PREFACE 



Teachers of the Biological Sciences have often observed that : 



(1) The majority of American college students are the children 

 of parents who have not had a college training and, therefore, have no 

 proper conception of what a college course means, nor an understanding 

 of the reasons that lead educators to place certain studies in the curricu- 

 lum instead of others. 



(2) The work done by the average student up to his entry into 

 college has neither taught him how to study, nor how to coordinate the 

 work of the various courses he has had. 



(3) The technical words he has met with have not been analyzed, 

 so that he has no conception of their derivation, and, consequently, of 

 their true meaning. He has largely memorized whatever was learned 

 with little understanding of meanings. 



(4) The professional world (especially of medicine and dentistry) 

 is in general accord with the idea that "General Biology" or "General 

 Zoology" should be followed by "Introductory Embryology" and "Com- 

 parative Anatomy." 



(5) Most texts on the biological sciences either try to make the 

 subject matter entirely too easy, and thus forget to mention the many 

 points of prime interest to professional students, or they try to cover 

 the entire range of animal biology, thus burdening both book and student 

 with matter that will be forgotten as soon as examinations are passed. 



(6) The student is, therefore, confronted with several alternatives : 

 Either he takes the "easy" course and feels that because he was told so 

 little, there is but little to be told. Or if the more detailed course has 

 been taken, he finds that it has helped him but little, if any, in his chosen 

 field, and he is rightfully disappointed. 



(7) The terminology in Botany, Zoology, and Medicine is by no 

 means identical, and much must be relearned by professional students. 



(8) A textbook usually confines itself to "Type Forms" or to 

 "General Principles." In either case, the student suffers for want of the 

 half that is left untold. 



(9) Results of scientific work are often given, such as the life- 

 cycle of the Malarial Parasite, without showing in detail the type of 

 work necessary to bring about those results, thus preventing the student 

 from gaining one of the most valuable lessons of his scientific course. 



(10) Medical and Dental educators, as well as students themselves, 

 are constantly complaining of the insufficient stress placed on Histology 

 and Neurology in the preliminary courses, as it is in these fields that so 

 many students later find their greatest difficulties. 



(11) Medical educators insist that in a few years all medical 

 schools must add a course in Medical Zoology. The students who are 



