ABSTRACT OF INAUGURAL ADDRESS 



ON 



ACQUIRED DIFFERENCES IN STRUCTURE AND 



FUNCTION BETWEEN THE RIGHT AND 



LEFT SIDES OF THE BODY.* 



By RICHARD CATON, M.D., F.R.C.P., President. 



[17th October, 1902.] 



I wish, to express to the Society my sincere thanks for 

 the honour they have conferred upon me in electing me 

 President, a post for which. I feel myself but very im- 

 perfectly qualified. Possessing only a meagre acquaintance 

 with purely Zoological subjects, I propose to select a topic 

 bearing on human and comparative physiology, one which 

 while possessing considerable interest, has not yet been 

 fully dealt with by any writer, namely : — Acquired 

 differences in Structure and Function between the right 

 and left sides of the body, in animals kaving originally 

 bi-lateral symmetry. I propose to mention a few 

 examples of acquired asj^mmetry, to consider the 

 antiquity of these examples, to discuss their causes, and 

 the question whether the asymmetry is beneficial or 

 otherwise. 



Abundant examples of acquired asymmetry occur among 

 the Mollusca. Typically the Molluscs had symmetrical 



* The Paper was illustrated by 30 Lantern Slides. 



