Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A text-book of anatomy / edited by Frederic Henry Gerrish. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.
23/930 (page 17)
![A TEXT-BOOK OF ANATOMY. INTRODUCTORY. By F. H. GERRISH. Definition of Anatomy, and Divisions of the subject.—Names and Delimitations of Surface Parts.—The Systems of Organs, and their Functions.—The Order of Topics.—Methods of Study. ANATOMY is the science of organization. It treats of the structure of J\. organized beings. Not all of the beings in the world can pro2)erly be .said to have a structure. We may speak of the structure of a flower, however simple, but we never associate the idea of structure with a crystal. The flower has petals, and calyx, and stamen, and other parts, each differing in look, texture, strength, and use from all the rest. The crystal is of the same material and appearance throughout : it is a mass which is equally dense, equally strong, equally colored in one part as in another—it is homogeneous ; that is to say, its physical qualities are evenly distributed. The flower is easily seen to have organs, each of which has its own peculiar office; the crystal has no organs whatever. The one is organized—it has a structure; the other is not organized —it has no structure. Therefore ^ve may study the anatomy of a flower, but there is no anatomy of a crystal for us to study. Let us here draw a distinction between the words organized and organic. The first relates to anything which has organs—parts Avhich are difi^erentiated from each other; the second is applied to things which result from the vital activity of organized beings. Thus, caseine, which exists in milk and is the characteristic material in clieese, is organic, for it is a result of the activity of a living creature; but it is not organized, having no structure, one portion being exactly like every other. Many things—for example, water—are neither organized nor organic ; they are inorganic. All organized beings belong to one or the other of two great groups—plants and animals. The distinction may not be essential; indeed, there are creatures upon the dividing-line between these groups whose nature is not yet determined —perhaps they are plants, ]ierhaps they ai'e animals. But, although it may be impossible to give a definition which shall include all of either group without taking in some belonging to the other, these terms are not in the least likely to mi.slead us. The study of the structure of plants is called vegetable anatomy, and is thus distinguished from animal anatomy, which has to do with the organ- ization of the members of tlie otlaer group of creatures. Physiology is often used, carelessly, synonymously with anatomy, but they are absolutely distinct. Anatomy is the science of structure ; physiology is the science of function. Anatomy teaches us what organs a plant or animal lias ; physiology teaches us to what use these organs are put. Anatomy shows what](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21506620_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
