Author: Edward Alfred Minchin

Publisher:

Published: 2015-08-05

Total Pages: 546

ISBN-13: 9781332302703

Excerpt from An Introduction to the Study of the Protozoa: With Special Reference to the Parasitic Forms This book, as its name, is intended to serve as on introduction to the subject with which it deals, and not in any way as a complete treatise upon it. The science of "protozoology," as it is now generally termed, covers a vast field, and deals with an immense series of organisms infinitely varied in form, structure, and modes of life. In recent years the recognition of the importance of the Protozoa to mankind in various ways, and especially from the medical point of view, has focussed attention upon them, and has brought about a great increase of our knowledge concerning these forms of life. To set forth adequately and in full detail all that is now known about the Protozoa would be a task that could not be attempted in a volume of this size, but would require a work many times larger. The aim of the present work is essentially didactic - that is to say, it is intended to furnish a guide to those who, having at least some general knowledge of biology, desire a closer acquaintance with the special problems presented by the Protozoa. First and foremost, it attempts to define the position of these organisms in Nature, and to determine, as far as possible, in this way exactly what should be included under the term "Protozoa," and what should be excluded from the group. Secondly, its function is to guide the student through the maze of technicalities necessarily surrounding the study of objects unfamiliar in daily life, and requiring, consequently, a vocabulary more extensive than that of common language; and with this aim in view, care has been taken to define or explain fully all technical terms, since confusion of thought can be avoided only by a clear understanding of their exact significance and proper application. Thirdly, it aims at introducing the student to the vast series of forms comprised in the Protozoa and their systematic classification, based on their mutual affinities and inter-relationships, so far as these can be inferred from theif structural peculiarities and their life-histories. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.