NOTICE OF THE TRANSLATOR AND EDITOR. 



In issuing an English translation of the Lehrbuch der ver- 

 gleichenden Anatomie of Von Siebold and Stannius, any 

 formal account of the work is ijuite unnecessarj. To all Anato- 

 mists it is a treatise already well and favorably known, and it has 

 justly been regarded as the most complete and comprehensive work 

 of its kind now extant in any language. The high position and 

 distinguished reputation of its authors have been fully sustained by 

 this portion of their labors. 



But there are several features in this work which should be men- 

 tioned, since by them it is favorably distinguished from all other 

 treatises of the kind that have preceded it. 



In the text will be found a lucid yet succinct exposition of the 

 anatomical structure of organs, arranged as far as practicable under 

 distinct types. The details on which this typical summary is based, 

 are comprised in notes which are as remarkable for their erudition 

 as for their copiousness ; indeed, the utmost care has been taken in 

 the literature of the various subjects treated, and the student will 

 here find the most reliable and at the same time the fullest refer- 

 ence to the bibliography of nearly every subject in Comparative 

 Anatomy. In this way, the work as a whole furnishes a complete 

 dictionary of the science, and will prove invaluable even as a work 

 of suggestion and reference, to those Avho would pursue any special 

 line of inquiry and research in this department. 



It may be truly said that the Microscope lies at the foundation of 

 all our best knowledge of anatomy, and especially that of the Inverte- 

 brata. This is the case, not only on account of the small size of most 

 of the animals, but because, as Von Siebold has said in his preface, 

 the anatomy of these lower fonns is scarcely reliable unless based 

 upon histological investigations. 



