Preface to the First Edition
What one does not understand one does not possess.—Goethe
A few words in explanation of the purpose and arrangement of this book may not be out of place. It is intended to meet the needs of the veterinary student, providing first that general knowledge of mammalian structure that is indispensable to the understanding of the other basic sciences, and secondly the more detailed information that is directly applicable to the practice of veterinary medicine.
Though we shall naturally be pleased if others find our book useful, we have regarded the interest of the student reader as paramount.The dual role of anatomy determined the division of the book into two parts. The first part comprises ten chapters, one a general introduction, the others devoted to the various body systems. For these we have taken as our model the dog, the animal best suited to this purpose by its relatively unspecialized anatomy and its widespread use as the initial dissection subject. We allude to the salient differences found in other domesticated species but do not dwell upon them at this time when our concern is to emphasize general concepts and function rather than specific details. The remarks on development are intended to elucidate the broad features of adult anatomy and do not profess to provide a complete amount of this branch of our subject. Since these chapters deal largely with elementary, well-established, and noncontroversial matters, we decided that it would be an affectation to embellish them with references to the literature.
The second part of the book presupposes a working knowledge of the first. It consists of several series of chapters, each series dealing with the regional anatomy of a particular species—or group of species since we have accommodated the cat with the dog, the small ruminants with cattle. This part seeks to emphasize those features and topics that have direct relevance to clinical work.
Though the several chapters that deal with the same region of the body of different animals follow a common plan, they do so only loosely; we have expanded, curtailed, and diversified the accounts according to our perceptions of contemporary clinical concern with different species, and occasionally according to the availability of relevant information. This method of proceeding results in some repetition, but we hope compensation will be found in the independence of these chapters, which can be read or consulted in any order and without reference to each other. Finally, there is a single chapter on systematic avian anatomy in which the main subject is the chicken, although some attention is given to cagebirds and other species of veterinary importance. Since the chapters of this second part deal with matters of immediate practical concern, we have furnished them with a selection of references for the benefit of those who may wish to inform themselves more fully.Inevitably, the principal difficulty we encountered when writing this book lay in the selection of appropriate material from the vast array. Since in most schools, courses of anatomy have been progressively, and sometimes savagely, shortened in recent years, there is an obligation to identify and retain “core” material while rigorously pruning matters of more peripheral concern. Alas, there neither is nor can be a unanimous view of what constitutes the “core” while the continuing development and increasing specialization of veterinary medicine attach significance to many details that formerly lacked importance. The reconciliation of these opposing pressures places both teachers and authors in a dilemma from which there is not clear route of escape, and, though we hope we have chosen wisely, we anticipate that some colleagues will reproach us for being overtimid in our culling while others will be as ready to judge us overbold. Readers who take the former view may find that the subdivision of the text enables them to skim or skip judiciously; those more demanding may find some consolation in the references.
We hope both groups of readers will welcome the digressions from the conventional stuff of anatomy with which we have sought to make the account more inter- esting—for it would be folly to deny that anatomical description does not always make the most lively reading.While each of us has been responsible for the initial draft of portions of the text, the final version represents the consensus of our views. We like to think that there has been advantage in our having gained experience in
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a variety of schools, and we have sought to avoid tailoring the text to fit any particular course too closely. Problems of nomenclature receive some attention in Chapter 1, but it may be well to state here that we have consistently employed anglicized versions of the terms contained in the most recent (1983) version of the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria.
Such have been our intentions. Whether they were well conceived or have been properly put into effect we must leave to the judgment of each reader.
K.M. Dyce
WO. Sack
C.J.G. Wensing