The first edition of this book, published in 1937, was based upon lectures given by Dr Simson Hall in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. Then, as now, the direct style has been retained for the purpose of emphasis and generally, a short description of the anatomy precedes each section to help the reader recall the main features of the part being discussed. The needs of the book's varied readership have been taken into account. Descriptions have been retained of diseases which, although rare or not seen in the United Kingdom, are by no means unknown in other countries in which the book has a wide circulation. Operative details, however, have been kept to a minimum except for those procedures which must occasionally be done as an emergency by a surgeon lacking formal training in the specialty. Properly used, the text should appeal to the medical student who is not satisfied with merely fulfilling the minimum needs of an end-of-term examination, and provide the family practitioner with the extra knowledge needed in general practice and an idea of how his or her patients are managed when referred to hospital. An ELBS/LPBB edition is available.