PREFACE 



TO THE 



FIRST EDITION 



IN its primary intention this work appeals rather to the 

 instructed anatomist than to the beginner. Its aim is to put 

 into his hands a concise but complete account of all the 

 methods of preparation that have been recommended as useful 

 for the purposes of Microscopic Anatomy, and so furnish 

 him with a ready source of information on points of detail as 

 to which his memory or his knowledge may be at fault. This 

 object is attained by the mere collection of Formula set out 

 in Part I, and of special methods described in Part II. But 

 the book could obviously be made to subserve a further end 

 that of a guide to the beginner. To this end I have added 

 a General Introduction and a series of introductory paragraphs 

 prefixed, where needful, to the different chapters. These 

 introductory portions, taken together, go far to make up a, 

 formal treatise on the art. And as a further aid to the 

 beginner I have added the collection of examples given in 

 Part II. These examples are of course not intended for 

 servile imitation, but rather as hints suggestive of the most 

 fitting processes. 



The collection of Formulae here brought together is, I 

 believe, practically exhaustive ; no process having any claim 

 to scientific status having been rejected, nor any, I trust, 

 unwittingly omitted. It may be useful here to say a word as 

 to the reasons for this perhaps apparently excessive catho- 

 licity of treatment. Doubtless a large proportion of the 

 formulae given are quite superseded in modern practice ; but 

 that is not a sufficient reason for rejecting them. The inclu- 

 sion of all of them is justified by the consideration that some 



