A manual of human microscopic anatomy / by A. Kolliker.

  • Albert von Kölliker
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of human microscopic anatomy / by A. Kolliker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    If it be asked how Histology responds to these desiderata, and what prospects it has for the immediate futui'e, the answer is by no means satisfactory. Not only does it not possess a single law, but even the material from which laws are to be deduced is still relatively so scanty, that not even a large number of general propositions appear to be secured. Not to speak of a complete know- ledge of the intimate composition of animals in general, we do not know thoroughly the structure of any creature, man not excepted, although he has so often been the subject of investigation, and, accordingly, it has not yet been possible to bring science essentially nearer to its aim. It would, however, be improper to overlook and depreciate what we possess; and it may be alhrmed, that a rich treasury of facts, and even some valuable general propositions have already been won. To indicate only the most important of the former, it may be mentioned, that we possess a very satisfactory knowledge of the fully developed elementary parts of the higher animals, and with the exception perhaps of the elastic tissue, the tissue of the bones, and of the elements of the teeth, are sufficiently informed of the progress of their development also. The mode in which they unite to form organs has been less investigated; yet even in this particular much has been done of late, especially in man, whose individual organs, with the exception of the nervous system, the higher organs of the senses and some glands (liver, and vascular glands) have nearly been thoroughly investigated. If the doings in this department follow each other in the same way as heretofore, the human structure will, in a few years, be so well known, that with the aids at our command at present, nothing essential, except, per- haps, in the nervous system, will remain to be done. It is different with Comparative Histology, which has scarcely been commenced, and which, from the mass of material, will require not years but tens of years for its mastery. Whoever ivould perform sometldng useful in this department, must provide himself ivitli a survey of all divisions of animals by monographs of typical forms, embracing their total structure from the first development omoards, and then en- deavour to develop the laios in the manner above mentioned. With regard to the general propositions of Histology, the science has not advanced materially since Schwann's time. Nevertheless, much has been gained, inasmuch as Schzvann's doctrines are noAv established in their main features. The assertion, that all the higher animals at one period consist solely of cells, and that their higher elementary parts are developed from these, stands fast, although it is not to be understood as if cells or their derivatives
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