PREFACE. 
THE form which this book has taken expresses the desire of those who have 
contributed the various sections to produce something which they might dedicate 
to their former teacher and master, Sir Wiliam Turner. With one exception, 
all the contributors have studied under Sir William Turner, and all but two 
have for longer or shorter periods acted as his Assistants. Bound together by this 
common tie, and animated by affection and reverence for their great master, they 
have sought to produce a book worthy of him whose teaching it so largely reflects, 
and if this object has not been attained it is not for want of will, but of power, on 
the part of the writers. 
In the preparation of a work such as this it is no easy matter to prevent over- 
lapping of the different articles and to keep the various sections in harmony with 
each other. Yet in this direction it is believed that a fair amount of success has 
been attained. Differences of opinion on particular points were bound to arise, 
but the Editor found in those concerned the greatest readiness to come to a mutual 
understanding, and he is deeply grateful to his colleagues for the manner in which 
they endeavovred to lighten his work and assist him in his task. Of course when 
totally different views were held by two authors on a matter which had to be dealt 
with in two sections, no serious attempt was made to urge these writers to qualify 
their statements so as to produce an apparent agreement. It was felt that if this 
were done the individuality of the author, which forms a characteristic feature of 
each article as it stands, would thereby be damaged; and further, it was believed 
that the same question discussed from two different points of view could not fail 
to be of advantage to the reader. At the same time it is right to state that the 
places in which a divergence of opinion appears are very few, and taking into 
account that nine writers have co-operated with the Editor, a remarkable degree 
of harmony in the treatment of the different sections has been obtained. 
The recent introduction of Formalin as a hardening and preserving reagent 
imposed an especially arduous duty upon those writers who had undertaken the 
chapters dealing with the thoracic and abdominal viscera. The possibilities for 
establishing a more accurate topography and of improving our conception of the 
forms assumed by the viscera under different conditions have by this means been 
greatly extended ; and in preparing the sections which treat of these organs the 
writers have taken full advantage of the new method. Much, therefore, which 
appears in this book on the topographical relations of the viscera departs con- 
siderably from the older and more conventional descriptions hitherto in vogue. 
The arrangement of the matter treated in the following pages is very much 
the same as that adopted in the various courses of lectures delivered in the schools 
from which the different sections of the work have emanated. ‘The first chapter is 
vu 
