PREFACE.

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IF Pathology be to disease what Physiology is to health, it appears reasonable to conclude, that in any given structure or organ, the laws of the former will be as fixed and significant as those of the latter; and that the peculiar characteristics of any structure or organ may be as certainly recognized in the phenomena of disease as in the phenomena of health. When investigating the pathology of the lungs, I was led, by the results of inflammation affecting the lung-tissue, to infer, contrary to general belief, that the lining of the air-cells was not identical and continuous with that of the bronchi; and microscopic investigation has since demonstrated in a very striking manner the correctness of that inference,- an inference, be it observed, drawn entirely from the indications furnished by pathology. Although Pathology therefore, as a branch of medical science, is necessarily founded on Physiology, questions may nevertheless arise regarding the true character of a structure or organ, to which occasionally the pathologist may be able

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