DESCEIPTIVE ANATOMY, 



DESCRIPTIVE ANATOMY may be treated of in two methods : viz., the Systematic 

 and the Topographical. 



In the first or Systematic Anatomy, the several organs and parts of the body are 

 considered in a systematic order, according to their structure, their connection with 

 each other, and their relation to the purposes of life ; while in the second, or 

 Topographical Anatomy, the parts are described in the order of their position 

 or association in any region of the body. The first method is best adapted for the 

 elementary and complete study of the structure of organs, the second is more 

 immediately useful in the study of particular regions in their relation to Medicine 

 and Surgery. The object of the present work being mainly to serve as a guide for 

 systematic study, the topographical details will for the most part be included under 

 and combined with the general description of organs, and only some of the more 

 important regions will receive separate notice. 



The plan of construction of the body and the general arrangement of its chief 

 parts have been explained in the Introduction at the beginning of Yolume I. The 

 several systems and regions now to be described will be treated of under the following 

 heads : 



1. Osteology, the Bones. 



2. Arthrology, the Articulations. 



3. Myology, the Voluntary Muscles, with which will be combined the Fasciae and 



Aponeuroses. 



4. Angeiology, the Heart, the Blood- Vessels, and the Lymphatics. 



5. Neurology, the Spinal Cord and Brain, the Nerves, and the Organs of the 



Senses. 



6. Splanchnology, the Organs of Respiration, the Organs of Digestion, the 



Urinary Organs, and the Organs of Reproduction. 



7. Superficial Anatomy, and Topographical Anatomy of some Regions. 



Descriptive terms. In anatomical descriptions the body is always supposed 

 to be in the erect attitude, and terms of relation are employed strictly with reference 

 to this position. Thus, superior and inferior correspond respectively to cephalic and 

 caudal, anterior and posterior to ventral and dorsal. The body being bilaterally 

 symmetrical, it might be divided into similar and nearly equal halves by a vertical 

 plane directed from before backwards. This is known as the median plane, and the 

 line along which the median plane meets the surface of the body is called the middle 

 or median line. The words internal or mesial and external or lateral denote 



VOL. II. B 



