iv PEEFA CE. 



the markets furnish us with the parts of many lower ani- 

 mals that may be used to teach the functions of corre- 

 sponding parts of the human body. 



The ideal way to teach physiology, of course, would be 

 to give the specimen to the student and expect him to 

 discover for himself the structure and function of all the 

 parts. This was Agassiz's method. But this is hardly 

 practicable to-day. With so much to teach and so short 

 a time to do it, we must necessarily help the student. 

 We may call his attention to the important things to be 

 seen and then make sure that he has found them correctly. 

 With a large class, the simplest way to call attention to 

 the main points is by clear and well-written directions to 

 be used in the laboratory. We can only be sure that each 

 one finds the parts when he shows them to us, or we exam- 

 ine his carefully labeled drawings. The directions should 

 not be too full. They should simply point the way and 

 not describe the parts. That is the work of the student. 

 If the directions are too full, or the ordinary text-book is 

 used in the laboratory, the beginner is tempted to study 

 the text-book and disregard the specimen. 



Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of 

 gaining the first impressions from the specimens. This 

 has already been too long neglected in the teaching of 

 physiology. We must also bear in mind that we are not 

 teaching this subject merely for the sake of anatomy and 

 physiology as sciences, but for the sake of hygiene and 

 better ways of living. 



Finding that much time may be lost in the laboratory 

 unless the work is carefully planned, I have found it con- 

 venient, in my own classes, to use a series of directions 



