PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



IN preparing the present volume on Physiological Chemistry I 

 have endeavored to adapt the book as much as possible to the wants 

 of the medical student, and the physician who in the past has been 

 unable to devote the attention to the subject which it merits. The 

 work is intended as a text-book for the lecture-room and as a guide 

 in the physiological-chemical laboratory. Theoretical discussions 

 have been avoided as far as possible, and it has been my aim to 

 present ascertained facts as concisely as appeared consistent with the 

 importance of the problems under consideration. The various 

 chemical methods have been described with all due regard to 

 necessary detail, but with the supposition that the student's course 

 in physiological chemistry has been preceded by a course in general 

 chemistry, such as is offered now in the majority of our medical 

 colleges. 



The subject-matter has been arranged in such a manner that in 

 the first section of the work a general survey is given of the origin 

 and the chemical nature of the three great classes of food-stuffs, and 

 also of the most important products of their decomposition ; the 

 second section deals essentially with the processes of digestion, re- 

 sorption, and excretion ; while the third portion of the work is 

 devoted to the chemical study of the elementary tissues and the 

 various organs of the animal body, the specific products of their 

 activity and their relation to physiological function. This arrange- 

 ment has suggested itself to me as the most satisfactory for purposes 

 of teaching. 



Keferences to literature have been omitted, as they did not appear 

 to be necessary in a work which is intended primarily for the 

 student. The names of the grand-masters of physiological chem- 



