Preface. xiii 



when possible, by others, illustrating spontaneous cure, and 

 lastly, by those which show the results of operations. 



Among Tumours a study of the clinical history and naked- 

 eye appearances seems a better foundation for their arrangement 

 in a Museum than their microscopical characters. Consequently, 

 the Tumours of any particular tissue or organ will be found to 

 range from the simple, well-developed, slow-growing forms to 

 those which grow quickly, are undefined in structure, and 

 are clinically malignant. The microscopical characters of any 

 specimen have been looked upon as an adjunct to its descrip- 

 tion rather than as an essential element in its classification. 



It follows, as a natural consequence from the above method 

 of arrangement, that all the contents of the Museum which 

 represent a certain degree of deformity, stage of disease, or 

 kind of tumour have been grouped together. Formerly, in 

 this as in many other Museums, spirit preparations were 

 placed in one part of the Museum, dried preparations in 

 another, casts in a third, and drawings in a fourth. Now, they 

 are all classed together in the Catalogue when they belong to 

 the same or to similar specimens. Where, owing to variations 

 in shape and size, some of the individual members of a group 

 could not be conveniently placed upon the shelves with the 

 rest, every effort has been made to place them so close to 

 the others that the student can refer to them without loss 

 either of time, or of a sense of the general continuity. In 

 many cases published drawings of the patients from whom 

 the specimens were taken have been copied by photography 

 and placed beside the specimens they illustrate. 



