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name of popliteal, it passes behind the knee in its way to the leg* 

 that, in its course, it supplies with branches different parts of the limb 

 even though he knew perfectly the name, the number of these branches, 

 the varieties to which they are subject, the parts to which they are dis- 

 tributed, would nevertheless possess a knowledge of that branch of the 

 system, almost useless in the treatment of the diseases with which it may 

 be affected. The situation of the artery, its direction, the parts which 

 surround it, its precise relations to each of them, its superficial or deep 

 seated course, &c. are the only circumstances from which he can derive 

 auy advantage. 



He who, in this point of view, cultivates anatomy, may be compared to 

 the chemist; in the same manner as the latter is never better acquainted 

 with a substance, than when he is able to decompose it, and to reproduce 

 it from a combination of its parts, so the anatomist is well acquainted 

 with the body of man, only, when having studied separately, and with the 

 greatest care, each of his organs and each of the systems, formed by the 

 collection of a certain number of similar organs, he is able to assign to 

 each of them its place, to determine its relations, and the proportions 

 which it bears in the structure of anyone of our limbs. The study of the lat- 

 ter is much more difficult and extensive than that of the former; for, the 

 chemist who decomposes and recompounds a well-known substance, 

 phosphate of lime, for instance, attains only to the knowledge of its con- 

 stituent principles, and respective proportions? the phenomena of situa- 

 tion altogether escape him. The anatomist, on the other hand, who knows 

 rtiat such apart is composed of bones, of muscles, of nerves, of vessels, 

 must know, not only every one of these parts, their relative bulk, but the 

 exact place in which they are to be found. 



Anatomy, pursued in this spirit, offers a field of wide extent : it is the 

 art which Leibnitz called the analysis of situation, analysis situs ; and the 

 knowledge of it is too important not to require a separate place among 

 the departments of medical knowledge. I will not pass over the motives 

 that are alleged for combining anatomy and physiology in one course of 

 instruction. Anatomy, confined to the mere description of the organs, is 

 too dry and fatiguing ; physiology throws over it interest and variety; 

 it helps to ensure the attention of the hearers, who will retain more per- 

 manently, what they have listened to with pleasure. Would not one think 

 that physiological details were, for an audience, what is contrived for a 

 sick and froward child, in the honey that is rubbed on the edge of the cup, 

 to disguise the bitterness of the draught that is to recall him to life ? In 

 combining two objects, of which one has no interest but that of useful- 

 ness, whilst the other is engaging as well, the attention will be not merely 

 divided, but altogether distracted, and the mind of those who read or lis- 

 ten, will skim over dry details, to seize with avidity what furnishes more 

 to its activity of intelligence. Anatomy is to physiology what geography 

 is to history. General considerations on the situation, the size, the form, 

 the relations, the structure of the organ, are an indispensable preparation 

 to the perfect understanding of its functions : accordingly, you shall find 

 much anatomy in physiological treatises, as you find much geographical 

 detail in faithful historians. 



I have said enough, I trust, to escape the reproach of not having filled 

 my book with anatomical descriptions, from the multitude of excellent 

 works we possess on the anatomy of the human body. Let us now inquire 

 what relation physiology bears to Comparative Anatomy. 



H 



