Preliminary 7 



the different surfaces come into being, that he should see how these surfaces may have 

 shape and level altered by the primary " build " of the bone, and should notice the 

 secondary markings on the surfaces, remembering that they indicate fibrous attach- 

 ment, and making use of them to mark out the accurate and detailed relations of the 

 various aspects of the bone. 



The key to many things that puzzle the student of anatomy is to be found in a 

 study of the bones of a part, and it should be a rule for every dissector that he must 

 undertake his dissection of a part with the skeleton of the region beside him, so that 

 he may constantly refer from one to the other and back again ; in this way he will 

 begin to understand how and why certain structures are found in certain situations, 

 and to look at them from new points of view. It is a common error to imagine that 

 any explanation of some anatomical fact or relation can only be sought in its develop- 

 ment it will repay the student to seek for mere mechanical and physical reasons 

 for what he observes, for these can be brought in directly in all sorts and conditions 

 of anatomical matters : then, if he wishes to pursue the subject further, he will have a 

 point d'appui from which to direct his embryological or other researches. He should 

 bear in mind that the disposition of the soft parts has its effect on the structure of 

 the bones, and he should look for this as much as for the effect that the bones produce 

 in the arrangement of the tissues. In this way he will obtain an idea of the skeleton 

 as it exists in the body, with all its attachments and relations a much more interesting 

 study than that of the dry bones lying on the table, and one that will be of everyday 

 use to him in future practice. 



To study the skeleton, however, it is necessary to use the dry bones, but 

 if the student makes a point of trying to find reasons for the various things he 

 observes on the specimen, he will not only add to the interest of his occupation but 

 will be surprised to find how much descriptive anatomy can be appreciated from such 

 a study. 



When considering bones or reading descriptions of them such, for example, as 

 are given in this book the student should take care to have the specimen before him ; 

 a description that is not verified is of little permanent value, and the reader ought to 

 make a point of referring every statement made in the description to the test of 

 observation on the specimen. For this reason he should be provided with several 

 examples of the particular part of the skeleton he is studying, for comparison between 

 many specimens is the best way of impressing the main or fundamental points of any 

 structure on the mind, in spite of individual variations. Also he ought, whenever it is 

 possible, to have the various appropriate dissections and preparations that enable him 

 to appreciate the bones in situ, and constant reference to these will be of the utmost 

 benefit. Finally, he should always see how much of the skeleton can be felt and studied 

 on his own or some other living body. 



The particular bone that he studies, and with which the other specimens are 

 compared, should if possible be one from an adult male in which the secondary markings 

 are well developed, but not excessively so. 



In the account of the skeleton that follows each bone is at first described shortly, 

 and a reader approaching such a study for the first time ought to go carefully through 

 the description with the bones beside him, until he is acquainted with the general 

 build and form of the particular bone and the names, position, and nature of all its 

 principal parts, for he is not able to understand further details until he has mastered 

 these elementary matters. 



A longer consideration of things concerning the bone follows. Such a consideration 

 could not be understood unless the reader had dissected the part concerned, so it is 



