To the Oivner of this Book. 



This Album is designed to contain the Chart of your Life, and to be 

 a record of your own Biological experience. It is obvious that such a 

 record must be of personal interest, but, independently of this, if the 

 observations are regularly made and registered according to the direc- 

 tions, the Album will prove of great value hereafter to yourself and to 

 your children in the following ways : — 



1. It will show whether, and in what way, your health is affected 

 by the changes that take place in your residence, occupation, diet, 

 or habits. 



2. It will afford early indication of any departure from health, and 

 will thus draw attention to conditions which, if neglected, may lead to 

 permanent disorder. Without such a record, the early signs of disease 

 which are commonly slight and gradual, are very likely to pass un- 

 recognised, and thus the opportunity will be lost of seeking advice at 

 the time when preventive or curative measures can be most successfully 

 taken. 



3. A trustworthy record of past illnesses will enable your medical 

 attendants to treat you more intelligently and successfully than they 

 otherwise could, for it will give them a more complete knowledge of 

 your "constitution" than could be obtained in any other way. This 

 knowledge is so important that life itself may in many illnesses depend 

 upon it. 



4. The record will further be of great value to your family and 

 descendants ; for mental and physical characteristics, as well as liabili- 

 ties to disease, are all transmitted more or less by parents to their 

 children, and are shared by members of the same family. " The world 

 is beginning to perceive that the life of each individual is in some real 

 sense a prolongation of those of his ancestry. His character, his vigour, 



and his disease, are principally theirs The life-histories of 



our relatives are, therefore, more instructive to us than those of strangers ; 

 they are especially able to forewarn and to encourage us, for they are 

 prophetic of our own futures." — {Fortnightly Review, Jan., 1882, p. 31.) 



