166 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANATOMICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL 



dentist does not know that every time he draws a tooth he "dis- 

 articulates a gomphosis," nor would he draw it any the better if he 



did. 



Some teachers think that by the adoption of endless terms they 

 clarify and classify the knowledge of the things themselves, and this 

 undoubtedly is true, provided there are many things to classify, as, of 

 course, there are in the books ; but the student has so little time, and 

 the names are so many and so long and, apparently, like Meso- 

 potamia, so blessed, that by the time he reaches his examiner his 

 mind is often like a large new stamp album, all the spaces are ruled 

 and the headings clearly printed and denned, but there are very few 

 stamps. Some examiners seem to like this state of mind, but it has 

 never appealed very strongly to me. 



The fact has yet to be generally recognised, that our anatomy 

 text-books are written for anatomists and not for students of medi- 

 cine, they are too good and too big for the average student ; the time 

 for this sort of book is when the anatomy examination has been 

 passed, then it will be a valuable work of reference, and will be all 

 the more appreciated because the owner will be able to approach it 

 from the real critic's point of view that of the man who knows some- 

 thing at first hand of what the book treats. I am perfectly convinced 

 that all the anatomy which is really useful for the medical man can be 

 learnt, and best learnt, by dissecting the dead body with a demonstrator 

 at hand whenever a difficulty arises, by studying the surface anatomy 

 of the dead body frequently with a demonstrator and checking the 

 knowledge acquired by repeating it on the living model and by utilising 

 every fresh viscus which can be procured from the post-mortem room, 

 and, especially, every brain, even if it has already been cut into sec- 

 tions. The demonstrator, it is true, will not be nearly as accurate as 

 the book, but his great superiority comes in this, that he will lead the 

 student to notice as many points as possible for himself, supplying the 

 names after the things themselves have been actually realised, 

 whereas the book saves all the trouble of noticing anything afresh, 

 and so one of the most valuable possibilities of the dissecting-room 



