegances of diction or idiom will be excused. 

 But, throughout, I have endeavored to give a faithful rendering of 

 the author's meaning, and to express this in as simple and terse a 

 form as possible. 



In conclusion, I wish to express my gratitude to ray friends who 

 have kindly aided me in this work ; — prominent among these is Mr. 

 Efhrard Capen of this city, who has been of invaluable assistance 

 to me in the labor of passing the sheets of this volume through the 

 press: — of others, such as Professors Agassiz, Dana, Leldy, nnd 

 Wyntan, their names, will be found honorably recorded by their own 

 important labors in science, to which I have so frequently referred 

 in these volumes. W. I. B. 



Boston. Nov. 1853. 



