In these times, when no department of science is hidden from the uninitiated, especially when medical subjects and the works of medical men are freely discussed in our great reviews and daily journals, no apology seems necessary for withdrawing the professional veil and admitting the laity behind the scenes of professional work. Medicine now has no mysteries to conceal from the true student of nature and the scientific inquirer. Her methods and her principles are open to all who care to know them; the only passport she requires is reverence, her only desire to satisfy the yearning to know. In this spirit and for these ends this work has been conceived and given to the world. “The proper study of mankind is man.” EDWARD BERDOE. TYNEMOUTH HOUSE, VICTORIA PARK GATE, LONDON, _April 22nd, 1893_. SPRENGEL GIVES THE FOLLOWING TABLE OF THE GREAT PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE:— I. Expedition of the | 1273-1263 B.C. | I. First traces of Argonauts. | | Greek Medicine. II. Peloponnesian War. | 432-404 B.C. | II. Medicine of | | Hippocrates. III. Establishment of the | 30 A.D. | III. School of the Christian Religion. | | Methodists. IV. Emigration of the hordes | 430-530 | IV. Decadence of of Barbarians. | | the Science. V. The Crusades. | 1096-1230 | V. Arabian medicine | | at its highest | | point of | | splendour. VI. Reformation. | 1517-1530 | VI. Re-establishment | | of Greek medicine | | and anatomy. VII. Thirty Years War. | 1618-1648 | VII. Discovery of the | | circulation of | | the blood and | | reform of Van | | Helmont. VIII. Reign of Frederick the | 1640-1786 | VIII. Haller. Great. | | Renouard[2] arranges the periods of the growth of the art of medicine as follows:—1st. The Primitive or Instinctive Period, lasting from the earliest recorded treatment to the fall of Troy. 2nd. The Sacred or Mystic Period, lasting till the dispersion of the Pythagorean Society, 500 B.C. 3rd. The Philosophical Period, closing with the foundation of the Alexandrian Library, B.C. 320. 4th. The Anatomical Period, which continued till the death of Galen, A.D. 200. ILLUSTRATIONS.