The first of these works treats only of the muscles and bones, and is
not available for American students. Its excellent plates (or Williams’s
outline reproductions of the same) should be in every laboratory.
The second book named is written in such general terms that its
descriptions are not readily applicable to the actual structures found
in the dissection of the cat, and experience has shown that it is not
fitted for a laboratory handbook. It contains, in addition to a general
account of the anatomy of the cat, also a discussion of its embryology,
psychology, palæontology, and classification.
The book by Wilder and Gage professedly uses the cat as a means of
illustrating technical methods and a special system of nomenclature.
While of much value in many ways, it does not undertake to give a
complete account of the anatomy of the animal.
The fourth work is a brief laboratory guide.
The elaborate treatise by Jayne, now in course of publication, is a
monumental work, which will be invaluable for reference, but is too
voluminous to place in the hands of students. At present only the volume
on the bones has been published.
As appears from the above brief characterization, none of these books
gives a complete description of the anatomy of the cat in moderate
volume and without extraneous matter. This is what the present work aims
to do.
In the year 1891-92, Professor Reighard prepared a partial account of
the anatomy of the cat, which has since been in use, in typewritten
form, in University of Michigan classes. It has been used also at the
Universities of Illinois, Nebraska, and West Virginia, and in Dartmouth
College, and has proven so useful for college work in Mammalian Anatomy
that it was decided to complete it and prepare it for publication. This
has been done by Dr. Jennings.
The figures, which are throughout original, are direct reproductions of
ink drawings, made under the direction of Dr. Jennings by Mrs. Jennings.
The book is limited to a description of the normal anatomy of the cat.
The direct linear action of each muscle taken alone has been given in
the description of muscles; other matters belonging to the realm of
physiology, as well as all histological matter, have been excluded. It
was felt that the monumental work of Jayne on the anatomy of the cat,
now in course of publication, forms the best repository for a
description of variations and abnormalities, so that these have been
mentioned in the present volume only when they are so frequent as to be
of much practical importance.
Except where the contrary is stated, the descriptions are based
throughout on our own dissections and observations and are in no sense a
compilation. For this reason we have not thought it necessary to collect
the scattered references to the anatomy of the cat that may occur in the
literature. A collection of such references may be found in Wilder and
Gage’s _Anatomical Technology_. In addition to the works already
referred to, we have of course made use of the standard works on human
and veterinary anatomy. Among these should be mentioned as especially
useful the _Anatomie des Hundes_ by Ellenberger and Baum. Other
publications which have been of service in the preparation of the work
are Windle and Parson’s paper _On the Myology of the Terrestrial
Carnivora_, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for
1897 and 1898, T. B. Stowell’s papers on the nervous system of the cat
in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (1881, 1886,
1888) and in the Journal of Comparative Neurology (vol. I.), and F.
Clasen’s _Die Muskeln und Nerven des proximalen Abschnitts der vorderen
Extremität der Katze_, in Nova Acta der Ksl. Leop.-Carol. Deutschen
Akademie der Naturforscher, Bd. 64.
_Nomenclature._--The question of nomenclature has been one of
difficulty. What is desired is a _uniform_ set of anatomical names,--a
system that shall be generally used by anatomists. At present the
greatest diversity prevails as to the names to be applied to the
different structures of the body. The only set of terms which at the
present time seems to have any chance of general acceptance is that
proposed by the German Anatomical Society at their meeting in Basel in
1895, and generally designated by the abbreviation BNA. This system has
therefore been adopted, in its main features, for use in the present
work. It seems impossible at the present time, however, to impose any
one set of terms absolutely upon anatomists of all nations, and we have
felt it necessary to use for certain familiar structures, in place of
the BNA terms, names that have come to have a fixed place in English
anatomy, and may almost be considered component parts of the English
language. The German anatomists have expressly recognized the fact that
this would be to a greater or less degree necessary among anatomists of
different nations, and have characterized their list as for the present
tentative, and capable of farther development. The only purpose of a
name is that it shall furnish a key to a common understanding; where the
BNA name does not furnish such a key to English readers, and where there
is a term in established English usage that does serve this purpose and
seems unlikely to be supplanted, we have used the latter. But we have
endeavored to make the number of these exceptions as small as possible,
and in such cases we have usually cited at the same time the term
proposed by the German society, followed by the abbreviation BNA. When,
on the other hand, we have adopted a BNA term for which there is also a
commonly used English equivalent, the latter has likewise usually been
cited in parenthesis.
In deciding whether or not to use in a given case the BNA term many
difficult cases arose. Will the common English name _innominate_ bone
(os innominatum) be replaced by the BNA term _os coxæ_ or _coxal bone_?
We have held this to be highly improbable, and have therefore used the
term _innominate bone_, merely citing _os coxæ_ (BNA) as a synonym. In
the same way we have used _centrum_ as a designation of a part of a
vertebra, in place of _corpus_ (BNA); _premaxillary_ bone or
_premaxilla_ in place of _os incisivum_ (BNA); _malar_ bone in place of
_os zygomaticum_ (BNA); _trapezoid_ as a name of one of the bones of
the carpus, in place of _os multangulum minus_ (BNA), etc. In other
cases where it has seemed probable that the BNA term would come into
common use, though now unfamiliar, this and the more common English
expression are both used or used alternatively; such has been the case,
for example, with the Gasserian ganglion or semilunar ganglion (BNA). In
naming the cerebral sulci and gyri the system in use for man is not well
fitted for bringing out the plan of those in the brain of the cat, so
that it was necessary to reject the BNA names for these structures.
