Pathology of the Brain and the Nervous System

Preface to the Friendly Reader.

Decorative woodcut initial letter 'Q' with floral ornamentation.

That I, having promised a complete pathology of the brain and of the nervous system, have at last presented the accounts of only one or two diseases; I would wish you first of all to be advised (Candid Reader) that I have not submitted these preliminary theories to your eyes by that crafty deceit wherewith the vendors of venal things strive to push their wares: for it is customary for them, if perchance they possess anything of a better sort, to display it at once, to hang it before their stalls, to bring it into the light, and to thrust it upon every passer-by, so that by such pretenses they may first establish credit and a reputation for the cheaper goods to be sold thereafter. I pursue a path entirely the opposite: namely, that I might put forward as specimens those things which seemed of a more doubtful nature, and where I considered that censure and judgments were especially to be feared, those I would certainly demand and invite: for it is my desire not so much to teach others as to learn from them, nor so much to spread my sails for fame as for truth, and to serve and hold forth a torch to Philosophy, which stands closest to truth itself.