Physiological histology : methods and theory / by Gustav Mann.

  • Gustav Mann
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Physiological histology : methods and theory / by Gustav Mann. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    PKEFACE There was a time when'British histologists were in the fore- front both as regards the nature and the extent of their researches, but now—possibly owing to the developments which have taken place in investigations relating to the physical and mechanical laws concerning nerve and muscle preparations, in experimental researches into the function of the central and peripheral nervous systems, as well as the increase and character of the inquiries relative to internal secretion, the mechanics of the circulation, and the chemistry of the tissues and fluids of the body—there has been a tendency of recent years to alienate the physiologist from the study of Histology. Anatomy deals with the development and the mature struc- ture of the difierent organs composing the body. It also includes the functions of these organs as far as they may be explained on mechanical lines. Physiology, built on the foundations of anatomy, devotes itself essentially to chemical and physical considerations. The common object which the anatomist and the physiologist ought to have in view is the elucidation of general laws governing biological phenomena. Histology comprises investigations into the structure, the chemical composition, and the functions of healthy and diseased animal and vegetable cells, and therefore the ordinarily accepted view that Histology concerns itself merely with micro-anatomy seems to me a narrow one. Owing to the brilliant work done abroad, the study of mammal- ian micro-anatomy, as distinct from micro-chemistry and micro- physiology, is approaching completion, and it is time for the physiologist to awaken to the fact that work requires to be done along micro-physiological lines, and that such work would be of immense value, since it would serve as an aid to the pathologist in the elucidation of the processes with which he is more par- ticularly concerned. The physiologist should study the life-cycles of the various cells composing the body; determine, for example, the chemical
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