THE object of this work is to present such a digest of the Principles and Practice of Medicine as will be serviceable alike. to the pupil in the prosecution of his studies of disease, and to the physician engaged in the practical duties of his profession. The plan, at the outset, was to fulfil this object within the compass of one good-sized volume. In carrying out this plan condensation has been necessary. As much conciseness as is consistent with clearness has been studied. Very little space will be found to be occupied with past opinions or doctrines which have become obsolete. Discussions relating to mooted pathological questions are rarely entered into. Illustrative cases have been introduced with reserve. As regards scope, the work embraces the subjects which generally enter into didactic teaching from the chair of the Principles and Practice of Medicine in the medical colleges of this country. Subjects belonging to other departments of instruction are, for the most part, omitted; hence, for information on matters relating to surgery, obstetrics, the diseases of women and children, cutaneous diseases, and the details of the Materia Medica, the reader is referred to other works. Finally, in writing the volume, the study has been to keep prominently in mind the practical applications of medical knowledge to diagnosis, prophylaxis, and therapeutical indications..
In submitting the work to the judgment of his fellow-teachers and