What is the preface to the twentieth edition?

What it is

• S INCE the publication of the first English edition of this work in 1858 and the first American edition in 1859 great advances in the subject of Anatomy have been made, especially in microscopic anatomy and the anatomy of the embryo. This knowledge was embodied from time to time in the successive editions until finally considerable portions of the text, sometimes sections, were devoted to these subjects.
• However, the main text has always remained primarily a descriptive anatomy of the human body. In the present edition the special sections on embryology and histology have been distributed among the subjects under which they naturally belong. New matter on physiological anatomy, laws of bone architecture, the mechanics and variations of muscles have been added, occupying much of the space formerly devoted to the sections on applied anatomy.
• The sections on the ductless glands and the nervous system have been largely rewritten. In the latter a more rational presentation of the sympathetic nervous system has been achieved through the use of diagrams and descriptions based on physiological and pharmacological work. The central connections of the spinal and cranial nerves are also emphasized.