iv PREFACE 



An effort has been made to explain matters so 

 simply that they may be intelligible to those having 

 the most elementary knowledge of physiology, and 

 all technical terms have been avoided or denned. 



There are excellent manuals now published 

 treating of the application of physiology to diseases 

 which principally concern the consulting physician. 

 This little book limits itself to surgical problems, and 

 to the common every-day aspects of disease that 

 confront us all, physicians, surgeons, and general 

 practitioners alike. 



I owe a debt of thanks to my chief, Professor 

 A. F. Stanley Kent, for some valuable suggestions 

 and criticisms. 



A. R. S. 

 BRISTOL, 



September, 1911. 



