Text-book of the embryology of man and mammals / by Oscar Hertwig ; translated from the third German edition by Edward L. Mark.

  • Hertwig, Oscar, 1849-1922.
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Text-book of the embryology of man and mammals / by Oscar Hertwig ; translated from the third German edition by Edward L. Mark. 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.

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    TEANSLATOE'S PEEFACE. The rapidly increasing recognition of the importance of Embryology in all morphological studies makes it desirable that the most valuable text-books upon the subject, in whatever language, be made available for those who are beginning its study. Although the English-reading student already has at command a number of text-books upon this subject, it is evident to any one familiar with Hertvyig's Lehrbuch der Entioicklungsgeschichte des Menschen und djer Wirhelthiere that this work covers the field of Vertebrate Embryology in a more complete and satisfactory way than any book heretofore published in English. Two important objects to be accomplished in a text-book are : first, a clear and methodical exposition of the well-established facts of the science; and, secondly, such a presentation of unsettled questions as shall stimulate the reader to further inquiry and re- search. I believe it is far too common for the second of these aims to be overlooked. The present work fulfils both requirements in an eminent degree, and in its historical surveys exhibits an exceptional fairness of treatment, notwithstanding the author has been one of the foremost contestants in several of the fields reviewed. The summaries which follow the discussions of the several topics serve a useful purpose in directing attention to the more important conclu- sions drawn from each subject. I have aimed to give a clear and accurate reproduction of the author's ideas ; while I have endeavored—not always successfully— to avoid awkward renderings and German idioms, I have preferred to err on the side of a too literal rather than a too libei'al translation. There ai'e a few points that demand a brief explanation. The German word Anlage has heretofore been variously rendered into English bj' rudiment, origin, beginning, basis, foundation, etc., while some writers, recognising the inadequacy of any of these words to express the idea, have incorporated the German word itself in their English. The Anlage of a structure is its beginning or its undifferentiated state—the object in a simple condition which is destined to be