The following appendix on the dissection and study of the cat is not
intended as a general treatise on methods of preservation and
dissection, but attempts only to give the application of well-known
methods to the dissection and study of the particular animal with which
the book deals. General methods which are referred to but not described
must be looked up, if unfamiliar, in the manuals of general methods.
_Aids to Dissection and Study of the Cat._--A copy of Jayne’s “Mammalian
Anatomy” should be in the laboratory for reference. Only the volume on
the Bones of the Cat has been issued thus far.
Wilder and Gage’s “Anatomical Technology” will be found very useful for
methods of work.
The plates of Strauss-Durckheim’s “Anatomie du Chat” are exceedingly
valuable for the bones and muscles, and should be in the laboratory if
possible. Outline reproductions of these plates have been published by
H. S. Williams (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1875). The use of both
the original plates and the reproductions is made difficult by the
antiquated nomenclature used for the structures figured.
_Method of Use of the Present Directions._--Except in the case of the
Bones, the order of study of the structures is usually not the same as
the order in which they are described. This is of course due to
practical difficulties in dissection. The present directions give the
_order of study_, or at least the order of dissection; of course after
dissection the structures can be reviewed in the logical order given in
the descriptions. But in the first study and dissection, the student is
to use these directions for the _order of work_, while using the body of
the book for the descriptions. It will be necessary therefore to keep
the book opened in two places,--one in the appendix, for the directions;
one in the body of the book, for descriptions. In studying the muscles,
for example, the student will follow the order of dissection given in
the appendix, but as every muscle is dissected he will find, confirm,
and study the description of that muscle given in the body of the book.
Other organs are studied in a similar manner.
Before commencing the study, read that portion of the preface which
explains the use of _terms of direction_ (page VII).
Note that the page on which any figure is found may be determined by
consulting the list of figures given in the Table of Contents.