Artistic Anatomy of Animals

A few lines will suffice to explain why we have compiled the present volume, to what wants it responds, and what its sphere of usefulness may possibly embrace. In our teaching of plastic anatomy, especially at the École des Beaux-Arts—where, for the past nine years, we have had the very great honour of supplementing the teaching of our distinguished master, Mathias Duval, after having been prosector for his course of lectures since 1881—it is our practice to give, as a complement to the study of human anatomy, a certain number of lessons on the anatomy of those animals which artists might be called on to represent. Now, we were given to understand that the subject treated in our lectures interested our hearers, so much so that we were not surprised to learn that a certain number repeatedly expressed a desire to see these lectures united in book form. To us this idea was not new; for many years the work in question had been in course of preparation, and we had collected materials for it, with the object of filling up a void of which the existence was to be regretted. But our many engagements prevented us from executing our project as early as we would have wished. It is this work which we publish to-day