The Principles of Anatomy as Seen in the Hand

Abstract

IN this work Prof. Wood Jones has made a notable contribution not only to the literature of human anatomy, but also to that of philosophical biology. The book is the result of an intensive study of a single part of our anatomy undertaken in the belief that if we understand it thoroughly and correctly we shall understand much more—shall, in fact, know the principles upon which the whole of our anatomy is formed. In selecting the hand for his purpose the author has chosen wisely, for it is, we think, without doubt the part which is most characteristic of us—that which has played the chief rôle in our development. Prof. Wood Jones's method is to take the various tissues forming the hand—viz. the skin, nails, fasciæ, bones, muscles, vessels, and nerves—separately, describing them in considerable detail from both the morphological and the practical points of view. As we can readily imagine, he is not able to confine himself strictly to the hand, any more than was Sir Charles Bell in his century-old book on the same subject. (We might say in passing that the comparison between the two books, which are further alike in that they are largely illustrated by the authors themselves, is extremely interesting and illuminating, as showing the great advance in our knowledge and the great change which has come over our conception of man's place in Nature during the last hundred years.)

The Principles of Anatomy as Seen in the Hand.

By Prof. Frederic Wood Jones. Pp. viii + 325 + 2 plates. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1920.) Price 15s.