ANATOMY 



problem or series of problems it presents to the 

 anatomist. The brain may be cited as an example 

 of an organ which, on account of its very com- 

 plexity, has received and is receiving more attention 

 than any other part of the body, and about which 

 so vast a literature has sprung up as to require a 

 lifetime for its perusal and study. 



Valuable lessons, however, even in Anatomy, 

 may be learnt from little things, and an apprecia- 

 tion of fundamental problems may be gathered 

 by a consideration of the simplest structures. Of 

 the less complicated parts of the skeleton the 

 apparently simple framework of the body will 

 appeal as an example. If an anatomist can claim 

 sure knowledge of anything to do with the human 

 body, his knowledge concerning a plain ordinary 

 bone should presumably be fairly complete. 



In making confession of what an anatomist 

 knows and what he does not know concerning a 

 typical bone no unintelligible technical terms are 

 needful ; the story can be told in the simplest 

 and plainest language. A facile familiarity with 

 scientific jargon often passes as a counterfeit for 

 real knowledge, a cumbersome verbiage serving 

 as a cloak for the most profound ignorance. To 

 give a subject-matter a sufficiently long and im- 

 pressive name, and to let that pass for real know- 

 ledge, is a pitfall into which the scientist himself 

 often falls. 



Q 209 



