THE HISTORY OF ANATOMICAL SCIENCE 275 



weary process of initiation is indispensable to the 

 neophyte, who aspires to become an adept and to 

 feel at home in the arcana of the higher anatomy. 

 But I think it ought to be possible to lead any one, 

 who will give a reasonable amount of attention, to 

 a point, from which he may obtain a sufficiently 

 accurate general view of the scope of anatomical 

 science, by a shorter and easier road. In any case, 

 it is laid upon me to ^attempt to show the way 

 there, inasmuch as the purport of much of Sir 

 Richard Owen's work cannot be understood, nor 

 can his position in science be properly appreciated, 

 unless such a point of view is attained. And in 

 proffering such guide's service it may be well to 

 remind those who accept the offer, that in this, as 

 in so many other cases, ' the longest way round is 

 the shortest way home ; ' there is nothing for it 

 but to follow the path of history and eschew short 

 cuts, however tempting they may be. 



Etymologically, the word * Anatomy ' signifies 

 no more than ' cutting up,' or ' dissection ; ' but, 

 in course of time, the idea of the chief means 

 by which the structure of animals and of plants 

 was ascertained merged with that of the results 

 it yielded. And since structure, or inward form, 

 is practically inseparable from shape, or outward 

 form, the latter also fell within the range of the 

 anatomist. Further, it was natural enough that 

 the ' function ' or use of the parts, the inward and 



