PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



About ten years ago, in the effort to enable the members of the gen- 

 eral class in Physiology at Cornell University (150-180 in number) to 

 study for themselves intelligently certain parts of the cat and sheep as an 

 aid to the comprehension of the functions and relations of the correspond- 

 ing human organs, I put alcoholic specimens before them and wrote on 

 the blackboard brief directions which were orally amplified and illustra- 

 ted. A few years later these directions were written upon cloth sheets 

 that were suspended before the class. They were amplified and printed 

 in the fall of 1889 and issued in their present form in 1892. 



The separation of the sheets and plates has obvious inconveniences 

 but upon the whole the practical advantages are greater. 



From the first the assistants and students have cordially cooperated 

 toward increasing accuracy and explicitness. 



It is to be hoped that ere long as much as is here included may be 

 required for admission to this and other universities, so that the instruc- 

 tion therein may commence upon a foundation both higher and more 

 substantial than at present. 



Ithaca, N. K, December 26, 1893. 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



The text has been revised and largely rewritten. An effort has been 

 made to correct the errors and omissions detected during the three years' 

 use of the work at Cornell University and elsewhere. For helpful sug- 

 gestions I am particularly indebted to my assistants, Dr. P. A. Fish and 

 Dr. B. B. Stroud. 



The changes in the illustrations comprise new figures of the cat's 

 skeleton, and of the sheep's heart and brain. Two outlines have been in- 

 troduced into the text. 



The order has been modified so as to bring the examination of the 

 head and neck just before that of the eye and brain. The eleven practi- 

 cums are combined so as to form four Parts, each dealing with a natural 

 group of subjects. 



A teaching experience of twenty-seven years leads me to believe that 

 explicitness should be a main feature of directions for beginners. To 

 credit them with unlikely knowledge, judgment and skill, or with inspir- 

 ation that will serve in place of those attributes, may compliment them 

 and simplify the task of the writer. But there result perplexities, the 

 formation of faulty methods, and the waste of time and material. 



When, however, there has once been established a sound basis of 

 fact and manipulation, the student may safely and profitably venture upon 

 unfamiliar ground. He may either apply the directions to different 

 forms, or re-examine the same forms in different ways. For example, the 

 brain of the cat, dog, monkey or man may compared with that of the 

 sheep, and the sheep's brain may be explored in ways other than that 

 presented in the following pages. 



September 20, 1895. 