As to the use of the Latin terms and their equivalents in English form,
we have made a practice of employing in the text sometimes one,
sometimes the other; this has the advantage of giving variety, and of
impressing the interchangeability of the Latin and English forms on the
mind of the student. Where a given structure is called by two equally
well-known names, we have used both, holding that the student should
become familiar with each and recognize their identity of meaning.
In general we have maintained the principle that the primary purpose of
such a work as the present is not to illustrate or defend any particular
system of nomenclature, but to aid in obtaining a knowledge of the
structures themselves. With this end in view, we have used such terms as
would in our judgment best subserve this purpose, making the BNA system,
as the one most likely to prevail, our basis. In applying the system we
have had to keep in mind a number of sometimes conflicting principles.
In some cases the judgment of other anatomists will doubtless differ
from our own; but this we feel to be inevitable. The matter of an
absolutely uniform nomenclature is not ripe for settlement at the
present time.
Some further explanation is needed in regard to the topographical
terms, or terms of direction, used in the present work. We have adopted
the BNA terms in this matter also. The terms _superior_, _inferior_,
_anterior_, and _posterior_ have been avoided, as these terms do not
convey the same meaning in the case of the cat as they do in man, owing
to the difference in the posture of the body. In place of these terms
are used _dorsal_ and _ventral_, _cranial_ and _caudal_. As terms of
direction these, of course, must have an absolutely fixed meaning,
signifying always the same _direction_ without necessary reference to
any given structure. For example, _cranial_ means not merely toward the
_cranium_, but refers to the _direction_ which is indicated by movement
along a line from the middle of the body, toward the cranium; after the
head or cranium is reached, the term still continues in force for
structures even beyond the cranium. Thus the tip of the nose is
considered to be _craniad_ of the cranium itself. _Lateral_ signifies
away from the middle plane; _medial_ toward it. _Inner_ and _outer_ or
_internal_ and _external_ are used only with reference to the structure
of separate organs, not with reference to the median plane of the body.
In describing the limbs the _convexity_ of the joint (the elbow or knee)
is considered as _dorsal_, the concavity being therefore ventral.
_Medial_ refers to that side of the limb which in the normal position is
toward the middle of the body; _lateral_ to the outer side. Terms of
direction which are derived only from the structure of the limb itself
are in some cases more convenient than the usual ones. In the fore limbs
the terms _radial_ (referring to the side on which the radius lies) and
_ulnar_ (referring to the side on which the ulna lies) are used; in the
hind limbs the terms _tibial_ and _fibular_ are used in a similar
manner. _Distal_ means toward the free end of a limb or other projecting
structure; _proximal_, toward the attached end.
For all these terms an adverbial form ending in _-ad_ has been employed.
Experience has shown this to be very useful in practice, and while not
expressly recommended by the BNA, it is not condemned. Terms ending in
_-al_ are therefore adjectives; those ending in _-ad_ are adverbs.
In compounding these terms of direction, the hyphen has been omitted in
accordance with the usage recommended by the Standard Dictionary. Thus
_dorsoventral_ is written in place of _dorso-ventral_, etc. The student
will perhaps be assisted in understanding these compounds if he notes
that the first component always ends in _-o_, so that the letter _o_
practically serves the purpose of a hyphen in determining how the word
is to be divided.
In one particular the BNA nomenclature is not entirely consistent. While
recommending or at least permitting the use of the general terms
_dorsal_ and _ventral_ in place of the human _posterior_ and _anterior_,
and _cranial_ and _caudal_ in place of _superior_ and _inferior_, it
retains the words _anterior_, _posterior_, _superior_, and _inferior_ as
parts of the names of definite organs. For example, we have the muscle
_serratus anterior_ in place of _serratus ventralis_; _serratus
posterior inferior_ in place of _serratus dorsalis caudalis_. This is
very unfortunate, from a comparative standpoint, but we have felt it
necessary to retain the BNA terms in order that the structures of the
cat may receive the same names as the corresponding structures of man.
In the matter of orthography we have endeavored to follow the best
English anatomical usage, as exemplified in Gray’s _Human
Anatomy_,--therefore writing _peroneus_ in place of _peronæus_,
_pyriformis_ in place of _piriformis_, etc.
The book is designed for use in the laboratory, to accompany the
dissection and study of the structures themselves. Anatomy cannot be
learned from a book alone, and no one should attempt to use the present
work without at the same time carefully dissecting the cat. On the other
hand, anatomy can scarcely be learned without descriptions and figures
of the structures laid bare in dissection, so that this or some similar
work should be in the hands of any one attempting to gain a knowledge of
anatomy through the dissection of the cat.
The figures have all been drawn from actual dissections, and have been
carefully selected with a view to furnishing the most direct assistance
to the dissector. It is hoped that no figures are lacking that are
required for giving the students the necessary points of departure for
an intelligent dissection of any part of the body. The fore limb is
illustrated somewhat more fully than the hind limb, because it was
thought that the fore limb would usually be dissected first; the hind
limb will be easily dissected, with the aid of the figures given, after
the experience gained in dissecting the fore limb.
As the book is designed to accompany the dissection of the specimen in
the laboratory, it was deemed best to give succinct specific directions
for the dissection of the different systems of organs, together with
suggestions as to methods of preserving and handling the material. These
are included in an appendix.