Morphology, the study of visible structures of organisms, occupies places

of variable importance in different fields of biology. The role of morphology is

obvious in surgery, embryology, and taxonomy. It is less obvious in chemo-

therapy, genetics, and enzyme biochemistry. Dynamic morphology includes static

structures as well as development and functional changes of structures.

Morphological procedures range from Roentgen-ray analysis to histological

staining, from mechanical dissection to electron microscopy, from perfusion of

an isolated heart to centrifugation of living amebas. In the face of ever-

increasing specialization, this book offers (1) a survey of areas or problems in

which morphological procedures are needed, and (2) a review of morphological

procedures in their relation to various types of projects.

The material is organized in such a fashion that continuity is maintained

between macroscopic, light microscopic, and electron microscopic levels of analy-

sis. Interaction between morphological and biochemical approaches is stressed

throughout. Pathological phenomena are classified from both the biological and

the medicopathological points of view.

The book is intended primarily for pharmacologists, microbiologists, bio-

chemists, chemists, physicists, and statisticians who need an understanding of

morphology but who have had no training in this discipline. Therefore, detailed

discussions are devoted to matters that most morphologists take for granted. The

principles governing morphological studies are identical with those of natural

science in general, but certain rules of procedures in morphology are stated

explicitly. The term "introduction" in the title indicates that this book does not

aim at completeness; it is not supposed to replace textbooks or laboratory

manuals.

Readers trained in normal and pathological morphology may use this book

as a guide for traveling unusual routes through familiar scenes. They also may

enjoy occasional excursions into unfamiliar areas ate the borders of dynamic

morphology.