Nowwhathavewecometoinourownday？Inthefirstplace，theminutestructureofalltheorganshasbeenmadeoutinthemostsatisfactoryway。Thespecialarrangementsofthevesselsandtheductsofalltheglands，oftheair-tubesandvesiclesofthelungs，ofthepartswhichmakeuptheskinandothermembranes，allthedetailsofthosecomplexparenchymatousorganswhichhadconfoundedinvestigationsolong，havebeenliftedoutoftheinvisibleintothesightofallobservers。Itisfairtomentionhere，thatweoweagreatdealtotheartofminuteinjection，bywhichweareenabledtotracethesmallestvesselsinthemidstofthetissueswheretheyaredistributed。Thisisanoldartificeofanatomists。ThefamousRuysch，whodiedahundredandthirtyyearsago，showedthateachoftheviscerahasitsterminalvesselsarrangedinitsownpeculiarway；thesamefactwhichyoumayseeillustratedinGerber’sfiguresaftertheminuteinjectionsofBerres。Ihopetoshowyoumanyspecimensofthiskindinthemicroscope，theworkofEnglishandAmericanhands。ProfessorAgassizallowsmealsotomakeuseofaveryrichcollectionofinjectedpreparationssenthimbyProfessorHyrtl，formerlyofPrague，nowofVienna，fortheproperexhibitionofwhichIhadanumberofmicroscopesmadeexpressly，byMr。Grunow，duringthepastseason。Allthisillustrateswhathasbeendonefortheelucidationoftheintimatedetailsofformationoftheorgans。
Butthegreattriumphofthemicroscopeasappliedtoanatomyhasbeenintheresolutionoftheorgansandthetissuesintotheirsimpleconstituentanatomicalelements。IthastakenupgeneralanatomywhereBichatleftit。Hehadsucceededinreducingthestructurallanguageofnaturetosyllables，ifyouwillpermitmetousesoboldanimage。Themicroscopicobserverswhohavecomeafterhimhaveanalyzedtheseintoletters，aswemaycallthem，——thesimpleelementsbythecombinationofwhichNaturespellsoutsuccessivelytissues，whicharehersyllables，organswhichareherwords，systemswhichareherchapters，andsogoesonfromthesimpletothecomplex，untilshebindsupinonelivingwholethatwondrousvolumeofpowerandwisdomwhichwecallthehumanbody。
Thealphabetoftheorganizationissoshortandsimple，thatIwillriskfatiguingyourattentionbyrepeatingit，accordingtotheplanIhavelongadopted。
A。Cells，eitherfloating，asintheblood，orfixed，likethoseinthecancellatedstructureofbone，alreadyreferredto。Verycommonlytheyhaveundergoneachangeoffigure，mostfrequentlyaflatteningwhichreducesthemtoscales，asintheepidermisandtheepithelium。
B。Simple，translucent，homogeneoussolid，suchasisfoundatthebackofthecornea，orformingtheintercellularsubstanceofcartilage。