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AUTHOR’S PREFACE. was nor could be recognised in it; for the conformity of the principle of development consists chiefly in the similar origin of these granules themselves, and this circumstance was not known, indeed the term granules or granulous mass was sometimes used to denote the entire cells, sometimes the nuclei, and sometimes granulous substances which form to a certain extent as chemical precipitates, and have no direct connexion with the elementary cells of organised bodies.

I communicated a preliminary review of the results gained, and which already comprehended most of the tissues, in the beginning of the year 1838, in Froriep’s ‘Notizen,’ Nos. 91, 103, and 112. The detailed description required a longer time; the first two portions of the present Treatise were placed before the Academy of Paris in August and December, 1838. J. Müller and Henle have already applied the theory to the most important pathological processes, and it now only requires to be extended to comparative anatomy, particularly amongst the lower animals.

At the conclusion of the Treatise I have attempted a theory of organisms, and for that purpose have excluded everything theoretical from the work itself, in order that facts might not be confused with hypothetical matter. The theory has at least this advantage, that by its aid any one may form a precise idea for himself of the organic processes, which may conduct to new researches; such a theory may therefore be of use, even if assumed to be decidedly false. It contains the principles of the organic phenomena, both of the healthy and diseased organism. It was my intention to have added an application of the theory to the several organic processes; but circumstances compelled me to bring the work to a conclusion. Perhaps at some future time I may find opportunity to fill up the deficiency.

Berlin, March 1839.