The chief merit of this effort--if merit there be--is its honesty. The author has endeavored to set forth fairly and simply the facts and hypotheses with which we have to deal. Its chief offense, in the eyes of many, will lie in its being just what it purports to be--a book on Chiropractic. Constructive criticism and suggestion are invited from all sources, for by our interchange of thoughts we grow. J. M. L. Preface to Second Edition The republication of this book has been made possible by the sustained friendship of the profession for it, and the author’s thanks are due its many buyers and readers who, by their recommendation, have made it both possible and necessary that this book should live and grow. The new edition has been somewhat enlarged by the introduction of additional matter into each section and by the addition of two entire new chapters on “Preferable Adjustments” and “Chiropractic Prognosis.” New plates have been added and old errors corrected. In every way an attempt has been made to express with conservatism the real advance made by Chiropractic since the first edition was put on the press. J. M. L. INTRODUCTION No two students, approaching for the first time the study of Chiropractic, approach from the same angle. Their viewpoints differ. In order that all may gain as nearly as possible the same viewpoint from which to consider in turn the sections of this book, it will be well if each student reads the entire book before beginning to memorize its parts and convert them into practical working knowledge. An effort should be made, abandoning all other, to acquire the _Chiropractic viewpoint_. This accomplished, the rest of the task requires time and patience alone, without waste labor. The section on Vertebral Palpation should be studied step by step, the study of each step being combined with practice in it. Likewise the section on Nerve-Tracing, theory preceding practice. The study of the Technic of Adjusting should occupy those months immediately preceding the commencement of actual adjusting practice and continue during such practice. The chapters on Practice are intended for the student about to enter the field. The table of Spino-Organic Connection can be best understood by those who have studied or are studying the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. Let every page be studied with a good medical dictionary open at the elbow of the reader. Pass no word without comprehension, no detail without mastery. He who would seek to modify the life processes of the human body must fortify himself against fatal error with every bit of knowledge he can acquire. VERTEBRAL PALPATION Definition Vertebral Palpation consists in the use of the tactile sense to determine the position, relation, size, shape, and as far as possible the condition, of the segments of the spinal column, in order thus to discover the primary causes indicative of disease.